In case you haven't heard yet...the House dropped Artic drilling from the budget yesterday! They also dropped drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. For those of us who have seen Alaska know how important it is to preserve the last stretch of "true" wilderness in the United States. I can't even begin to tell you how this has totally made my day.

I hate to keep talking about the weather, but we've been getting some really weird days lately. Yesterday it was sunny and 70. And in November, I find that just a bit too much. It's just weird. Emily and I went up to Rheinbeck, got some ice-cream and walked around town looking at the little shops and such. It was really nice, but just strange, since the leaves are really starting to come down now. Very strange. Also went to see a couple of good movies this weekend. Rachel and I saw Jarhead on Friday night, since Emily was feeling poorly. Really amazing movie. Again, a good bit of language, but a very interesting and slightly different look at wars, and modern wars in particular. Then last night, Emily, who was feeling much better, and I went to see Good Night and Good Luck, which was probably one of the very best movies I've seen in quite a while. In case you don't know, it tells the story of Robert Murrow, the CBS news anchor, and how he took on McCarthy in the 1950's. It's really well made, and very insightful on the role of the news in America, taken directly from transcripts and footage. Here are some of those photos that I keep promising. I should have more when I get my camera back from Steve. this is the fuzzy poster Emily colored, which is right next to our front doorour refrigerator, complete with Nan's "Ariel in Boat"Richie and I in Riverside Park

Well, Hallowe'en is over, so now I have to focus on other upcoming holidays. We had a lot of fun this weekend though. Steve and his roommates had a lively party Saturday night. The costumes were wonderful (I'll post pictures soon), I went as a witch. Emily was also able to make it, which was really fun. We didn't really get a chance to talk to some of the people we really enjoy talking with, though, so Steve wants to have a dinner party in a couple of weeks so we can get together with Josh, Liz, Joe, and Catherine (as well as Brent, Halley, Richie and Dana). I really want to talk to Joe and Catherine some more, since the times I see them we usually don't get to talk all that much and they are both very big foodies. Which I pretty rarely find, so I'm pretty pumped when I do. Baking is going really well. You guys would really be jealous. Yesterday we make e'clairs, cream puffs, cheesecakes, and fruit tarts, and the day before we worked on puff pastries, danishes and croissants. Today we're doing sponge cake and an Italian buttercream frosting with chocolate decorations. It's actually not all that hard not to eat it during class though. After being around that much sugar, all I want to eat is something very simple and clean, Asian preferably. Emily and I just discovered the most fun thing in the entire world. We've started taking this class called Latin Rhythms at the Rec Center on Tuesday nights. It's basically some type of aerobics class where we just follow one of our chefs dancing around to Latin music. It's basically the most fun we've ever had. And a super-terrific workout all at once.

I'm writing this from my new job as a tutor. Since it's the first day of classes in the block, there really isn't anyone to tutor, so I'm just sitting here reading Understanding Baking. Quite a good read if anyone wants to know the science behind baking and ingredients, or really even wants to learn a bit more about them.The weather is crazy right now. According to the Weather Channel, Hurricane Wilma has been traveling up the Atlantic and met up with a Nor'easter that was already there, so we're really getting hit right now. It's been raining straight through since last night, and doesn't seem to be slowing down, and the wind is pretty strong. I heard a rumor that it might even snow a bit tonight. But since I really have nothing to do until Friday, I'm alright with that.

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. Last week was a very short week at school since we didn't have class on Monday or Thursday, and this weekend just flew by. Emily, Rachel and I went out to dinner at a nice Chinese place in Rhinecliff, a small town about twenty minutes north of us, and then went to see Elizabethtown, which I loved. We get $2 tickets through our rec center, so we've been trying to take advantage of that. As most of you know, my Mom, Jodi, Kelli, Rachel, Jane, Wendee, Pam, and Ellen came to visit the other weekend. It was a very fun weekend. The ladies got to do plenty of sightseeing, and, of course, shopping. From everything I've heard, the weekend was a success, and I'm hoping that everyone will post or share their photos. Although I'm generally more interested in people pictures than city pictures.

