Baking Block

I haven't died.
Not yet, anyway.
I've just not felt like blogging for so very long.
I'm sorry that the above sentence is unintelligible, but it can't be helped. That is how my brain is working right now.
I've come to realize that even though I've subtitled my blog "culinary chronicles" I hardly ever talk about school...at least not the specifics. Its just really hard to explain my day to you all since you don't know my classmates. And sometimes its just very routine. But I'll give it a try.
This week and next I am in the bakeshop. Its downstairs, apart from the rest of the kitchen. Its like we're in our own little world.
I liked the bakeshop right from the beginning because of that. Its so peaceful down there. Just the hum of the appliances, and now and then a voice or two. Nothing like the bustling, noisy, clattering, kitchen.
Its a large room with long wooden worktables, a massive oven at the far end, and a storeroom stocked with all sorts of delicious things! Every kind of imaginable chocolate, flavorings varying from rum to lemon, and other delights.
Our instructor, whom I've introduced to you as "the Grandfather" is a bizarre and hilarious Austrian man, well into his fifties or maybe sixties. He is always making the strangest and most random jokes, I can't help but laugh even if they are TERRIBLE, because he laughs so hard himself.
For instance, he asks us in his thick Austrian accent,
"What is the opposite of Christopher Reeve?"
We're all in the middle of scaling our ingredients, and like...what the heck?
He giggles, and says,
"Christopher Walken!" and howls with laughter. I'm busting a gut, not sure whether to be horrified or what...
Or he says to us,
"In the village where I grew up the population always stayed the same."
I am like, "Oh?" I mean, for all I know he DID grow up in a strange Austrian village!
He giggles and says,
"Whenever a girl had a baby, a man would leave town!", and he howls with laughter.
Its the funniest thing. Only terrible. And funny.
Needless to say, its been an entertaining week.

So far my culinary achievements in the bakery are pretty limited. The first day I made chiffon cakes, the second day I made pie pastry and cheese bisquits and almost burnt them (Grandfather pulls them from the oven, saying, "Black is beautiful, but not in baking!"), I made a chocolate terrine and finished the meat pies yesterday, and today I assembled a Princess Cake, and it was the big Christmas Banquet so we spent the day prepping and serving. Tomorrow my cake will be served to the president of the university...so ya, I'm pretty important stuff. HA!

anyway this is a fairly good-size post, so no complaining.
I might post some wart-age later, but I didn't feel inspired tonight.

Warts

Wanna see the latest progress on my warts?
Its pretty sick guys...but strangely entertaining to blog about.
Waddaya say?

Frosty Window Wisdom

Wednesday morning my car windows had an impressive layer of frost on them.
Its very cold and dark at 6:30 AM, almost perfectly silent, and my brain is functioning at its most basic level.
Bundled in coat and mitts, I begin to chip the frost off with my (mom's) handy-dandy scraper tool.
I begin at the driver door window, and move right to the backseat window. And so on to the rear window...and then the other passenger window...
Suddenly a figure appears next to me. Its wearing a head lamp.
"Don't worry," it says, "Only six months until you won't have to do this anymore."
The figure, who is a old man with a short gray beard, chuckles, and then walks away.

I pause.
So many questions.
Who is this person? Why have they come to me?
What is the significance of his statement?

Perhaps it was Old Man Winter.
Or maybe it was the old guy that delivers the Daily News in that truck parked across the street.

Either way I was too tired to give it much thought.
Until now.
He was really random.

Long Weekend Shopping Trip

Last Tuesday some friends and I piled into 2 cars and roadtripped out to Kelowna for the day! We did the mandatory stop at Orchard Park Mall, LuLu Lemon, and Tim Hortons/A&W. We also stopped for a quick break at the lake to take pictures and enjoy the view.
A good time was had by all.
My favorite part may have been when Rebekah and I were walking through the mall, and a very, VERY, aggressive salesman in a booth flagged us down and shouted as us to come closer and listen.
But that's not all. He was selling.....are you ready for this?.....SHAMWOW towels!
Now...you may not have heard of SHAMWOW towels before...but my infinitely wise brother, Paul, has.
While I was ready to hear the spiel, Rebekah needed a bit more convincing, so he bribed her with a FREE SAMPLE! (which she promptly handed to me)
It was hilarious. He was very energetic and hilarious to watch...but very forceful. So basically when he turned his back I grabbed Rebekah and ran!
With the free sample of course :)
Afterwards we went to the lake and goofed off...




