Day after Croquembouche ...

Good afternoon everyone.

Boy, it is so interesting the way things work.  I worked and worked on the Croquembouche and as you saw the other day I got them all put together and I started giving them away.  I have to tell you the feedback that I am getting is not what I expected.

Since yesterday we have had so many laughs about the Croquembouche.  See, after the Carmel sets it is hard as a rock ... like rock candy ... and in the Croquembouche directions it says to hit the thing with the back of a knife to break it open so you can start eating the puffs ... easier said than done.  First of all the broken Carmel gets all over the kitchen ... when you break it ... it shatters like glass.  What a mess .. and even though you break it they are still so stuck together you need to wrestle it to get the puffs loose.  We have been laughing and laughing since I started giving these away yesterday.

I also got some more news yesterday that I will tell you more about when I find out more.  I will tell you that I went to the "girly" Doctor yesterday and I have another operation in my near future but I don't know any more than that right now.

So ... as Croquenbouche's go ... I had a lot of fun with the project that took me about 6 days to complete.  And the feedback and the laughs that we are getting from it are"PRICELESS"!

I am not sure what the new project will be ... any ideas out there?  I will be thinking with you to see what I can do next.

Have a really great day on this very sunny, bright and very pretty day.  Signing off for now from 1HappyChef.  :)  Take care everyone ..

Croquembouche done!

Happy Monday everyone!

I got up and got right to it this morning.  I had been thinking about the Croquembouche since I quit working on it Saturday and I was ready to just make the caramel and finish it. 

I think in the end with all of the time and work I am thinking that I just like the cream puffs filled with the cream and that the caramel is just way too much trouble/mess unless you are doing it for a special occasion.  I of course was just doing it to give it all away ... I don't want to put on 50 more pounds.

PS>the reason that my Croquembouche is not very tall is because I made 4 of them so it would be easier to give away instead of pulling it apart.

Today at 2:30 PM I have a Dr.'s appointment (for girly stuff) and then I am just waiting for Friday to see what is going to happen with my back.  I hope that I get off all drugs and it gets fixed once and for all ... I think the Dr.'s move so slow but I guess they know what they are doing?

I just wanted to post the pictures of the Croquembouche and touch base with you.  If I have any news later I will post again.  Have a really great day ... signing off for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Croquembouche day 4

Good Saturday evening everyone.

Just a really short post tonight.  I just wanted to tell you that this morning I got up bright and early and filled 175 cream puffs .. getting them ready to make the Croquembouche on Monday.  What a job ... towards the end though I was really starting to get the hang of it and I will know many short cuts if I ever decide to do a project like this again ...I also have figured out how to scale it down to about 1/4 of what I am doing now.  That wouldn't take hardly anytime to do it next time.  Maybe only 1 day instead of 5?

So, for now there are no pictures to show you today on the progress.  I do know that I am very excited to see this when it is finished.   On the"Cooking Channel" today the Chef made one and it was very cool!

Have a really great evening and I will post again tomorrow.  Hope you are all enjoying this weather ... it is suppose to stay nice and sunny for the next 5 days or so ... yea!  Good night for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Croquembouche day 3

Little chocolate Mice ... so cute!

Good good evening to everyone.

Today was a good day moving forward with the Croquembouche ... I made the Bavarian Pastry Cream and it is in the fridge cooling down so I can move on to the next stop ... filling the cream puffs with the cream.  Wow, I personally can't wait ... this is taking way too long to be able to taste this wonderful dessert.

Not too much else going on today.  I cleaned out my new oven and cleaned the top and knobs really good to make it brand new to me and then I had to clean the kitchen and the floor to make it match the new oven ... so, that is what else I did today.

I have to admit that I put in a pretty full day today and am quite tired ... it is very good to be busy again even if it is with some project that not too many people understand why I am going to all of the trouble.  When I get really tired I ask myself that same thing ... this is sooooo much work but I will be so very excited to post the finished Croquembouche.

That is all that I have got for today.  So, have a really great night everyone from 1HappyChef.  :)  Take care and enjoy this nice weather.

Croquembouch:

Croquembouche:

Croquembouche is a French dessert made by stacking cream puffs in a conical shape and cementing them together with a caramel or spun sugar mixture. The dessert is typically ornamented with an outer layer of spun sugar, chocolate, sugared nuts, or other ingredients, and it is designed to be displayed as the centerpiece of a table. This dessert has been used at French weddings and celebrations for centuries, and it is served outside of France to add a French flair to an evening's events.

