CIA @ Greystone in St. Helena, CA
Last week was just awesome. I can't stop gushing about it. I loved my experience and it was well worth the investment. I'm very glad that I decided to take the week-long class.
The History:
The Culinary Institute at Greystone in St. Helena, CA. It has this name because Greystone used to be a winery. The CIA bought the buildings for an additional campus in 1994. It's been fully modernized with an awesome teaching kitchen, high-tech classrooms, and a massive student kitchen/cafeteria. The 1st floor is currently being remodeled, and I'm bummed to hear that some of the history of the place will vanish. The Wine Cellar was used for special events. It had cool historical stuff and a history lesson. It'll vannish for another classroom/kitchen for the public, a relocation of the bookstore, and more bathrooms. At least their favorite color is still teal and they're keeping my daily workout of the 3 floor, teal staircase to the top of the building.
The Basics:
My days started between 4:30-5am, everyday, to leave my motel in Napa by 6am. I had to be on campus to check-in at 6:30am on Monday, and then in the days that followed, also, to eat the conteniental breakfast. Class started at 7am in one of the classrooms on the 3rd floor (it's off limits to visitors). We talked about great dinner spots, the recipes we'd be doing, who'd be doing the certain recipes, what the recipes were trying to teach us (a particular method in baking such as "the creaming method"), and what things we needed to do to prep for the next day's class (such as making some starter for the sourdough bread). Then, whenever that was done, we'd go to "our side" of the baking kitchen (a "real class" used the other half) where'd we watch demos by the teacher, learn how to use certain equipment, and to complete our recipes. At noon, the lunch gong would ring, and we'd get ready to go scarf-down some yummy food made by the culinary side of the kitchen (we ate at the tables that are in between the two kitchens). At about 12:30pm, we'd go back to our side of the baking kitchen and analyze our results of the day's recipes. I left campus every day between 1:30-2pm. From there, I hung out, attempted to get into a tour at Beringer Winery (next door to school), shopped, saw the "sights", and basically looked for an early, cheap dinner before officially crashing. I was in bed between 8:30-9:30pm every night.
The Recipes:
Monday was an introduction to the career of baking and pastry, equipment, and the creaming method. We made pound cake, cookies, biscotti, and shortbread. We preped some pie crusts.
Tuesday was about the foaming method, blind baking pie crusts, and learning about rubbed doughs. We made a custard pie, cream pies, scones, and lady fingers (which turned into tiramisu). We preped to make bread the next day by creating some more starter and scaling out recipes.
Wednesday we learned the steps to making bread, how yeast works, and how to shape bread. We made ciabatta, sourdough rounds, baguettes, rosemary & olive bread, panetone, challah, soft rolls. We preped to make more bread the next day by scaling ingredients.
Thursday we learned about flat breads of the world. We made lavash (crackers), zatar, pretzels, naan, focaccia, and pita. I got to stick my hand inside a tandoor oven and my knuckles were red all night. We preped cake pans and ganaches for the next day.
Friday we learned about chocolate by watching our teacher, Chef Durfee, on this video. (It's a great 20 min introductory to chocolate and how it's made and how to find quality stuff - not Hershey or Ghirardelli - made from a presentation for retail clerks) We made a ganache tart, flourless chocolate cake, souffle cake, various truffles, and rochers (almond cruchies coated in chocolate).