I can't believe it's Thursday already. This week has gone by pretty quickly. Last Sunday Steve and I went to the M.Ward, the Shins, and White Stripes concert in Brooklyn. Coney Island actually. But since it's after Labor Day, and rather late in the day at that, it was dead. But the concert was a lot of fun. All of them are really good live. I've seen the opening bands before, but this was the first time I'd gotten to see the White Stripes, and they did not disappoint. Classes have been going along just fine, if a bit boring. I have two quizzes on Friday, so I feel like I should at least look over my notes a bit. The highlight of my week so far was hiking at the Vanderbuilt mansion yesterday morning. Most of the lawn is really well cared for, although still a bit brown since we haven't gotten much rain this year, but there is a thick strip of woods between the bottom of the hills/cliffs and the river. There's a dirt road running through it for park service vehicles to run between their headquarters and Bard rock, which is where the Vanderbuilts used to dock their boats and such. You can get right down to the river there, and it's quite nice and peacefull. Beyond this, there are also some footpaths through the woods, which I wandered down. Really cool.Other than that, it's been a pretty chill week. Got up to do yoga this morning at 9am, which is always nice, and tomorrow Emily, Rachel, Katie and I are going to Olive Garden because Katie loves it and Rachel's never been. I'd rather not go, but whatever. I can handle it for one day. I'm going to try to make a 7pm showing of the Corpse Bride tonight, so I'll let you know what I think.

I've been to all of my classes now, and it's quite apparent to me that this will not be an overly taxing six weeks. Two of my classes, menus development and costing, are taught by the same man and are essentially, just an extension of the other. And neither is very difficult. There may be a bit of work, but nothing hard. And the third class, nutrition, seems like it will at least be interesting, even if it is a bit basic. I have found myself with a good deal of freetime. I haven't found a job yet since they're pretty hard to find between blocks like we are. So I've been doing a lot of sitting around, reading, staring at the walls with Emily. Although Rachel, Emily and I did play a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit, 90's edition. And this weekend we went into the city for Rachel and Nan's co-worker's birthday party and so I could pick up some things that were still at Steve's apartment. Emily and I had lunch with her old roomates, which was loads of fun, got our hair cut, which was badly needed, and watched "Thumbsucker", which was really good. very good even, but not for those of you uncomfortable with r-ratings. Now we're waiting for john wensel, a guy from Rachel and my class last year, to come over to watch a movie with us.

The summer blog seemed to work pretty well so I decided to keep it up here during the school year. I also should be able to keep it updated a bit better, since I'll probably be searching for an excuse not to do homework. Like I'm doing right now. I've moved into my on-campus housing, a lovely little trailer in our own little trailerpark here. It's furnished, so we don't have to worry about that. and our friend Nan, who's in the background and actually lives off campus, has taken up partial residence for homework and studying and just hanging out. We have a whole kitchen, a nice little bathroom and a bit of a powder nook to get ready in. I'm pretty much unpacked, although I still have some books and winter clothes that I was going to store at Steve's apartment in the city. But I have enough room here, so I'm going down to pick it up this weekend. Today is technically the first day of classes, since our first two days back are spent in re-orientation and registration stuff. It's nice though, because it gives me the time to finish up the loose ends of my extern book. It's pretty much done, I just have to draw up some outlines of my station and such. I got a very good evaluation from my chef, all fives (the highest possible). His comments went like this (Mom I know you wanted to read it): "Sarah (he never spelled my name correctly) did a fantastic job at Oceana. She had a great attitude, was energetic and inquisitive. She was also punctual and a hard worker. A+++"I'm a pm student now, so that means that all of my classes are in the afternoon. I only have three classes for the first 6 weeks though, I got out of management and restaurant law, since I already took both of them. So now I have menu development today, and costing controls and nutrition tomorrow. I'll write to let you know how they go.

