Breakfast/ Lunch

A Crushing Finish

I think I sort of felt like the US girls gymnastic team last night with my cakes. Well, no, I’m sure they felt worse. But still. It was not my night at all and I did go home feeling quite crushed.

Last night was cake decorating and thank god I didn’t take the job at Greenwise because this really isn’t for me. As hard as I try, I don’t have that special touch and I really don’t enjoy it as much as I enjoy other things. It didn’t help that I basically missed all of Cakes class last spring due to having to stay home in Tampa because my Grandfather was in the hospital. I never learned how to make special roses and decorative borders. So…I kind of winged it.

Well, my cakes totally fell apart and while I did stick them back together with about 10 lbs of buttercream, it really just didn’t cut it at all. I actually wrote on my paper that I was very unhappy with my final product and this really isn’t my thing (as I was about to cry). I think I was 10 times better at deboning a chicken than I am at decorating a cake. Oh well. Can’t win them all I guess. I did what I could last night and left, vowing to make tonight and tomorrow (my last two nights in Capstone) better than ever.

So…I was too mad last night to take pictures! I’ll wait to photograph something that actually looks like you may want to eat it instead of smash it, which is what I felt like doing to my cake last night. Tonight and tomorrow night we are doing danishes and I like doing these much much MUCH more so hopefully they will come out better!

As for this morning, today is my rest day so I slept in until 7:30 and it felt wonderful! When I got up, I made some oatmeal (made with water) with a big spoonful of almond butter, a chopped banana and a spoonful of brown sugar (!). I had three hard boiled egg whites on the side.

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For lunch today I packed a turkey pita. At the store the other day I bought half a pound of my favorite boar’s head turkey breast from the deli so today I used about 4 ounces of it in my whole wheat pita along with spinach, a light laughing cow cheese and honey mustard.

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I also packed mango, which I sliced up and divided into two bags—one for lunch and one for snack, along with a half cup of cottage cheese with toasted almond slices.

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Have a great Humpday! Today is the day I get bored at work and plan out my exercise routine for the rest of the day (which I tape to my bathroom mirror). Would it help for you all to know what I plan to do ahead of time so you can plan your schedule as well? I had a reader ask me about this yesterday and I never thought about it before. What do you think>

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  • Nicole
    August 13, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    I’m sorry about your cakes! It is totally crushing when a cake falls apart, I know the feeling 🙁

    I am sure tonight will be better, though! Good luck, Jenna!

  • erica
    August 13, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    aww, jenna I’m sorry you had such a rough night last night.. it happens to the best of us, and you certainly are extremely talented when it comes to cake decorating. everything you’ve post on the blog thus far has been amazing. i can understand how frustrating it must be when you don’t perform as well as you’d like, but remember all of the great work you’ve accomplished in the past weeks.

    hold your head up high! good luck tonight!

  • Littleblackdress
    August 13, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    Aww Jenna! So sorry you had a bad night. But remember, you got the highest grade in the class recently, and everything you make always looks gorgeous! One little fluke has to happen- they cannot be perfect always.

    Hope you feel better and enjoy your yummy sandwich today!

  • Becky in MD
    August 13, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    Sorry to hear about your night! That’s awful about your cake. Maybe you should try staying at school the whole time (or just longer) instead of leaving early everynight. I’m sure there’s a reason that class goes until midnight.

  • ~C~
    August 13, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    Sorry you had a bad night 🙁

    That pita looks great!

  • VeggieGirl
    August 13, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    Ah yes, watching the US girls gymnastic team last night was quite devastating 🙁

    No worries, Jenna – I’m POSITIVE that those danishes will turn out perfectly tonight!!

  • jenna
    August 13, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    Becky,

    There was just one night the class stayed until midnight because of an issue with the oven space. All my friends and I leave around the same time every night so I’m never the only one.