The Visitors:
On Wednesday, I got to meet up with Rosanne. We're high school friends who've reconnected, kinda, through Facebook/Myspace. She still lives up in Rohnert Park and made the commute to see me after work. We had dinner at Downtown Joe's in Napa. It's a brewery that was highly recommended by information, AAA, and Will (Phillip's former supervisor). It was good. I had a pulled pork sandwich (yummy sauce!) and a not-so-hot side salad. Rosanne had their award-winning burger and crispy fries. We shared tiramisu for dessert despite the fact that I had some at lunch that day. (The stuff the baking students make is for the lunch crowd, too, just like the culinary students' work.) We had a lot of fun catching up and talking non-stop. I now remember why we used to get along so well in class! :>)
On Thursday, Phillip came up for dinner. I was really happy to see him despite the fact that he seemed more tired than me. I didn't get a chance to take him up to campus, but we did attend the Chef's Market. It's the farmer's market of Napa. There's food stalls by local vendors, farmer's market, and chef demos. We watched a demo by Toni Chiappetta from Sweetie Pies, got a sample of what she made, and a wine paring that was very tasty. The wine was from Gooseberry-something, and it was their Orange Muscat. It smelled floral, but was sweet, non-orangy flavor that went well with the crostada. mmmm. We ate at the market, and are now in love with the tri tip sandwich from Buckhorn Grill. It was so good that even Phillip was dreaming about the sandwich, too, that night!
Other Stuff:
Blenheim Apricots - the best apricot around. Chef Durfee got a box from a local farmer-friend. He's gonna make this awesome ice cream with these tasty fruits. They're smaller than regular apricots you see in stores, but more fragrant and tastey. The pits can be smashed open to reveal an "almond". This almond is what he used to make the dessert. We got to sample a pana cotta with the tastey seeds and I can't believe how flavorful it was! No actual fruit was used, and my class only wished that we'd be around for the final product.
Certification - I now possess 3 continuing education units from the CIA, authorized by the IACET. I'm on my way to something, huh? :>)
I now truly wanna get a job in a bakery. Some place smaller than Safeway, obviously, so that I can see if this is what I want to do day-in and day-out. I liked to make the bread, but it's a lot of work and strict timing to get it to turn out right. I'd rather make other desserts and cakes. The school recommends that we get real-world experience before going to school, and this way I can check it out and get a letter of recommendation for my application. I'm thinking about applying for the January term. We'll see what the future holds. I need experience and financial aid. Once I have those things, I'll see if I'm still intimidated by the school and it's very passionate students.
The History:
The Culinary Institute at Greystone in St. Helena, CA. It has this name because Greystone used to be a winery. The CIA bought the buildings for an additional campus in 1994. It's been fully modernized with an awesome teaching kitchen, high-tech classrooms, and a massive student kitchen/cafeteria. The 1st floor is currently being remodeled, and I'm bummed to hear that some of the history of the place will vanish. The Wine Cellar was used for special events. It had cool historical stuff and a history lesson. It'll vannish for another classroom/kitchen for the public, a relocation of the bookstore, and more bathrooms. At least their favorite color is still teal and they're keeping my daily workout of the 3 floor, teal staircase to the top of the building.
The Basics:
My days started between 4:30-5am, everyday, to leave my motel in Napa by 6am. I had to be on campus to check-in at 6:30am on Monday, and then in the days that followed, also, to eat the conteniental breakfast. Class started at 7am in one of the classrooms on the 3rd floor (it's off limits to visitors). We talked about great dinner spots, the recipes we'd be doing, who'd be doing the certain recipes, what the recipes were trying to teach us (a particular method in baking such as "the creaming method"), and what things we needed to do to prep for the next day's class (such as making some starter for the sourdough bread). Then, whenever that was done, we'd go to "our side" of the baking kitchen (a "real class" used the other half) where'd we watch demos by the teacher, learn how to use certain equipment, and to complete our recipes. At noon, the lunch gong would ring, and we'd get ready to go scarf-down some yummy food made by the culinary side of the kitchen (we ate at the tables that are in between the two kitchens). At about 12:30pm, we'd go back to our side of the baking kitchen and analyze our results of the day's recipes. I left campus every day between 1:30-2pm. From there, I hung out, attempted to get into a tour at Beringer Winery (next door to school), shopped, saw the "sights", and basically looked for an early, cheap dinner before officially crashing. I was in bed between 8:30-9:30pm every night.
The Recipes:
Monday was an introduction to the career of baking and pastry, equipment, and the creaming method. We made pound cake, cookies, biscotti, and shortbread. We preped some pie crusts.