The croquembouche has a long history. It appears to have been invented by French pastry chef Antoine Careme in the late 1700s, when it became very popular as a wedding cake. Many of the individual components such as the cream puffs date to the 1500s, illustrating the long history of fine pastries in France.

This pastry concoction is one of a family of desserts known as pièces montées, or “mounted pieces.” A pièce montée is a dessert which is carefully constructed from an assortment of components, and designed to look as ornate and festive as possible. These desserts are often so elaborate that people are hesitant to eat them, and in some cases, a pièce montée may actually be specifically designed to be ornamental, including inedible ingredients like wax or cardboard to support the structure.

Constructing a croquembouche takes several days. First, the baker must make profiteroles, also known as cream puffs, from choux pastry stuffed with pastry cream. Then, a spun sugar or caramel glaze must be prepared. Several hours before the croquembouche is to be served, the cook carefully stacks the cream puffs, using the spun sugar or caramel like mortar to glue them together, and then the outside of the croquembouche must be decorated.

The traditional decoration for a croquembouche is a spun sugar glaze dusted with candied almonds. Some bakers drizzle chocolate over the croquembouche, or add more exotic ingredients like candied flowers. The top of the croquembouche may be adorned with ribbons and other ornaments. The end result is very crunchy, which explains the name: “croquembouche” means “cracks in the mouth.”

One of the biggest challenges with a croquembouche for guests unfamiliar with this food is eating it successfully. Historically, the croquembouche was cracked open with a heavy knife or sword, and guests picked away the profiteroles. In the modern era, the guests may simply be encouraged to pull the croquembouche apart, with napkins in hand to cope with shards of glaze and crumbs from the profiteroles.

Croquembouche day 2

Good morning to all of my faithful readers out there.  This is day 2 with the progress with the Croquembouche ... I am not so sure that this is worth all of the hype and trouble.  I have had trouble at my apartment with appliances though so maybe that is why I am getting discouraged?

The guys (maintenance people) were knocking on my door this morning at 7 AM (because they thought that I would be up) to fix my washing machine which has been broken now for a couple of weeks .. they have been fixing it all along but the original problem never went away ... it leaked.  So, today they took the thing apart and the pump hose had a crack in it so they replace it and I thought (stupid me) that all was fixed and I was good to go ... wrong.

Yesterday I told you that I made 100 mini cream puffs for this croquembouche and last night I decided to make some a little bigger and to stagger them so I thought that it would look better ... so, since the guys were here working on the washer I got out all of the stuff and started to make about 48 a little larger cream puffs ... not so good.  I got the process down in my very small kitchen and today the process was much less messy and painful (trying to work in such small quarters).  I am moving right along and have them in the oven and they are not cooking ... 15 more minutes and they are not cooking ... 30 more minutes and they are not cooking and finally after 1 1/2 hours I got them done enough to use ... you know that they have to be completely dried our and puffy so they have those good holes in them to put all of that wonderful Bavarian Pastry Cream that I am going to make tomorrow.

This is not the first time with the oven not working here  ... it wasn't too long ago that they  they replace the thermostat on it.   But as it turns out this was a good thing that it decided not to work when they were here working on the washer.  I always feed these guys whatever I make and they always look forward to getting the good stuff so when the oven wasn't working right they got real concerned ... that was going to put a damper on what I could and couldn't make so they said that right after lunch they would bring me a new (5 years old) stove that I could try out. Now my day is starting to get better ... by this afternoon I will be up and running again ... until the next thing breaks ... but for today it is all good.  Way to go 1HappyChef ... I guess that the way to getting your appliances fixed is to always feed the maintenance guys?

So, I took some pictures of the "bigger cream puffs" that took 1 1/2 hours to back ... but hey ... it is all good now.  More to come tomorrow ... we will see what happen with the Bavarian Pastry Cream.  Maybe I just worry too much and nothing will happen?

I have to tell you all though that I am a happy camper now that I have decided to get busy again doing something everyday and not worrying about all of my aches and pains and what is going to happen.  This has been the happiest I have been the past couple of days working on this project.

Have a really great day everyone.  Good day for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Croquembouche

Good afternoon everyone.