There.
I didn't talk about warts or scabs, or anything gross. Happy?! :P

Wart War

During my summer at Homewood I made this disturbing discovery: two warts on my right foot.
Although I was given much helpful advice on how to get rid of them, I never did get around to it, and actually became quite used to the new additions. They were quiet, unobtrusive, and minded their own business. We got along just fine.
Until recently.
I noticed the other day they had added another to their tribe. A THIRD wart has sprouted on my middle toe, sort of nestled in a hidden place between two toes.
The whole secrecy of it has me all riled up. This uninvited guest is not welcome. I was fine with two little warts, but I've come to realize they've been plotting a hostile takeover this whole time...they were just waiting for me to become complacent.
(there is a little arrow pointing to the sneaky little wart...the other two are fairly obvious)

I've turned to Compound W for help.

Yesterday I applied the first coat. It turns them all white and fizzly. I hope it works.
Its time for the Warts to MOVE OUT!!!
I'll let you know how it goes.

(That's right...I'm subjecting you to another series of posts about grossness)

Ode to the Eleventh Month

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
only twenty-five days left to go.
I see no reason
for this dull, gray, season,
caught between bright fall leaves, and snow.
Oppressing, oppressing, my spirit depressing;
drudgery, and gloom abound.
I can only have hope
I'll find some way to cope,
until December is found.

Ok, ok, I was never great at poetry. But at least you don't have to look at those awful yearbook photos anymore...

Jill: Through The Ages

I think my brothers and I went trick or treating maybe 3 times since we moved to Kamloops. After that, I never had an outlet for my weird fascination with costumes and "dressing up".
Maybe that is why I was suddenly driven to www.yearbookyourself.com tonight. I needed to have a good laugh at myself ...

I bring to you, Jill Coulter, age 20, year 2000 AD.
Those bangs are amazing. The curling iron definitely belongs to my mom though.

1998: this isn't even too bad. I always wondered what I would look like with a little bit of curl in my hair.
Stepping further back in time now, to 1996...I distinctly remember my mom looking like this when we were kids. Scary.
I could be McGyyvers girlfriend with hair like this. Its 1994, and I've just had my weekly perm done. The resting-chin-on-hand is one sexy pose. I'm also a fan of the padded jacket.

Back in 1990 I was still getting into my perm routine, so this is mostly just the work of a curling iron and hairspray.
Ahhhh....the '80s. Those were the days. Shoulder pads were THE thing, I tell ya.
I'd like to forget 1984 ever happened. Please.
Now THIS is hot stuff. Gotta love 1980.
Not sure what's going on here, guys. After all, this is 1978.
A personal favorite. I think I would have done well in the '70s. Particularly '78.

Or maybe not. '74 wasn't good for anyone though...right? RIGHT?

This is more like it! Look at that saucy grin. Look out world, its 1972!
1970: Someone please strangle me with those fake pearls.
Wowee! I had a neck in 1968!
Oh boy...OH BOY. We need to bring '66 back, guys. Who's with me?
'64...an atrocity. What the heck was going on.
The best thing about this 1960's photo is the collar.
Yup, I was definitely meant for the 50's. It doesn't get any better than this.

I think I will go weep now.

I'm Bored

Being bored is a choice...I realize that.
Because right now I should be studying, and I could be doing a few other things, one of which could be writing a sort-of interesting blog post. Unfortunately I'm not in the mood to climb out of this pit of boredom.
I'm too tired.
Did I just waste some of your time? Sorry.

The Saga Continues

Since there are no one-year anniversaries to celebrate today, its back to the good ol' reliable story of my burn. Its always there for me.
As you can see, its healing up very nicely, and actually is hardly noticeable anymore.
Amazing how our bodies repair themselves, isn't it??
Now besides the burn on my knuckle, my grated thumb, and other various work-related injuries, I'm pretty much a picture of health.

One Year Ago...