New Digs

Well, extern's over now, so I'm moving on to a new year at school and a new blog. You can continue to check up on what's going on with me at http://sarasbackupstate.blogspot.com. I'll post more often, I promise

Summer's End

Well, the end of the summer is finally here...I'm done with my extern, have been since last Thursday. My last day was pretty uneventfull. Did my job, Chef Neil shook my hand, thanked me for my work and offered his references and help finding a job when I graduated. Pretty uneventful. Friday, also extremely uneventful, as I pretty much did not get out of bed all day. The rest of my time has been a bit more constructive. I met all the people at work Saturday at the Bellvue bar for drinks, which was a lot of fun. Steve and I have seen several movies, had a picnic in Central Park and basically just wandered around the city. We're planning to go out to Montauk, which is the last stop on the Long Island RR, and to go to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) sometime this week. I also want to meet Melissa for a glass of wine sometime before I go home. Which is only one week away...

Sorry! Sorry!

I've been told several times lately that I've been remiss in my blogging duties. So here goes the grand up-date. I only have 3 more days of work...yup, that's right. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And I've been moved to garde manger (pronounced gar-mon-jay), where I'm responsible for several dishes. I have a tuna tartar, a red and white tuna sashimi, oysters, an heirloom tomato terrine, and a gazpacho. It's quite a bit more work, but an invaluable asset.

Tomorrow, Monday, I'm going to trail at Daniel. I'm really excited, mainly to see the kitchen, to watch the work. It should be a relatively easy day. I just wish my allergies weren't bothering me so I didn't sound like a goose.

Oh, and for all of you keeping track of my celebrity sightings, we saw Jimmy Fallon at the Bellvue bar a couple of weeks ago after work. Pretty boring actually, except that they have a really good jukebox so Adam (our am-fish-cook and avid classic rock fan) could totally rock out, kareoke-style.

Half-Summer

As I'm coming closer to the end of my extern, I've been thinking a good bit about what the summers been and where I'm going next. It feels like a half-summer for me. It's hot and humid, so it must be summer. But all of the things that have previously signified summer to me, swimming, the outdoors, my dogs, gardens, the fair, are absent. I spend as much time as I can outside, but that's still not much.

A couple of weeks ago, I did get to spend enough time outside to get a tan. Emily, Emily (my friend Emily's roomate), and I went to the Bronx Zoo, which was really cool. It's really quite big, with lots of really good animals. My highlights were the baby flamingo (which was small, white and fluffy), the puffins (always), and the sea lions (also with babies). So, basically, either small cute animals, or ones that I had seen in Alaska. They also had a really good tiger exibit, and a butterfly house that was amazing. Just a big greenhouse full of flowers and butterflies. The Emilys and I walked around and ate a good bit of ice-cream and bought souvenir cups. And it's only a 40 minute train ride away.

Unfortunately for me, Emily left for home yesterday. She's taking her little break at the end of her extern as opposed to the beginning like I did, so she's spending time in Cinncinnatti with her twin sister before Katie (her sister) starts law school. I miss having someone to force me to get out of the house on Sundays. I just lay around reading. Well, I'll see her in a month at school.

As for where I'm going, I'm going to talk to Chef Neil to see if he can get me a trail at Daniel. A trail is our version of the interview/entrance exam where you go work for a day and watch service. Daniel is considered by some to be among the top restaurants in the city, and one that consistently turns out the best cooks of any restaurant in the US. It also has 4 stars, a book written about it (with plenty of foul language, for those who may be tempted to read it), and a very good chef, Daniel Boulud. I'm just going to check it out, see what it's all about, without having to pay for a meal.

Great new country album

Real quick first of all, for those reading who enjoy country music, and a more classic country at that, you should all check out Ryan Adam's new album. Very good. He's got a great voice and his return to country from the last album, rock and roll, is welcome. We've been listening to a good bit of it at work lately.

We've also had quite a star-studded week this week. Ted Turner had a business dinner, Katie Curic had dinner (she used to be a major regular. she basically ate nowhere else), and Al Sharpton came in for dinner tonight. It really isn't all that interesting though. It means very little to our work, I don't get to see them at all, so it's pretty much business as usual. Only with recognizable names being bandied about.