When I got up this morning I decided that I was going to start some sort of project ... no matter how bad I hurt and really wasn't up to it.  I have been laying around hurting and feeling sorry for myself too long so here is what I ended up doing.

I have been dreaming for about a week now about making a "Croquembouche" ... (it was probably the drugs that made me do it) you all know what that is right?  In my sleep I have been baking, making and putting this thing together for so long now I feel as if I could do it in my sleep.

So, when I got up today I made 100 mini cream puffs ... the base for the Croquembouche.  Pictures included.  Tomorrow I will make the Bavarian Pastry Cream and then allow it to cool over night and then you have to fill all 100 cream puffs with the cream ... so now I got to Friday ... yea!  Busy again at last.  Then when you have that step done then you make some caramel and you dip each cream puff into the caramel (it acts as glue) and you begin building a tree sort of shape.  When the tree is built you can also drizzle it with chocolate or I may use the caramel ... I really like caramel.

I will take pictures every step of the way so you can all see how this is done and how really fantastic this thing is when it is done!

This is something that I always wanted to do in school but we never got around to it and it always fascinated me.  I am very excited about this little project that I have created for myself.

Have a really great afternoon everyone ... signing off for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Tuesday

Hey everyone .. this is going to be short and sweet tonight.

I am not feeling very well, I am still on this very strong medicine and after the first week of feeling "high" all of the time ... feeling sort of good the next week and now this week feeling very sick to my stomach and getting hot and cold, and shaking so ... on Sunday, New Year's Day I went off of all of the meds. and now ... I can not believe how fast it happened but my back and leg are worse than they were to begin with so I have decided to go to the Dr. on Thursday and see a different Dr. so I can get another opinion ... sounds like a plan, right?

For now it is all that I have got ... I hurt so bad that I just want some answers that don't include medication ... at least not that kind that I was taking.

I will check in tomorrow to let you know how I am doing ... so, good night from 1HappyChef.  :)  Have a good night everyone and take care.

Happy Happy ..

Happy New Year's Day!

I already did something very stupid so I hope that I am exempt from doing anything else stupid for the rest of the year.

I enjoyed a very good dinner with my friend Karen (Mary Donnelly's).
She is a very good cook and it was a pleasure to go to her house and eat her good food!  Thank you Karen for all that you are always doing for me ... you are a very good friend!

It's getting late and this 1HappyChef is going to turn in for the day.

Stay out of the wind and have a really great evening.  :)

Happy New Year!

Happy Happy New Year!

I wish everyone health, happiness, love and lots of family.

Starting tomorrow I am going to start writing about "food" again.  I won't be in school but I am going to find something interesting about food everyday to write about and share with all of you. I also will be taking lots of pictures of the food that I will be making and sharing everyday.

Have a really great year ... make the best of everyday.  Be happy and stay positive and everyday try to help someone in some little way and at the end of the day "you" will feel so good.

Have a really great New Year from 1HappyChef.  :)  Cheers!

New Year's Eve

Saturday and New Year's Eve ... hummmm ... not sure what to write about today.

I guess that you could say that it is a day for reflection and to try and figure out how you are going to make the new year better than the past year.  I am not really smart when it comes to figuring this stuff out.

I think that I figured out last New Year's Eve how to make it a little better than the year before and I think that for the most part I was quite successful.  I actually had a very good year until the first of December when my back got so bad and I couldn't stand any longer doing what I loved most ... cooking.

I think that pretty much life is a crap shoot ... you can either go with the flow or fight it and be unhappy all of the time.  I have learned to go with it and over all I am a pretty happy person.  I think that if I continue on this path that it will only get better and better.

My words of wisdom would be to always stay positive.  Always find the good in whomever or whatever you are doing.  There is good in "every day" ... we just have to find it and make it a happy productive day.  Everyday I find the very smallest things to be grateful for ... life, health and happiness are a gift and we should always treasure the gifts that we have in our lives.

Happy New Year to all of my readers.  I wish you all health, happiness, love, family.  I will check in next year 2012.  Good bye for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Friday

Good morning everyone.  Happy Friday ... enjoy your Holiday weekend!

Only one more day left after today to start the changes for the New Year.  As for me I have already started making the changes necessary to make my New Year a better one. 