At about this time, I was sitting at my boarding gate in Vancouver Airport, SO excited about my flight into the unknown.
It seems like a lifetime ago!
I can't believe so much time has passed already. I still remember exactly what I was feeling then, and what my expectations were, all those weird preconceived ideas that you think up without any basis of experience.
I remember dealing with the crazy Irish customs lady that almost didn't let me into the country, and seeing my first Lefty car, and hearing Maggie's sweet Antrim accent, and staying in her beautiful house...it doesn't seem like it was a year ago. Its still so sharp in my mind.
Its been good being home, though. I do miss a lot of my friends in Ireland, but in many ways the trip settled me...at least for a while!
As a point of interest, I was hoping to stay in Ireland for a year, but as it worked out my visa, flights, finances, etc. all caused me to come home after 9 months. In the end, that was a good thing.
I came home July 23, and on August 28, Zoom Airlines (the company I flew with) went bankrupt.
So I'm pretty thankful that the timing all worked out!

Its That Time Again

It honestly does not seem like 365 days ago that I last wished dear PJ a happy birthday, the day before...well, that's tomorrow's post.
But, the fact is, today is PJ's 2nd Birthday. Kind of crazy, eh?
This blog has told you a lot about these first 2 post-highschool years: my first (hopefully last) car accident, a-day-in-the-life-of-a-Tim-Hortons-employeee, wedding dress shopping with Ange (the first of my friends to go :D), Christmas adventures, the passing of sweet Beebs, Homewood days, the Ireland saga, and lately my installment into the crazy world of cooking.
I still love blogging as much as ever, and I'm looking forward to finding out what will be written in the coming year....

Feel free to wish PJ a happy birthday, and drop a line telling which is your favorite/the most memorable PJ post you've read :)

I Crave Fiction

I've always loved good fiction.
Like really...if given the option, fiction or non-fiction...I always go fiction.
I don't know why.
Actually maybe that is a little bit of a lie. I like a good true story too.
Anyway, I'm kind of straying from the original point of this post.
I used to be a huge bookworm and I read sooo much. I would devour everything that came to our house from the library. Maybe it was during the stress of grade 11 and 12 that I fell out of that habit, and since then I read only textbooks, and only when I have to.
Lately I've been craving good books again. I miss that feeling of getting totally absorbed into a totally different world, with great characters that seem almost real, and scenarios I can imagine myself into. When I get into a book, I reallly get into a book.
The thing is, I find it so hard to find books I can get into!
I get so discouraged when I pick up a book and within the first chapter could tell you the basic plot of the story fairly accurately. I find this especially true of novels written about women for women. Don't even get me started on Christian Romance...
Sometimes I just go back to my old favorites because I don't have the time and energy to find new favorites.
Its starting to become obvious though, that I have never read a lot of classics. So I'm thinking maybe I should work on those. I read through a list and I picked out a few that I might find interesting. A lot (if not all) have been made into movies...but you know me. I haven't really seen many of those anyway!
Here are a few I'm hoping to get my hands on this year:

The Count of Monte Cristo
Gone with the Wind
Casino Royale
Love in the time of Cholera
Catcher in the Rye
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Children of Men (I started this one at some point last year, but I think I left for Ireland before I finished it)

On a side note, I just finished reading "The Hiding Place," by Corrie Ten Boom, for the first time. Now...I'm sure many of you have read "The Hiding Place," and probably love it the way I did...so I must insist you read,"Things We Couldn't Say" by Diet Eman. Its also a true story written by a Dutch woman during the exact same time period. In fact Diet Eman met Corrie Ten Boom. However, its a different perspective, a different personality, and a story with the good, the bad, and the ugly. I absolutely loved it.

Now I'm finished for tonight, but if you have any reading suggestions please leave a comment, and feel free to elaborate on why you like it!

The Picking Stage

There hasn't been too much excitement on the scabby-wound front these days.
Its slowly but surely healing up.
Today its been incredibly itchy! The flaking skin and scab are sooo pick-able.
So tempting...
My brother Hugo* used to eat scabs.
I think maybe he still does.
GROSS.




*Name has been changed to protect privacy

The Road to Recovery

I know you are all dying to hear the latest on my bloody wound.
Its a pretty exciting topic.
Today it looks sort of like a target with 3 rings.
The outer ring is a browny shade with a puckered inner edge, like a drawstring bag. Its starting to flake a little.
Then we have the exposed pink flesh of the middle ring.
And finally...
The Scab.
Its officially begun to form.
I am so proud. Its really come a long way in the past week.
Maybe tomorrow it will be completely scabbed over. Wouldn't that be something.