And now to the real exciting events this week...who else has finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?!?! I want to know what you think! I'm not into spoilers, so I won't say anything. But I either warn everyone who doesn't want to know what's going on to not read any responses or for anyone to just email me at woodss42@yahoo.com. And if anyone hasn't read it yet, do so, post haste. Catch up with the rest of the books if you need to. I even have them at home. Unless Kelli's shipped them to me yet. Then she has them all. Borrow hers. They're very fun, easy, the perfect summer read. And if you're not into HP and would prefer a good Dracula story, check out the Historian. It's quite good, this summers' runaway bestseller. It's a mystery, thriller, literary chase involving a very Bram Stoker's Dracula-ian plot. Also a good summer read. Actually, how about everyone posts their reading lists for the summer. What they've read, what they're reading, what they're into. Mine would be huge. Other then Harry Potter and the Historian, I've read or am reading: Franny and Zooey(salinger), Silvia Plath's journals, a collection of Richard Brautigan short-stories, a biography of MLK Fisher, and the latest McSweeneys, which comes with a comb. And that doesn't include various magazines and literary periodicals. I spend a lot of time on the subway.

The life of the celebrity chef

As I'm sure some of you know by now, I got to meet Dad in New Jersey last Sunday. New Brunswick, to be exact. I've been told that it's a nice little college town, but I don't think we found that part of it. It was nice enough, but way too hot of a day to do much exploring. So we went to see a movie. And at only $6 a ticket, I had a bit of reverse sticker shock. It was wonderful to get to see Dad for a bit though, and I wish it could be more frequent.

Today was actually a bit out of the ordinary. I went into work like normal, but after I'd been there for an hour (and was already looking for things to do) Chef Scott (chef de cuisine) caught me as I headed upstairs to tell me that he had a mission for me. Missions are especially fun things, since they involve leaving the restaurant, unlike projects, which are just more work. My mission today was to take all of Chef Neil's (executive chef) mise en place (stuff he needs) to a photo shoot for New York magazine. Chef was supposed to pick it up on his way to the shoot, but an accident wouldn't let him get through in time. So, I had to take two pretty decent sized boxes, along with his jacket and apron and such, into a taxi (they paid) and then down to west 35th st. I actually made it to the studio before any of the chefs did, although Chef Neil was pretty punctual. To make a long story short, I was allowed to stay and watch the shoot for a bit, before I had to be back at the restaurant to get ready for service. I got to meet the other chefs involved, all of whom are very good and very well received. There was Wyle Dufresne, of WD-50, Marcus Samuelson, of Aquavit, and Scott Conant, of Alto, who was really nervous because his Times review is coming out tomorrow. All-in-all, a very interesting day. The shoot itself was pretty boring. A lot of sitting around, waiting for the photographer to get all ready. But the whole process was interesting, as was seeing chefs of this caliber interacting with one another. And the food was really quite cool too. I'm going to try to keep an eye out for the issue and I'll let you know when it comes out.

As promised, and way late, here are pictures of my bedroom. It's a very comfortable room, all in all. Especially since all I do is eat crackers and cheese and sleep there. The only real problems I've had were when I first moved in when it was still quite chilly at night and I couldn't figure out how to turn the heat on. And then just the other day my ceiling light burnt out, and it's a quite tall ceiling, so I can't change it. But I have my lamp, so I'm managing just fine.

I get another 2 day weekend coming up here. Brent is throwing a bbq at one of Columbia's dorms, so Steve and I are going to go to that on Sunday, and then Monday will probably just be spent doing the normal things, eating and watching movies. It's amazing how much I manage to eat in one day. But I figure, since I barely eat the rest of the week, I can eat whatever I want on Sundays. Tomorrow morning, since I don't have to be into work until later, I'm going to stop into the Union Square greenmarket and pick up some produce, and maybe something else, for the bbq. I never really know what I'll find there. It really makes me miss the garden. Oh well. All in good time.