I have started cleaning out my "house" so to speak.  I have started getting rid of all negativity in my life so the New Year will only be positive.

I am not too sure yet what "positive" means but I know that if the negativity is gone it can only be better, right?

I heard from school yesterday and as I have mentioned before everything regarding school has been put on hold until I get my back taken care of.  I am hoping that this process doesn't take too much longer as I am very tired of not being able to do anything without hurting.  To feel good would be a very good thing!

I am going to enjoy a quiet New Year's weekend and then I thought that I would go and stay with my mom for a few days and visit.  I don't know how much I will be able to help her with my back problem but maybe I can cook a couple of special meals for us or something?  She just got a new little freezer so maybe I can make something that she can put in the freezer for a later date.  I think that what ever we do that it will just be very nice to have the opportunity to spend some time with her.  I will be there probably at least 2 days and then I will come home and be ready to face whatever is going to happen with my back.

The following week I have 2 Dr.'s appointments so I am hoping by the end of the week of 1/13 I will have some answers and be able to move forward with whatever the future holds next.

As for this blog I am not sure what I should do.  It started out to be about cooking and school ... nothing says that it has to say that way but my question is ... do I really have enough interesting things to say that you my readers will want to keep on reading?  I would like some help with this ... if you have any ideas about what I should do or what I could write about please let me know.  I am open to all suggestions ... please help. Maybe I could still write about food ... just in some sort of different way or point of view?  Or maybe I should just start cooking at home and taking pictures?

Enough for now from 1HappyChef.  I am just a little frustrated right now ... sorry!  Have a really great Friday and I will catch up again really soon.  :)

Thursday

Good morning everyone.  Only a couple more days till New Years ... what exactly does all of that mean?

Any one out there have any resolutions?  I think every year we all at least come up with one that we pledge that we will never break but usually only a few days later we have all but forgotten about it and what we pledged.

As for myself ... I don't think that I will bother to make any.  At this point in time I need to change everything if I want it to end up differently this time next year ... that is way too many things to write down so I should just look at the entire package and go from there and start with the easy things and move on to the much harder things until I have made some sort of change that I will be happy with and can live with.  I don't want to make any drastic changes ... I just want to shake up the latter part of my life a little and maybe if it is in the cards for me maybe have a new friend to share some time with?  I have NO idea where I will find this friend or how it will happen but I am confident that this will be the year that things are going to change for me in many many ways.

I think that for now school will not get finished because of all of the problems that I am having with my legs and back.  I need to stay on top of that and get the problem fixed before I can even consider returning to school.  I would like very much to finish and get the certificate but it is not necessary for me to know that I did a fantastic job while I was in school and that I am a really wonderful cook.  The thing that is nagging at me is that I am not a quitter ... but I have not quit just to quit ... I have not really quit at all yet ... I am on medical leave right now but I don't know how long the school will leave me at that status before they drop me.  I am a little disappointed in Dorsey that I have not been notified in over 2 weeks now with what to do next.  I faxed them the information about being sick over two weeks ago and no one has been in touch as of yet to let me know what my options are ... Dorsey has been inconsistent with what they say and do since the beginning so I must say that I am not surprised.

Well enough about Dorsey and the up coming New Year.  It will be what it will be ... you hear for your entire life that you and only you have the power to change what you don't like ... I am not so sure that is true ... or maybe I just haven't been trying hard enough?  What ever the answer is I know that I will work harder on it in 2012.

Have a really great day today and enjoy the last few days of 2011.  Signing off for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

PS>I am thinking and thinking really hard about what I can write about everyday now if it isn't going to be about school ... can anyone out there come up with any ideas or things that they would like to read about?  Please help ... and thanks!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone. I am not sure where to start … 1HappyChef is not so HAPPY these days. I was cut down in my tracks with this back problem that I have.

I would have to say that I am probably a little impatient these days as I am getting really sick of being sick. This now is going on a little over 2 months and I don't see the end in sight yet. I have learned some things along the way though … I have a whole new regard for people that are in constant bad pain all of the time. That is me right now and I have to tell you that it is not fun at all and not to be in pain is not fun either. The drugs are so strong that when I take them I do not know what I am doing, I can't drive, talk, walk … nothing … I can barely function. So because of this side effect I have stopped taking them for 2 of the doses … now I only take the one right before I go to bed so I don't have to worry about what I can't do while I am sleeping. But by doing this I am back in pain again … not as bad as before but still a lot of pain. I have another Dr. appointment on /13 to see what the next step will be … I hope that they can take me out of my misery.