Evolution of a Scab

I've been putting vitamin E on my burn, hoping for improvement.
This morning it looked yellow and pussy and gross.
Then a scab began to form...
We'll check in tomorrow to see if I will recover, or if amputation is necessary.

ps. In actuality I have very slim, delicate wrists. They are not fat and pudgy, as this picture would have you think. Its the angle I tell you. A trick I say!

Occupational Hazard

I burn myself a lot at school and work, and I'm beginning to lose sensation in my fingertips from always picking up, touching, testing, and dealing with hot foods.
This past week I burnt my arm when it touched the rim of a stainless steel bowl that had been heated by a nearby element. I only touched it for a second, and I thought the burn was minor.
Yesterday I noticed it was very red and looked pretty scabby, so I thought to myself that I better moisturize it.
Well surprise, surprise-- I forgot!
And this morning at work suddenly it really started to hurt, and I noticed that the scab had fallen off! eewwww!!
Now its stinging like crazy, and wearing long sleeves really irritates it. Ooouch!

Burning Questions

First of all I'd like to announce an official name change.
My Instructor known as The BFG is now simply, "Sully".
I'm sure you all have seen the Pixar film, Monsters Inc. Hopefully you will remember the huge blue monster who made little girls scream, but was really just a big teddy bear at heart.
I'm back in Sully's station at school, and one thing he does a lot is ask us these burning, unanswerable questions. Maybe you can help me out.

-If 7-11's are open 24/7, why are there locks on the doors?
-Why does Donald Duck wear only a shirt, but when he comes out of the shower he has a towel wrapped around his waist?
-How do they get teflon (non-stick) to stay on the pan?

I'm a Fan

A couple years back I made a bad decision.
My mom invited me to a small concert at Valleyview Church to hear a new Christian artist play, and I didn't go. I don't really know why I decided to stay home instead...but I should have gone. I missed out BIG TIME!
Luckily my mom still went and bought the album, self titled, "Amanda Falk".
I've listened to that CD ever since, and I've never got sick of it! She has a pretty mellow style, with lots of piano and guitar and beautiful melodies.
I was so excited when I heard about her new release, "Beautiful". Since I downloaded it from iTunes, I've had the songs stuck in my head all day! At school and at work I have them floating through my head, and its nearly impossible not to sing along with it in the car!
I absolutely love her music, so check it out!!

Hee hee hee

My little civic, Peppy, (He broke down on Sunday) is back on the road! Hooray!

I just decided I don't want to blog, so I'm not going to. Ha!

I'm such a rebel.

Wild in Scotland: the beginning

July 14- I left Fermoy and Ireland early in the morning. Christine drove me to Dublin airport where I boarded my flight to Edinburgh. My journal reports, "I'm just ready to fly home right now. I don't even really want to bother with Scotland."
I arrive in Edinburgh around 2PM where I'm met by Karen Mawhinney's cousin, Lyn. She gives me a driving tour of the amazing, beautiful city, and helps me sort out my train ticket to London.

Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh

She was fantastic and sooo much fun!
I stay overnight with Lyn and her husband Phil (minister of the Presbyterian church) in their gorgeous old townhouse downtown Edinburgh, and then she drops me off at the Wild in Scotland office building.
Its pretty awkward to begin with. There is a whole bunch of people standing around outside with big duffel bags. No one really knows what to say to each other.
Finally the office opens and we all start signing in, and get sorted into groups.
I find myself on a tiny white 17-passenger bus with only 7 others on board. Besides our enthusiastic and very Scottish guide, Fiona, I am the only one that came by myself. There are two Canadian girls that strike me as very possibly homeschooled (take that how you will), two Aussies, and three Brits: two girls and a guy.
Probably like the lone guy, I'm beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into.
Everyone seems way older than me, and they've all brought friends!
At this point I'm wishing myself on a flight home.

Edinburgh Castle overlooking the Princess Gardens

Whatever, I'll just take lots of pictures for everyone and pretend I'm enjoying myself!
Fiona tells us that we will have some more people joining us the next day, since they will be leaving their 4-day tour and joining us for an additional 5 days. Then she talks us through Edinburgh's history as we make our way out of the city. Eventually the bus goes quiet, and she turns up the music. I start to fall asleep. Driving does that to me...when I'm not at the wheel of course.