Bibimbop

There's a restaurant in the east village, 2nd avenue and 8th street to be exact. There is no immediately discernible name on the building, but it is unmistakably Asian, Japanese to be specific. Dark wood awnings and bright red lanterns stick out between Toy Tokyo and the random bar that neighbor it. Stepping through the door, onto the wide worn wooden floor that was green in a past life, I'm greeted almost immediately by heavily accented 'Hello!'s, coming from somewhere in the back of the long narrow room. The small tables are packed tightly, as most are in the city, and the walls are covered with generic Japanese prints and sheets of computer paper proclaiming the specials. I'm led directly to the sushi bar that takes up the back half of one wall, precisely the spot that I asked not to sit at. I take a menu, although I know exactly what it is that I came for. The menu is made up of the normal Japanese fare, sushi platters, miso soup, ginger-dressed iceberg lettuce salads. Things look up as you continue though, into Japanese entrees, tonkatsu, teriaki. But this is still not what I'm looking for. Japanese food is actually quite different than other oriental Asian cuisines. The flavors are simplified to the extreme and the highest emphasis is placed on presentation, not complexity of flavor. The true nature of this little eatery, however, is found on one page at the back, headed 'Korean'. This is what I'm looking for. The bibimbop. Rice, in an iron bowl so hot it's crisped and fried just by sitting there, topped with strips of beef, bean sprouts, carrots, and an egg broken over top. The heat of the bowl will cook it, although the creamy richness before it has completely coagulated adds a whole new dimension. A plate of condiments arrives, kimchee, pickled cucumbers, and raw bean sprouts, as well as a dish of bright red chili sauce. I begin to eat it just as I always do, mix a bit with my chopsticks, adding the chili sauce in small bits, cautiously, nibbling on the kimchee as I go, when I hear one of the sushi chefs talking in front of me. 'Spoon' he says. I insist that, no, I'm alright. I know how to use chopsticks fairly well, I don't need foreign implements. An elderly Asian woman appears at my side then, also insisting 'Spoon'. I could tell that she was not young, but, like so many Asians, she didn't seem old either. Merely older. She took the spoon she had brought, emptied my condiment plate, with the exception of the kimchee, into my hot rice bowl. Then she took a generous spoonful of the chili sauce and began stirring. All the while I sat and thanked her, in two languages, since she didn't appear to know too much English. I felt like a small child, in the best possible way, being introduced to a traditional dish, with great importance that I learn the correct way it is eaten. With my first bite of the newly mixed bibimbop I realized just how correct it can be. It was hot, countering the airconditioning on the 90 degree day, the spice had me reaching for my water glass after every bite, but I couldn't wish for less. The fiery sauce enlivened the rice and beef, giving them a life, awakening not only the food, but the eater as well.

many thanks to all

Thanks to everyone who called and left messages on my birthday. It was awesome to get out of work last night to a plethera of messages from well-wishers. I had a great birthday. Last weekend Steve took me to eat at Gramercy Tavern, which was really good food. Simple, straight-forward, and good. Yesterday, my actual birthday, Chef David Carmicheal (our pastry chef, television personality, and all-around greatest american ever or so I'm told) made me a cake in conjuction with a good luck cake for our maitre d' Raj, who is leaving us to work at Per Se. I also got to go into work late, which had nothing to do with my birthday,but it was nice anyway. So I talked to mom and dad and stopped in to see Steve real quick and he gave me the Historian (a new novel) to read. It's pretty good so far. The main abuse of birthday privilage allowed me first pick of beer as we cleaned up Saturday night. I got a very nice Brooklyn lager, so I was very happy. I took a cab up to Steve's place, where Brent was having a little bbq and Steve had saved me pretty much a little bit of everything, so I had a ton of food. Steak, hamburger, pork, potato and macaroni salad, etc. It was really nice to see Brent, Richie and Dana again, since the only one I've seen on a regular basis is Richie, who sometimes joins Steve and I for a movie.

Today I continued my exploration of NYC brunches with Emily and Nan as we went to Cowgirl in the West Village (Greenwich Village). It was pretty good, and afterwards we went boutique window shopping until I had to meet up with Steve to see an early showing of Batman, which totally rocked by the way. Super awesome, Christian Bale is amazing and I'm really pushing for Cilian Murphey (Scarecrow) to play Winston. And now I am going to read some of my new book. thanks again to everyone!