About this past year … I am not sure yet what to think. I do know that for the first time in my lifetime I actually did something that I wanted to do and as it turned out I was very good at it but in the end …. I am not sure what I expected to change but I guess that I was surprised when nothing did change. This is hard for me to explain to you and I am not sure even what I am trying to say but I just expected something to be different at the end of this year and I realize that I couldn't change what happened to my back but it just isn't that … it is …. can any of you explain it?

Please don't think that I am not grateful for all of the wonderful things that did happen this year … hey, I have a food blog that is being read around the world and is being published in the Oakland Press News Paper, I gave my very first speech, I was on the Channel 7 News, I cooked with the TV Star Ann Thornton, I can skin a 5' Salmon like a pro, I can cut down a side of beef with the best of them and I loved going to school and learning all of the special things that they teach that I didn't think that I was even interested in … problem is that now that I am no longer going to school I don't know what to do with my day again. I was so busy for one entire year … and at some point my mom asked me … what are you going to do Denise when you don't have school to go to everyday any longer? I don't think that I ever answered her for sure but I do know that I have been out of school for most of the past 7-8 weeks sick and I don't like being home anymore. I like seeing people and socializing everyday … It is way better than talking to myself. For me school was not necessarily to end up being some big time chef … for me it was to get me out of my apartment … but in the end I was very good at school and enjoyed learning.

I had a wonderful support system … my MOM came through for me in every way possible. She is still supporting me and helping me make some tough choices about finishing school, getting my back operated on and what the future holds for me or what I will or won't be able to do with a bad back … and if I am to be honest I would have to say that maybe I will not be able to be some great chef because I will not be able to be on my feet that long because of my back. Cooking for me might just be for fun as it has always been … only now I have the knowledge to make it even more fun and interesting. And if that is what is in store for me … I will roll with it.

I just want to know … I don't like NOT KNOWING what is going to happen next. I like knowing what is next …

I need to keep writing in the blog but now that I am not in school I am not sure what to write. I will keep you updated with the back operation and what is going on with that but the blog started out to be a day to day of happenings at school … and for now there is no more school I will have to write on the day to day of …. any ideas?

What would be interesting to write and read about?

I do know that I don't plan on being alone for another year … maybe I could write about how I plan to find someone who is honest, sincere, funny and who wants to spend some time with me. I am not looking to be married again, or even live with someone again … I just don't want to be alone anymore. I would like to find someone who likes to eat … someone I could cook for, maybe someone to travel with, maybe someone to live in Florida with?

Well, this is an update of the past few weeks … I am hoping that it doesn't take this long again to write again … I don't want the Oakland Press to stop publishing my blog because I am not updating it as often as I should … I will write again soon.

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families and I hope that you all have a Happy New Year … stay safe and healthy! Good night from 1HappyChef. :)

Friday

Entire house made from Chocolate

Good morning everyone.  Hope that you are all well today ... I will get the results of my MRI in just a few minutes and then go from there to see what needs to be done to help me with all of this pain ... so for me it is a very good morning to get some answers.

Chef David, Chef Daniel, myself and Chef David's class

Yesterday was a very nice day.  We had to deliver the ginger bread houses to the OHCC so they could go on display and be auctioned off.  We left the building (school) with 4 and they were all very nice and we were so proud of our work and then when we were bringing them into the club for display the barn crashed.  It was so sad ... we all worked so very hard on all of them that we were just devastated.  We were going to try and put it together (we came prepared for anything) but the lady in charge said that she would prefer that we didn't put it together because she said if someone bid on it and it broke up again on their way home that that person would be mad.  After we thought about it we agreed and took it back to school when we were done for a barn burning.

We also got a tour of the entire club and it is really something.  I took some pictures that I will post for you to see.

Some of the ginger bread houses were really really great!  I mean we put hours into ours that we made and I though that they were pretty cool but some of the ones that we saw before we left were well WOW is the only way to describe them. 

Denise, Esther, Angie and Tammy's lighthouse

I also added the Christmas tradition for the United States of America, there are some things that I learned today reading about Christmas in the USA. 

