Happy friday to me!
I know you guys probably are thinking I’ve hit the wall….but today really IS my friday because it’s my last day of work and school before spring break!!! As you know, I’m going this weekend to my hometown of Vero Beach, FL to work under the head pastry chef for a yacht club just to gain some more experience. I have NO idea what to expect and it should be very interesting, actually working in a restaurant instead of my school kitchen! Then, I took a vacation from work to go home to Tampa for the week to work out some things with my externship that is coming up in September (aka finding an externship!) I’ll basically be going to different bakeries and talking to managers and owners to find out what I can do. I also have a plethora of different appointments and such….and taking time of course to relax and catch up on my sleep!
Last night at school we baked off our apple strudel, which actually turned out GREAT, despite looking pretty darn ugly. I guess its more of a rustic European style dessert and even though it looks hideous, I found myself snacking all night on the sweet apple filling (one of the only things we make that doesn’t contain butter! sweet!). It’s filled with apples, walnuts, cinnamon, lemon juice and sugar. MMmmmmm….
We also made mini spanokopita, which I am bringing in to work with me along with more baby brioches. Tonight is the final practical for the entire class and I am making MORE brioche and strudel! Then I’m off to my introduction to patisserie class, which is after spring break.
Okay…on to this morning! I woke up soooo tired. I didn’t go to bed til probably 12:30 and I woke up at 7:30 to run and seriously debated it. I went back and forth in my head and finally I just gathered all my strength and got out of bed, put on my running shorts, ate half a banana with some pb and headed out the door. I’m very glad I did, even though I’m still tired (drinking coffee as we speak–bad jenna). Working out just makes my entire day go better and now that I have a job during the day where I just sit and do admin. work all day long, I HAVE to stretch my legs in the morning or I will go stir crazy! I ran for 30 minutes then came back in and made breakfast: a bowl of multigrain cereal with pb, 1 tbsp flax, the other half of my banana, 1/2 cup hemp milk, 1/2 cup water and some agave nectar.
I decided to make my breakfast post longer and include my lunch as well because its so easy for me to photograph my food as I pack my lunch in the morning and that way you all know my schedule and my food rather than waiting til 5:30 to get it all. So…today I packed some soup to change things up a bit! I packed Pacific Brand Butternut Squash Soup (the entire carton—2 cups worth. This soup is actually vegan~it uses soymilk for creaminess instead of regular cow milk!), about 20 whole wheat crackers and a bunch of grapes. Its always FREEZING in the restaurant so I thought soup would be fun for a change!
Alright—see you all this afternoon! Have a great Thursday (friday!)
VeggieGirl
March 27, 2008 at 1:06 pmJenna, I can’t even tell you how THRILLED I am for you, with your internship opportunity on spring break – it will for sure open many doors for you, since you already have the talent!!
That strudel looks positively luscious and lovely to me! Yum!
Happy “Friday” to you!! Enjoy it, girl!! :0)
Cara
March 27, 2008 at 1:41 pmSounds like you have a great spring break ahead of you! Good luck with getting the ex(in?)ternship.
Romina
March 27, 2008 at 1:59 pmHappy Friday to you!!! Congratulations on the internship!!
Mmm, everything looks so good, even that supposedly ugly apple pie you have 😉
Ellie
March 27, 2008 at 2:11 pmHappy Friday! It’s so exciting that you get to shadow a real chef over the weekend!
Kelly T.
March 27, 2008 at 2:13 pmACK! Why is your hand purple?
Betsy
March 27, 2008 at 3:23 pmpasteries look as glorious as ever!!
and i’m sooo jealous that you have spring break and get to bake!! have a wonderful time and learn alot.
Andrea
March 27, 2008 at 3:32 pmi like how you post lunch + bfast together! it has helped me plan my days too 🙂 have a great Mock-Friday!!!!
Becky
March 27, 2008 at 3:47 pmHey girls,
I’m going to be traveling on business for about a week, spending the whole time at a hotel. I was planning on packing some snacks to have on hand in case I can’t always find healthy options. Here’s what I’ve got so far but does anyone have any recommendations?:
Dried fruit and nuts
Tuna packets
Oatmeal packets
Larabars
arimcg
March 27, 2008 at 3:54 pmI could probably eat that apple filling with a spoon. It also sounds like it would be good in oatmeal…
happyherbivore
March 27, 2008 at 4:43 pm1. have a rockin’ break
2. apple strudel is my favorite bakery item
3. you rule
erica
March 27, 2008 at 5:40 pmI couldn’t have resisted that apple filling either! It’s definitely a weakness of mine! 😉
Have a fabulous “friday” jenna!
ibex hk
March 27, 2008 at 5:41 pmso exciting about your baking internship! sounds great, I’m sure you’ll knock their socks off will the delicious treats you turn out. It’ll be cool to learn the ropes and watch it all in action, good luck and have a great week! the apples look great, I would be all over them, too 🙂
Caroline
March 27, 2008 at 5:54 pmThat is so cool that Pacific soups are vegan–I had no idea! I just assumed that a creamy soup like that would have lots of high fat dairy in it. Does anyone know if Pacific’s other soups are vegan?
Jenna, I love your pretty breakfast bowls!
sara84
March 27, 2008 at 6:09 pmHi Jenna,
Silly question…. I packed a really similar lunch today,only I got Amy’s black bean soup… Are you going to eat the entire 2 cup serving? I usually find it hard to only eat 1 serving of soup….Is it bad to eat the whole can?
SDF
March 27, 2008 at 7:22 pmBecky-I do a lot of travelling with work and here are a few suggestions of mine:
-if your hotel has a mini fridge, you can pack tons of fresh food and vegetables
-you can make pretty much anything in the small coffee pot that they provide-just be careful to add most stuff (rice, soup, etc) once the water’s gone through, otherwise it’ll burn on the hot plate (but be warned that it does take quite awhile to make rice in the coffee maker)
-once you get to where you’re staying, take a quick walk around & see if your by a grocery store. If so, then you can just pop in there to get supper items (often places will have a deli or you can even get a couple of buns, fresh vegetables). If you are by a grocery store & you have a mini fridge then the options are endless-yogurt, milk & cereal, you can make oatmeal with your coffee maker.
-bring stuff with you to snack on. I find I often get really hungry mid-morning & mid-afternoon, and often at meetings all they have is pastries. Pull out a piece of fruit, some nuts, granola bars, or if you’re craving something sweeter: pudding cups, packaged cookies (leave the box in your hotel room), or those 100 calorie snack packs (I know-terrible for you, but sometimes you just need something sweet)
Sorry this got so long. Hopefully that helps!
ash
March 27, 2008 at 7:54 pmhehe it really IS friday here in Australia
Becky-you can never go wrong with a good whole wheat sandwich*
jenna
March 27, 2008 at 8:37 pmsara,
It’s not “bad” to do anything! I don’t eat packaged soups a lot but when I do I usually eat the entire can….I just don’t get full off 1 cup of soup and if I’m not full I’ll be starving again in half an hour. I like Pacific brand soups which usually are only 90 calories per cup so 2 cups makes for a perfect part of your lunch!
jenna
March 27, 2008 at 9:21 pmmy hand isn’t really purple!!!!!! Its just the strange lighting, I swear! haha
Katherine
March 27, 2008 at 9:59 pmCaroline,
Not all pacific soups are vegan but if you check out their website it is very clear – they label which one are vegan with that “V” for vegan symbol!
Tasty!