  • Becca A
    August 13, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    I’m sorry about your cakes, but in a weird way it gives me some sense of relief. I have to get food service experience hours before I am completely accepted to CIA (I’m conditionally accepted as of now) and two days a week I am with a local cake maker and decorator. I just am not good at icing…yet. I don’t foresee it as my career path I’ll take in pastry, but know its something I need to at least be able to do somewhat. I much prefer baking to decorating!

    I’m sure the next two nights will be much better especially with your positive attitude! Keep up the great work!

  • Alison
    August 13, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    Jenna, sorry about your night! I’d love to see a schedule of your weekly workouts.

  • hk
    August 13, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    Darn- boo to a tough night!

    Hope today turns out better 🙂 and yes, I’d love to see your workout schedule- your circuit rotation thus far seems right up my alley!

  • arielle
    August 13, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    Sorry about your cakes…I still would have eaten them!

  • Cat
    August 13, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    Sorry about your rough time last night, although I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. Everything you’ve shown us on the blog has looked great! 🙂

    I would also love to see your schedule. I’m trying to lifts weights and build muscle so it would be very helpful. Thanks!!

  • Rachel
    August 13, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    I’m sorry to hear you had a bad night! But remember, your bad work is probably better than some of our best!

    I would love to see your workout schedule before you do it because I steal them! ha I would like to see more videos too!!

    I have a question about running. I enjoy working out and still have quite a bit of muscle from gymnastics and cheerleading but find it hard to do cardio. I have been trying but I’m just not good at running. I do elliptical and bike but don’t feel the same after a hard run. I am still doing intervals trying to work my endurance up but it hasn’t changed much and I’ve been doing it for months. Do you think some people aren’t “good” at running?

  • jenna
    August 13, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Rachel,

    I’m totally not good at running either!!!!! Thats why I started training last year for races using the Galloway Method where you run for 3 minutes and walk for 1 minute…Do this the entire time you run. I promise it will help you…it’s about the only thing that helped me and got me up to running 10 miles! I haven’t done it in a while and now when I run I only go for about 25-30 minutes and try to run the whole time (with a minute walk break somewhere in there) but the GallowaY method really changed me. Try it and see what you think!

  • Meghan
    August 13, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    Cakes shmakes, considering the other 99% of the stuff you churn out at school looks incredible I wouldn’t worry about ’em!

  • ModelBehavior
    August 13, 2008 at 1:53 pm

    Oh no! Keep your chin up, you’ve proven many times you are an amazing dessert maker, you will get back in the swing of things!

  • Heather
    August 13, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    Rachael – I was the same way with running and I started using the Couch to 5K running podcasts – you can find them on the internet for free. I am now running almost 30 minutes straight which is something I never thought I could do.

  • Michael
    August 13, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    Don’t sweat it about the cakes– most of us ruin Betty Crocker mixes. At the same time, I know that crushing feeling about grades. All I can say is, it’s true, you can’t win them all, but I think your instructor will see that you put your all into things.

    By the way first time cooking risotto this weekend and it came out great. Compliments all around and I told some of the girls about your blog.

  • Chef Erin (Pumpkin)
    August 13, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    Try not to get discouraged. Everyone has strong and weak points, and we’ve all had rough nights. Just think- tonight and tomorrow and Capstone is over!

  • AshleyH
    August 13, 2008 at 2:15 pm

    yeah I would love to see how you organize your workouts!

    I think it is great that you are not going to let yourself get down about the cakes and make tonight and tomorrow night even better! Go get ’em girl!! 😀

  • A.Cook
    August 13, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    Sorry to hear about your cakes Jenna 🙁 I know exactly how frustrating that can be. Hang in there! Hopefully the danishes will come out better like you said 🙂
    Also if you don’t mind me asking, what time do you normally go to bed and wake up? I want to try to start getting up earlier (it seems to me like I’d get to take advantage more of each day) but earlier for me would be like, 7:30 or 8…

  • Kelly L.
    August 13, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    you workout would be nice but what would be even better is if you do more videos. i loved your ab video and i would like to see another arm and leg video (using freeweights perhaps)?