Well, for me it is time to get started with my day so I will be saying good bye for now.  Please stay safe in this snowy weather.  Good day for now from 1Happy Chef.  :)

Take care everyone and have a really great day!

                                                   

Christmas in United States of America
Santa Claus was born in US in the 1860's he was named this as he had a white beard and a belly, so he was named Santa Claus as this was the Dutch word for St Nicholas, Sintaklaas. Although the Dutch had bought him with them in the 17th century, he did not become an important person at Christmas until the Novelist Washington Irving put him in a novel that he wrote in 1809. This first Santa Claus was still known as St. Nicholas, he did smoke a pipe, and fly around in a wagon without any reindeer, but he did not have his red suit or live at the North Pole, he did however bring presents to children every year.

In 1863 He was given the name Santa Claus and bore the red suit, pipe, and his reindeer and sleigh.
Now Christmas celebrations vary greatly between regions of the United States, because of the variety of nationalities which have settled in it.

Early European settlers brought many traditions to the United States. Many settled in the early days in the South, these settlers would send Christmas greetings to their distant neighbors by shooting firearms and letting off fireworks. In Hawaii this practice is still in use as under the sunny skies, Santa Claus arrives by boat and Christmas dinner is eaten outdoors.

In America the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit.

The majority of Americans celebrate Christmas with the exchange of gifts and greetings and with family visits. For many, the day begins on Christmas Eve with the Midnight Mass. At Christmas it snows in many states, so dinner is usually eaten indoors.

American homes are decorated with holly, mistletoe and branches of trees, most have a Christmas tree hung with electric lights, tinsel, baubles, and strings of popcorn and candy canes. 

There are two homes for Santa Claus in the United States one is in Torrington, Connecticut, where Santa and his helpers give out presents. The other home is in Wilmington, New York, where a village for Santa and his reindeer is located.

Christmas traditions/China

Good morning to all of my readers.  Here is the first Christmas tradition that I will be posting.  I have looked up the information and all of the Countries celebrate differently and I think you might find it as interesting as I have how different all of our traditions really are.  I think that I will post one or two of these traditions each day until I get through every country ... it is very interesting all of the differences.

Today at school we will still be doing the Ginger Bread Houses.  Frankly I am happy that this is winding down and also happy that the entire MOD is winding down and about over with.  Only 2 weeks left and then a break for about too weeks and then we start out externships.  Wow, this year has flown by so very quickly.  In a blink and it is over with and I will be graduating.

I picked China first because that was my RP and I learned a lot about China doing it.  Speaking of the RP all of that has to be turned in next Monday for the final grade ... hum, wonder what that will end up being?  I did everything that was required but I still am not too confident about what the final grade will be.

I am also waiting to find out the results from my MRI the other day and waiting to hear what can be done to make all of the pain go away.  I hope that I hear today or I may call tomorrow and see if the MRI has been read yet or find out when I can find out about the results.  I have another Dr. appointment next Friday so maybe I won't find out until then?  I have to tell you though that the meds. are making me goofy and somethings I feel so weird that I can't even talk right.  It's like someone else is in my head trying to talk ... so, the sooner I don't have to take these anymore the better.

I will be saying good bye for now from 1HappyChef.  Have a really great day everyone and I will write later and post some new pictures of the final products of the ginger bread houses.  Take care everyone ... stay warm and well today!

Christmas in China

The Christian children of China decorate trees with colorful ornaments. These ornaments are made from paper in the shapes of flowers, chains and lanterns. They also hang muslin stockings hoping that Christmas Old Man will fill them with gifts and treats.

The Chinese Christmas trees are called "Trees of Light." Santa Claus is called Dun Che Lao Ren which means "Christmas Old Man.".

The non-Christian Chinese call this season the Spring Festival and celebrate with many festivities that include delicious meals and pay respects to their ancestors. The children are the main focus of these celebrations, they receive new clothes and toys, eat delectable food and watch firecrackers displays.

Tuesday and Ginger Bread Houses

Good evening to all of my loyal readers.  Haven't had much to post lately but I will try and do better.  

Today we are still working on the Ginger Bread Houses and they have to be done by tomorrow or it will be too late.  They are suppose to be at the club by 10 AM on Thursday.  I will post some pictures of the progress that we have made so far ... they are starting to look pretty good.