Tuesday was about the foaming method, blind baking pie crusts, and learning about rubbed doughs. We made a custard pie, cream pies, scones, and lady fingers (which turned into tiramisu). We preped to make bread the next day by creating some more starter and scaling out recipes.
Wednesday we learned the steps to making bread, how yeast works, and how to shape bread. We made ciabatta, sourdough rounds, baguettes, rosemary & olive bread, panetone, challah, soft rolls. We preped to make more bread the next day by scaling ingredients.
Thursday we learned about flat breads of the world. We made lavash (crackers), zatar, pretzels, naan, focaccia, and pita. I got to stick my hand inside a tandoor oven and my knuckles were red all night. We preped cake pans and ganaches for the next day.
Friday we learned about chocolate by watching our teacher, Chef Durfee, on this video. (It's a great 20 min introductory to chocolate and how it's made and how to find quality stuff - not Hershey or Ghirardelli - made from a presentation for retail clerks) We made a ganache tart, flourless chocolate cake, souffle cake, various truffles, and rochers (almond cruchies coated in chocolate).
The Visitors:
On Wednesday, I got to meet up with Rosanne. We're high school friends who've reconnected, kinda, through Facebook/Myspace. She still lives up in Rohnert Park and made the commute to see me after work. We had dinner at Downtown Joe's in Napa. It's a brewery that was highly recommended by information, AAA, and Will (Phillip's former supervisor). It was good. I had a pulled pork sandwich (yummy sauce!) and a not-so-hot side salad. Rosanne had their award-winning burger and crispy fries. We shared tiramisu for dessert despite the fact that I had some at lunch that day. (The stuff the baking students make is for the lunch crowd, too, just like the culinary students' work.) We had a lot of fun catching up and talking non-stop. I now remember why we used to get along so well in class! :>)
On Thursday, Phillip came up for dinner. I was really happy to see him despite the fact that he seemed more tired than me. I didn't get a chance to take him up to campus, but we did attend the Chef's Market. It's the farmer's market of Napa. There's food stalls by local vendors, farmer's market, and chef demos. We watched a demo by Toni Chiappetta from Sweetie Pies, got a sample of what she made, and a wine paring that was very tasty. The wine was from Gooseberry-something, and it was their Orange Muscat. It smelled floral, but was sweet, non-orangy flavor that went well with the crostada. mmmm. We ate at the market, and are now in love with the tri tip sandwich from Buckhorn Grill. It was so good that even Phillip was dreaming about the sandwich, too, that night!
Other Stuff:
Blenheim Apricots - the best apricot around. Chef Durfee got a box from a local farmer-friend. He's gonna make this awesome ice cream with these tasty fruits. They're smaller than regular apricots you see in stores, but more fragrant and tastey. The pits can be smashed open to reveal an "almond". This almond is what he used to make the dessert. We got to sample a pana cotta with the tastey seeds and I can't believe how flavorful it was! No actual fruit was used, and my class only wished that we'd be around for the final product.
Certification - I now possess 3 continuing education units from the CIA, authorized by the IACET. I'm on my way to something, huh? :>)
I now truly wanna get a job in a bakery. Some place smaller than Safeway, obviously, so that I can see if this is what I want to do day-in and day-out. I liked to make the bread, but it's a lot of work and strict timing to get it to turn out right. I'd rather make other desserts and cakes. The school recommends that we get real-world experience before going to school, and this way I can check it out and get a letter of recommendation for my application. I'm thinking about applying for the January term. We'll see what the future holds. I need experience and financial aid. Once I have those things, I'll see if I'm still intimidated by the school and it's very passionate students.
4 Comments:
hey, good luck! I think you belong there.
By
carolyn, At
6/22/2009 09:47:00 PM
Go for it! Sounds wonderful!
By
Kathryn, At
6/22/2009 09:55:00 PM
i love bakeries! they always smell so wonderful . . . greatest of luck to you, amy :o)
dk
By
Anonymous, At
6/23/2009 09:08:00 PM
Thank you ladies!
By
amy, At
6/29/2009 09:36:00 AM
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