Chef Todd's Final Project

Friday was Chef Todd's final project at Seattle Culinary Academy. He made a four-course fine dining meal for 12 family members & friends, and 4 of his professors. It was delicious! Friday also happened to be Todd's birthday, so it was an extra special day for him. Todd and another classmate were the first to present their final projects--our two parties were in a private dining room, next to one of the two restaurants at the school. It was really neat to see the student chefs working in the kitchen, practicing their fine dining skills for paying customers from the public.

Here we are in the dining room. In attendance for Todd's event were: myself, Chelsea, his parents, his roomie Laura, our boss Brenda, Todd's two aunties and one cousin, his cousin's wife, and this third quarter chef instructor.

In addition to the planning and executing the menu, they also have to title the meal and add table decor to match the theme. Todd's was titled "The Washingtonian", so fittingly he displayed a beautiful bowl of apples surrounded by green and white mums.

The first course of broiled oysters, presented on rock salt.

Next up is a grilled pear & beet salad

Very impressive display, Todd!

Cider braised pork belly with butternut squash puree and pickled root slaw

Dessert, the favorite course of all! It was a delicious apple cobbler with salted caramel ice cream and caramel drizzled over it. YUM!

Chels and I sat near Todd's third quarter instructor, she was very nice. It was great to have an expert opinion--she knew how everything was supposed to be prepared, so her compliments were especially highly regarded. The rest of us thought everything was great because we love Todd and are so proud of him!

At the end of the meal, Chef Todd came out to greet us with his sous chefs, other classmates of his.

Hip hip hooray for Todd! Great job!

Chef Todd seems relieved that the project is successfully accomplished

Afterward, we were able to go on a tour of the kitchens at the school and see where he has been working. In each kitchen, the students would stop and cheer for Todd and his classmate whom had just finished their final projects. It was great! Way to go Chef Todd!

Snowy Wonderland & Teaser Pics of Our New House!

Well, it's true: today our governor declared a state of emergency for Washington, due to the weather. Yikes! It's been an interesting week. I've had half days at work yesterday and today, and Chels' work closed Tuesday and hasn't yet re-opened. My bus, which I refer to as "the snowmobile" has been running uninterrupted this whole time so I haven't had an excuse to miss work this week. However, on the ride home this afternoon, I saw two other buses on my route jack-knifed and abandoned while trying to get up the hill, so we'll see what tomorrow brings...

Here's a picture of our street. Luckily we have a garage, so our car doesn't look like these!

Here's a snowy picture of our townhouse--I promise I'll try and take better pictures once the snowflakes aren't flying in my eyes!

The backyard actually has a little snowdrift! Kind of funny, I hadn't seen a snow drift in Seattle yet before this...

Here's Kitten enjoying herself in front of the gas fireplace in the living room

Here's the living room. The windows and balcony face out over the backyard.

Check out the snow! It's a pretty good amount for Seattle. I went to Ace Hardware to buy a shovel and some salt on Sunday morning and the guys there were all trying to talk me into a different shovel. I ended up going with my first choice, even though one guy said he thought the snow would make the shovel too heavy for me--guess I should have told him I'm a farm girl from Minnesota, and I've seen the likes of snow & shoveling many times before!

Here's a shot of the dining room and kitchen.

A close-up of the kitchen. That's all you get for now because we are still unpacking. Some of you have been so patient (ah-hem, Ashley), you'll just have to wait a little longer to see the rest! We really are loving our new house, it's nice to have a place of our own to call home.