I think starting tomorrow I will also write about Christmas traditions ... so, if any of you have any really neat traditions would you please comment and I will post them.  One that I know of right now is the Christmas tradition of the 7 fishes ... I will find out more about that so I can tell you all about it.  I also know of people who don't eat any meat on Christmas and I know that some eat black eyed peas for New Years to bring them good luck for the coming year.  I think that this will be fun learning about these traditions together, right?

So for now I will be saying good night to all from 1HappyChef ... :)  Have a good evening everyone ... I will write again soon.  Take care ...

Saturday

Good evening everyone.  Hope that you are all having a really great weekend.

As for me I just got home from getting an MRI .. neat machine if you are not afraid to be in small places.  I had to get an MRI with contrast of my spine ... hope that it isn't bad news. What ever the news I guess that I will just have to handle it.  I went to school yesterday with all Dr.'s papers and talked it over with Chef Abbey and I think that we can make it work so I can pass this mod and move on to the externship on Jan. 10, 1012.  I am sure that it will all work out the way that it is suppose to, right?

To the right are up-dated pictures of the Lighthouse and the Ginger Bread Barn.  I have not been able to work on these as much as I wanted because of my problem and this is my project that I brought to the school so it is very frustrating not to be able to work on it ... but I am still apart of it and I know that the rest of the team are going to do a wonderful job and they both are going to be beautiful!  Thank you team!

Tomorrow is Sunday and I am hoping with the new meds. that I got yesterday that I will feel better in school this coming week.  The Dr. put me on 2 weeks of bed rest ... that isn't going to happen but I will be very careful and take it easy until I know what I am dealing with.

So for tonight it will be good night from 1HappyChef.  Have a really great Sunday and I will check in again really soon.  :)

2 AM Friday

Good morning to all of my readers.  Guess what?  Can't sleep again ... this is happening more and more often these days and I am not liking it very much.  Tomorrow morning at 9 AM I have to be at a new Dr.'s office to see what we are going to do about my back and hip.  This morning I woke up with a whole new symptom and it wasn't a nice one.  My pain shifted from my right side to my left side and for a couple of hours in the morning I could hardly walk or stand on my left side until I sort of walked it off a little and too way too many pain pills. I am not sure what else to do at this point.  I knew that I had the Dr.'s appointment this morning so I thought that I would just tough it out ... it wasn't a very nice day but I did get 1/2 of a book read that I have wanted to read for a very long time now.  I was so concerned about babying my back and hip that I got into this book and have had a hard time putting it down once that I got into it.  I also think that reading is much more enjoyable now as I have my new glasses and they are GREAT!  I can see and I can read ... yea team!

After the Dr. tomorrow I am suppose to go to school to try and work on the lighthouse and the ginger bread barn ... we are running out of time but it depends what the Dr. tells me that I can and can't do.  My health is much more important than the ginger bread stuff ... I will miss helping though.

So that will be it for me tonight/this morning.  I think that I will try and lay down and see what happens ... maybe I will get a few hours of sleep before I have to get up and get ready?  I sure hope so ... I know that I would feel much better.

Something surprising did happen today .. my 88 year old mother told me that if they have to operate on me that she would come over and take care of me ... thank you for that mom ... you are the best!  That was the best offer that I have had in a very long time ... now I want to get an operation so my mom can take care of me.

Good night for now from 1HappyChef.  Have a good day today and I will check in later with the prognoses from the Dr.  Hope it isn't too bad of news.  Take care for now ... :)

Wednesday

Good evening everyone.  Not too much to report to you this evening.  

Today in the kitchen was Thailand food.  Sorry I have no pictures to show you.

Today we went to the Great Lakes Crossing Mall and went to the Sweet Shop and bought some cobble stone candy for our Lighthouse that we are building.  The candy is very expensive so we could only get a little (a little over a pound) so we will have to build up the rest with ginger bread pebbles that we will have to make.  This is getting exciting now and pretty soon we will see this beautiful lighthouse standing in front of us and be in aww ... wondering how we ever did it and got it finished in time.  Next Thursday is the day that it has to be at the OHCC at 4:30PM.  Boy or boy ... I sure hope we make it.

Tomorrow in the kitchen is Indian food ... hummmm ... I don't think that I care of Indian food but I guess that we will see.

So for now it will be good bye from 1HappyChef.  Take care everyone and have a good night ... :)