And take what's theirs

Well, it's happening. You're losing me. I am standing at the edge of the diving board, staring down into the deep pool of, "How was that cow raised?" "Where did you buy those tomatoes?" "Is there corn syrup in it?" and bouncing up and down, waiting to jump. And I will be jumping, assuming I am not already hanging mid-air in perfect cannon ball position.

"Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are." Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I have been going to the Chefs Supporting Agriculture (CSA) meetings on Thursday nights on campus. During these meetings, I get whipped into a frenzy about the choices we as consumers are making on an almost hourly basis about what we want farmers to plant, manufacturers to process and livestock to eat. The decisions we make with our dollar speak volumes. These decisions impact our environment, our farmers and of course, ourselves. What are you putting into your body? Not in a "I'm going to get fat so I shouldn't eat those potato chips way," but how about in a "these potato chips taste nothing like potatoes way." What the hell is a pringle? or a muncho? or a cheeto for that matter? Why do Baked Lays taste like cardboard and yet we keep putting them in our mouths? These items are obvious though. Does your milk taste like milk? Steak like steak? How is that kind-of-maybe-could-be-considered red tomato?

"But Jenna, it's so expensive to eat locally, to eat organically. It takes so much TIME to find a farmer's market. I am so confused about what I should be eating and what I shouldn't." Definitely. I am confused myself. And it is expensive and time consuming. It is much easier to go grab that Lean Cuisine, pop 'er in the microwave and get ready for some...yumminess?
Is this ok to eat, is that ok to eat? Grass finished, organic, local, seasonal, regional. Here is what I am saying: what you eat impacts your body (not to mention the earth, the economy, etc). Thinking that you can just put any old thing into your body and have it be ok is burying your head in the sand. We are not invincible. Would you feed your dog the same thing you feed yourself or your children? No? Why? Things like chocolate, you wouldn't because the dog is not made to eat chocolate, it can make the dog sick. What about Mountain Dew? Not wanting to pay the money, spend the time...medical bills, cancer treatments, your child's ADD meds, these things take time and money also. Ask questions about your food. Ask yourself how things taste when you eat them. THINK about the food when you are eating it.

Rants rants rants. This won't be the last. You know that if I am sitting in a meeting and the thought, "Maybe I should become vegetarian," crosses my mind and it seems like a viable option, SOMETHING is going on.

Fire away

During Fall Fest in Door County last year, it was extremely funny when I showed up wearing the same lime green vest, white shirt, jeans and black hat as my coworker Laura.

It wasn't so funny to see pictures on Facebook of my ex-roomie wearing a lime green vest while hanging out in dorms before leaving campus to go back to India about a month ago. The vest is still in my closet, currently the count is at 3 shirts and the hat I wore at Fall Fest NOT being in my closet.

what is wrong with people. I just...I cannot believe someone actually does that.

Try to see it my way

Last night I worked a function that was being held for the local fire department. It was pretty great to work again, to waitress again, even if it wasn't the ideal waitressing gig. Hung out with friends all night, met some new people, danced the night away, filled my pocket a bit and ate and drank leftovers. Good times.

And so begins a new hell week of finals, projects, presentations and everything due at once. Awesome. But tonight, tonight is family dinner, which means going to a friend's house off campus and everyone making food. Everyone I go to culinary school with making food. Wrap your imagination around that.

I want two beef patties

Ranting about cows if you want to read it.

Who could hang a name on you?

"Lamb or shellfish, lamb or shellfish, lamb or shellfish?...well I haven't had lamb yet this week so I'm going with lamb."

In my writing class, we have to do an essay about the differences between men and women and how this plays into their work in the kitchen/bakery. First of all, I think it's ridiculous for this woman (teacher) who does not work in the food industry to assign this essay. Having the gall to ask a bunch of women in the industry who on a regular basis are told they don't belong in a kitchen, or excused for being in the kitchen because they're bakers ("It's ok for women to be bakers, not chefs") to force us to further perpetuate stereotypes that, in my opinion, are absolute crap and make for a hostile working environment. So, I say something about not believing it and she pretty much shrugs it off. This essay is going to be hell to write and I'm pretty sure I'm just going to be spitting fury at it the entire time.

But my Baking ingredients and equipment technology pretty much rocked my socks off and filled my head with yeast and gluten and flour and leveners, etc etc etc.

The night sky holds the moon

Danny, looking at all the pictures I have up in my dorm of my pre-CIA buddies, "It really looks like you had the stereotypical college experience."
"Yeah, I guess I did...well heavy on the awesome part."


"...I say that based especially on this picture."
"HAHAHA!" and I went on to talk about Macedonian fantasticness and Adam and what he's been up to lately.
"So who's this? What are they doing?"
As I talked more and more about what various friends in the pictures are doing, where they are, what they're like...


"You're really lucky."
"What? Why?"
"It seems like you surround yourself with seriously awesome people."


"...yeah, I definitely have."

This ship is going down

My classmate Caitlin asks me during lunch,
"Jenna, have you ever heard of ayyy...um aysec, or something?"
"WHAT?? How is it spelled?"
"A I E S, um...?"
"AIESEC!? Where did you hear about that?"
"Oh my mom sent me an email saying it sounded like something I would be interested. Have you heard of it? I thought you might since you've been abroad so much. It sounds like a really great organization."
"Um, I have DEFINITELY heard of it..."

