Some of my portfolio from the last two years...

As promised, here are some pictures from both culinary school and a restaurant I helped open in 2008.




These are some of the very first things I made in school - biscuits! Not nearly as easy as I thought they would be, my first batch was less than successful... this attempt was much better.






This is from my garde manger class practical - it is a display of cold hors d'ouvres with a nautical themed watermelon carving in the back.



Oysters from a raw bar display with edible orchids.











Mother's Day Hat Cake made in advanced baking ... everything you see is edible. The cake is a basic yellow cake with fruit preserves in the middle, covered in buttercream icing and overlaid with fondant. The ribbon is also fondant. Everything else was piped by hand.



Millet pilaf with vegetables and a peanut butter - key lime sauce... yummy!










Asian pear dessert with hazelnut topping and a tellicherry pepper-caramel sauce with port wine reduction.


One of my all-time favorite desserts: sweet ricotta and mascarpone parfait with fresh fruit.










Shrimp spring rolls with Thai chile dipping sauce.




Salmon gravlox sashimi on cucumber slices - American Regional final.











That's all for now... please feel free to comment/question on any of these! =)

I am DONE with school!

Sorry (again!) for being away so long ... but I had to finish up my school so now I have a few weeks before I go pick up my Associate of Science degree (woot!!) and I walk in the graduation ceremony in May.

My plan for now is to continue working at The Surf Bar and Grill in Cocoa Beach while I try to get my "Chef For Hire" business off the ground. I put together a to-do list (and updating this blog was on the list) and now need to get a web page, some business cards, and join a few organizations, but hey, this is a start, right?

On a personal note, my boyfriend Brett and I celebrated our two-year anniversary in December. He's also in the restaurant industry, and is in the management program at Outback. We have three cats, which we completely spoil as our kids, and all of them are strays we adopted.

Over the next few weeks I will be uploading a bunch of pictures from school and work to build my portfolio, so keep checking back!