The Wallace Monument

Stirling was our first stop. It was a really cute little place, and Fiona's hometown, so she was really excited to show some of it to us. The castle was amazing! Unfortunately we only saw it through the bus window, and I didn't have my camera out to snap a shot through the glass.
Of course we stopped at the famous river where Braveheart had his great victory over the British army, and were told the tale of his life and death. I was the only one that hadn't seen the movie, a fact that brought me much shame over the week.
At this point we also introduced ourselves to overcome the awkwardness, which of course DOESN'T WORK. It just became more awkward.
I wasn't really seeing any potential tour buddies and was having visions of loner-ness on my horizon. Everyone seemed to be keeping pretty much to their selves, and I'm not really that outgoing- in case you haven't noticed.
We drove for another long time. The scenery in the lowlands of Scotland is really nice! Very lush. I found it far more mountainous than Ireland, and more trees. And of course its abundant with European charm.

Hamish, the Highland Cow

We stopped at one tourist trap along the way: a little gift shop/tea house which featured a Highland Cow named Hamish. He lured picture-snapping, pointing, giggling, tourists in droves, especially since the store supplies you with free baggies of kiwis, cooked potato, carrots, apples, and other assorts foods to feed the little porker. All Hamish does all day is scarf the goodies down...he doesn't even need eyes, which I guess is a good thing since that hairstyle is a permanent deal.
After a potty break, we bid Hamish goodbye and hopped on the bus again.

The River in Killin

For lunch we pulled over at a tiny village which I believe was called Killin. It was a really quaint little place, but I was pretty tired and unenthusiastic at this point, so I didn't really take many pictures. Plus I just have issues with taking pictures of villages and being a conspicuous tourist. It doesn't help.

Tim, Kathryn, and Jenny

At this point I was searching for a place to eat some lunch. Suddenly someone called my name.
"Hey Jill!"
The Brits were walking behind me, and Kathryn waved at me.
"Want to have lunch with us?" She asked. Normally I might not want to hang out with 3 friends who know each other, are way older than me, and possibly have nothing in common with me...but I wasn't going to be choosy! And I'm so glad. Kathryn, if you ever happen to read this: thank you for that invitation! You saved my week.
We went to a little fancy little tea house and ordered nothing but tea and a scone, totally enraging the old waitress.
The three of them were a lot of fun to hang out with- always cracking jokes and bugging each other. We eventually wandered down to the river in the center of the village and took some pictures.
Later in the afternoon we pulled over in rainy, and fiercely windy, Glen Coe. It was about this point that we entered the Highlands, and the landscape began to change. It became even more mountainous, the road signs were given in Gaelic (a slightly different dialect than in Ireland), and it was COLD.
We hiked up a trail for about 15 minutes for a view over the valley, where Fiona told us the story of its dark and violent history. (Many, many years ago) The Campbell clan was forced by the king to attack the clan that lived in the valley. On the way they ran out of food and supplies and ended up cold and starving on the doorstep of those they were sent to kill. The clan (unaware of the Campbell's mission) took them in and fed them. After a week of warm hospitality, the Campbells were forced to massacre their hosts.
Apparently you can still hear the eerie shrieks of the murdered in the valley, and anyone under the name of Campbell is unwelcome in Glen Coe to this day. There are still very hard feelings among the locals.
After that very depressing story, we were shipped out to the Commander Memorial, which commemorated past and present soldiers.
We had anther snack break in Fort William and watched the boats go through the lock system to get from one lake into Loch Ness.
I think we also went to a place called St. Augusta, but I have no pictures, and no other memories of what it was about...so...I guess it wasn't that interesting.
The bus pulled into our hostel in Altguish around 8 or 9 PM and we were all relieved to get off and stretch our legs. We were given two rooms, and I bunked with my new British friends, while the Canadians and Aussies went in the other.
The hostel was FREEZING, and the water was brown with peat, which apparently wasn't harmful and didn't have a flavor...but there was a mental block there when you were served cloudy brown water in your glass, or ran a bath (there were no showers) that looked like lake water.
We met up with the rest of our tour inside the pub next door. Two more Canadians (Calgary Cowboys...haha...the Brokeback Mountain kind), a really funny guy from South Africa, a British burn-out, two Germans (a girl and a guy), and two hilarously awesome Scottish women.
The group began to gel a little with the help of the new additions, and some bevvies.
So that pretty much sums up the first day! It was packed full, and we covered a lot of ground. Tune in next time I have an hour to blog for an update!