Maybe if I told you the right words

I have class until 8:45pm on Fridays. So this past Friday, I ran out of class, grabbed a duffel and hopped in a car with my friends Hannah and Danny to head upstate to Danny's hometown. A weekend off campus, filled with Danny's friends and family, really good food and a few too many cats and dogs and not enough allergy pills. It was nice to have a sense of normalcy again. Although I kind of feel like my brain is mush and at times all I have to talk about is food and school, which is almost the same thing.

I'm just crazy 'bout you

What is it about telling a bunch of boys that the only facial hair they are allowed is a mustache that makes them want to grow one?

I'm just a jealous guy

Today I was supposed to have class from 2-8:45, but it was cancelled because the teacher couldn't make it in the insane weather we are having here (apparently huge sheets of ice fell from the sky and were then marinated with lots of water...pleasant all around). And I was bummed. I want to learn.

How the tides have turned.

And the fact that all my friends in culinary still got to cut their way through a cow made the bum a little bummer.

crawling across the big blue sky

"How many phones do you have??"
"4"
"WHY?!?"
"Well, one's a family phone, one an ex gave to me and has internet and AIM and everything, and the other two exes gave to me who were dealers and since my dad is a cop I didn't want him to get their numbers."

The interesting thing is this is not that shocking of a conversation to have here. If you have never read Kitchen Confidential and think the people in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant are all freshly polished kids who got straight A's their whole life and only enjoy a glass of vino on occasion...you would probably be a little shocked, and uneasy to say the least, to find the truth is not nearly so shiny.

I have never felt so pc, so downright liberal than I do here. I definitely have heard my fair share of the N bomb...the c word has been dropped a fair amount to spread the hate to the ladies, and calling things gay or retarded is so common it's ridiculous. A girl recently said that the first thought that came to her mind when talking about an externship in Southern California was that she wouldn't want to go because it was so close to Mexico...seriously. If I called people out even half as much as my pre-CIA self did, I would lose my voice in a day. But I'm taking baby steps of cutting it down, especially from those I hang out with more often. Sometimes I get a little shell-shocked by it all, retreat to read BBC.com and nomadlife and slap on an AIESEC shirt. And weep. No not really. But it's extremely interesting to step out of the lovely snow globe of Madison, or of cerebral University life in general and see how many more snowballs are thrown without comprehension of the malice behind them.

My head is twisting in its cage

Had my first day of Baking & Pastry specific class today. Principles of Design. Pretty much a design/art/plating class. It's awesome. I love it. I can't wait to get my hands dirty.

All my friends got their hands dirty today by chopping up slabs of meat, since they are culinary.

I'm a little bit jealous and have already declared that at the end of the block, we are buying a cow and they are teaching me everything they learned.

To brag a little bit, I'm glad I was raised with a little DIY work ethic so it was no problem when I had to move the fridge against a wall, making it much more convenient to do a little switcheroo of the way the fridge door opens (took me all of 15 minutes-thanks for the tool kit Dad!) and then forged some bonds with the new roomie by stitching buttons back on her coat.

One problem with the constant flow of people in and out of here-new kids, leaving on extern, returning from extern, graduating, every 3 weeks- is the roomie situation. There was just a blessed period where two of my friends were sans roomies, making hanging out etc. much more relaxing. Now we all have new roomies we don't want to piss off in the first week of living together, so everybody's kind of looking at each other saying, "where do we go? Is your new roomie cool? What's their schedule like?" Not to mention the fact that the new block has made it utter crap for me to hang out with my friends since they now have class from 7am-2pm and I have class 2pm-almost 9.

p.s. how do you not know how to sew on buttons?

Hey, all right! If I get by, it's mine,

Yesterday my old roomie moved out. Yesterday I moved all my stuff around. Yesterday I discovered two of my favorite shirts missing. Friday they were there.

Coincidence?

Today I am paranoid. Today I am taking inventory of all my stuff. Today my new roomie moves in.

Hopefully she's not a klepto.

I switched up the beat of the drum

"Hi Chef, could I get the flank steak please?

Do you want a filet instead? I've got two left.

"I would have to say yes to the filet."

Perfect lunch for Fat Tuesday.

Her name is Rio

My roommate and I have a pretty good relationship. Pretty good in the way that neither of us is usually around when the other person is, and when we are both in the room and not asleep, we don't try to have meaningless conversations. Our last conversation was 3 days ago when she asked if I would hold onto her fridge and microwave while she's on extern.

yes.

She goes on extern Friday. My new roommate moves in Sunday.

after some facebook stalking I have discovered the following:

Good News (although kind of interesting pattern for my roommates): shes Turkish. From Turkey. She seems to have pretty decent taste in movies and books.

Almost horrifying News: her favorite music ranges from Duran Duran to Marilyn Manson...with Euro-pop in between.

Born like sisters to this world

My Super Bowl Sunday included: sleeping in all morning, free lunch, studying, working out, studying, heading off campus, studying, guacamole, bruschetta, quesadillas, roasted rep pepper and goat cheese dip, mussles, macaroni and cheese, garlic bread and nothing out of a jar or box, studying and studying.

This is my first finals week, which for some reason means that I pretty much have an exam or paper due for every class of the 12 times my 5 classes meet this week. I don't totally get it. And then it all happens again in 3 weeks.