Sweet River Studios

This week our instructor decided to have us cook cajun. I've tried to cook cajun exactly once when I tried to make a gumbo. It didn't work out all that well and if you don't know what it's supposed to taste like then how will you know if you made it right? So I was really glad when we got to make a gumbo, jambalaya, an etouffee and a cajun meatloaf with a hot sauce to put over it. We were so stuffed the time the gumbo and meatloaf was done it was unreal and we still had to make our bananas foster. I didn't get a picture of everything together because our dishes were done at different times. I was really happy with all the dishes but I would probably tone down the cayenne pepper. The etouffee was really hot and they used 1 teaspoon of cayenne instead of the 2 the recipe called for so I was grateful but I would've used 1/2 a teaspoon. I don't mind some heat in my food but I want to be able to feel my tongue after eating too.. The bananas foster

Now that everything is cut out (we hope!) it's time to get those units put together. If you've never done paper piecing, I would urge you to at least try it at least once. Maybe start with a small wall hanging type project first. If you have sewing experience you probably won't like dealing with all the paper. I don't either but I like paper piecing. I don't want to do nothing but paper piecing mind you but I like it. If you are new to sewing, give paper piecing a try. It's a great way to learn the 1/4" seam and sewing on printed lines is awesome. No thinking, just sew on the line. You will need some things before you start. You will need an add a 1/4" ruler. Yes, there is such a thing. This is NOT a regular ruler. This ruler comes in varying lengths but I have a smaller 5" and a 12" long rulers. I also use a 3x5" index card to place along my fold lines to fold the paper back. The card just acts as a guide. You may also use a glue stic

I admit. I've never eaten duck before or at least I don't think I have. We certainly never had duck at our table growing up and you certainly can't find it it at the local grocery store. The only thing I've ever heard about duck is that it is very fatty. Well, that part is definitely right. In our duck class, we learned about prepping duck and how to cook it. We started our confit of duck legs a few weeks ago and we finished the legs by searing them.  After we seared them they were falling off the bone and I think everyone liked them the best. We also made duck a la orange, duck with flour pancakes and an asian sauce along with our duck fat roasted smashed potatoes seasoned with garlic rosemary, pureed parsnips with apple and pear and an asian inspired salad. Here's our confit duck legs after staying in the refrigerator for 4 weeks. The legs were roasted about 6 hours so they're already cooked. We seared them on each side, mostly just to heat them back up.

Beef was class 15 of our 30 week cooking series so we are half way through. Seems like we just started but not so. I've really learned a lot and got some really good ideas and recipes and the beef class didn't disappoint. We cooked several dishes with various cuts of meat. We made a grilled strip loin steak with a tomato bernaise reduction sauce, steak au poivre (with peppercorns), a beef stew and three side dishes, salad, green beans and a brussel sprout salad with dates, figs, pumpkins seeds. Seriously, this class can be exhausting with everything we cook. I'm just glad we had a full class to spread out the work. And yes, everything tasted great and there was a lot of food.