Beats fad diets anytime

I've been told several times in the last two weeks that I've lost weight, and generally quite a bit of it. I've been told by two Mexican (or Ecuadorian) runners (the guys who take food out), Richie, and Steve. Rachel (the extern who just left) and I were talking about it actually. She had just recently weighed herself and found that she had actually only lost one pound since she had last weighed herself just after Christmas. And since I don't have a scale and haven't had one for a couple of years, I have only a vague idea of what I actually weight. This would be a perfect example of not caring about numbers, I don't have a clue what they are. What I do know is that my pants are quite loose and people have commented. I guess that's what happens when you eat two meals a day if you're lucky and run up and down stairs constantly.

We're really starting to feel the summer kick in. We were just named the top seafood and top power lunch restaurant in the city by citysearch.com, which while not a sign of any sort of prestige at all, does bring business and is a sign of who our clientelle are. Our lunches are very busy, 100+ covers. Our dinners are dead, 80- covers. That may not seem like a large difference, but lunch is from noon to 2:30 and dinner is from 5:30-10:30. So it's super spread out and very slow and boring. Especially for me, since my dish takes about 2 minutes to plate and put out. Literally. I've timed it. This extra time has allowed me to hang out with MK (we had three Melissa's until last week when the pastry sous-chef left. Now we just have Melissa K and Melissa Rodriguez, or M-Rod) and M-Rod, who are our pm sauce and fish cooks. MK has been showing me all of her sauces, how they're made and garnished. It's really interesting, but there are so many that I can't hardly remember any of it. Also, it's so amazingly hot over in their corner that after 5 minutes we literally have sweat dripping off of us. And sweat dripping down one's back is an exteremely unpleasant feeling. My corner in the opposite side of the kitchen is substantially cooler, although we have yet to measure it. we're guessing that it's about 20 degrees cooler, around 80 maybe, while the sauce corner is at least 110 degrees. And very humid, since it's right next to the dish machine. So I'm pretty much a sweaty, stinky mess when I get out of work. Be glad you're not here with me. At least for that part of it.

Public Transportation

Well, the L train is down again. At least late nights and weekends, which is pretty much exactly half of the times that I need it. At least I can count on it to get me to work on time in the mornings (knock on wood!) I'm just going to be taking a taxi home for the next couple of nights and hopefully it will be back to normal next week. Don't even ask me how much that's costing me (Steve said he'd pay for it so I didn't have to deal with the hour long commute at midnight).

Work has been going so well, I can hardly believe it. We've been getting out early enough (11:30ish) and I've been keeping on top of everything so I don't have to go in until 10:30 or so. Tuesday, however, was another story. Because of the long weekend, all two days of it, we couldn't prep anything on Saturday for the next week, like we normally do. It just wouldn't keep well enough for two days. So tons of food got tossed and we were greeted early Tuesday morning with absolutely nothing. I essentially had to work a double since I had to get all of my soup and garnish ready for lunch service as well as dinner. It's run as a normal soup for lunch. And the warmer weather means that people actually want chilled soups, so I have to make a good amount of it.

I believe we have a party on Saturday for Henry Ford's 25th birthday. Another cook and I were trying to figure out if it was actually a decendent of Henry Ford's or just a cruel joke someone is playing on us. Since the contact name was Edsel Ford and the phone number had a Detroit area code, I am assuming that it actually is the Ford family. Whom-ever names their child after an early car model, however, should be shot.

I would like to take a moment and thank Kate and Julie for commenting. I love hearing from everyone and anyone! And Kate, your email totally made my day. I loved it!

Summer is here

Memorial day is upon us, which means a two-day weekend for me (yeah!) and extrememly slow weekends for the restaurant. All of the rich people in NYC go to the Hamptons on the weekends in the summer, so we are slow. Weekdays should pick up, they tell me, but weekends will be basically non-existent, and parties scarce. sounds good to me, but it does take a bit away from the experience a little. I'll just have to suplement my daily work with more special projects and recipes then. and today I even got to sleep in.

I don't know what my plans are for the weekend yet. Steve and I were invited to the Jersey Shore to a friend of his' parents house, but I don't think we're going. I'd rather rest up. but no big plans. Just relaxing and enjoying.