  • Lindsey Lu
    August 13, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    I think its great that you were able to look at your distress with cake decorating and say “Well this may not be my best skill, but I AM really good at other things”. Its so important to recognize strengths while coping with flaws. You are doing very well, don’t forget it!

    I would really enjoy seeing how you organize your workouts. Sometimes it gives me tips to see how others organize their time, and what order they do things in.

    Enjoy your day!

  • Andrea
    August 13, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    that would DEFINITELY be helpful… seeing a whole weeks worth of workouts at once really gives great perspective (*even if they are just tentative)

  • KT M
    August 13, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    Jenna, I’m sorry cake decorating was so frustrating, but try not to worry. You can’t be awesome at everything, it just wouldn’t be fair. You are so talented so try to remember all of your successes and not worry about the cakes.

  • Jordan
    August 13, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    Don’t let the cake thing get you down. Cake decorating is my thing and I honestly get so frustrated sometimes that I want to cry… but then there are victories that feel so much better:

  • runjess
    August 13, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    Hi everyone,

    I know there are a lot of runners on here and I just discovered a cool website: http://www.runningforfitness.org/

    This might help answer some of your questions.

  • Christie
    August 13, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    We all have strengts and weakness’ and ithink the best part of your school is getting hands on experience to learn what you prefer and are good at… and the internship will also help with that!

  • Heather
    August 13, 2008 at 3:24 pm

    Boo- sorry about your night 🙁 Cake decorating is a lot harder than it looks.

    Good luck on your last two classes! I can’t believe you’re almost done!

  • Lisa
    August 13, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Hi Jenna,

    I was curious if you got parts of your lower body routine from this months Oxygen magazine. They have a five week Great Glute routine in there and I can’t find any reference for how many times a week to do each workout. Just curious if you knew…

    Thanks again for the incredible candor you use in your posts and all of the great workout and diet information!

    Oh and I would love to see your weekly workout schedule and look forward to more grocery photos…they keep me in line:)

  • Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food)
    August 13, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    Aw, sorry about the cakes. I am sure tonight and tomorrow night will go much better! Everything you make always looks so beautiful and impressive, so I am sure you will do well 🙂

  • Jo
    August 13, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    Jenna – don’t be so hard on yourself!! You sound like me in that unless it is 100% perfect, I’m disappointed and frustrated. I have to say to myself all the time that I can’t be perfect all the time and should ease up on myself – but its so easy to say that. I always strive for perfection which can be good in some ways because it gives you determination and drive but it can also be destructive.

    Keep up the good work – your food always, always looks AMAZING and I’m in awe!

    Jo

  • tfh
    August 13, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    Even just a spoonful of brown sugar makes a world of difference on oatmeal, doesn’t it? Yum.

    I really could’ve used a visual piece of cake today, even if it were Ugly Nemesis Cake. Darn. Can you at least take a picture of yourself punching your fist into it after they grade it or something?

  • HangryPants
    August 13, 2008 at 6:22 pm

    Yes, that would be awesome if you could put up your planned workouts.

    Sorry about the cakes, but luckily you have lots of other kitchen skills!

    Heather

  • LadyLara
    August 13, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    Chiming in for Rachel,

    Distance running requires slow-twitch muscles, while sprinting requires fast-twitch muscles. We may be born with more of one than the other (I am probably a natural sprinter!) but studies show over time you can turn your fast twitch muscles into slow twitch fibers by training.

    So, the more you run, the easier it will get. Even if you may not have been built for it. Everyone’s advice above is great. You can get there! =)

  • jenna
    August 13, 2008 at 9:30 pm

    Expect a video post SOON! I promise! When you all least expect it……(muhahaha)

  • jenna
    August 13, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    Lisa,

    Yes! I LOVE those routines!!! They have made my legs more sore than anything I’ve ever done. Way to pick that one up 😉