Feeling The Burn

Remember how I was all excited about getting my groove back? That didn't last long. The snow day killed it and made Thursday feel like Monday. Never a good thing. It usually takes a week to get completely comfortable again after a weekend of relaxing and sleep, the two things I seem unable to do any other time.

So Thursday became Emily's grand experiment in how many mistakes can be made in one class. For those of you playing along at home, the official count is still being tallied. The worst one was that I let my caramel burn just as I was adding the corn syrup. Although this does count as proof that my Willy Wonka-I-am-not theory is correct, so I guess this is a partial win for me.

I'm also moving up on the burn classification scale. I've graduated from first to second-degree burns, courtesy of the lovely convection ovens and some really hot sheet pans. They hurt beyond belief, so I've been doing some self medicating. One pint of Americone Dream ice cream and a few rare hours of videogames. So far so good, although I'm thinking I may need a trip to Babycakes at some point this weekend...

Mostly though, my weekend will be spent studying for my first unit test. Everything I know about tarts, tortes, and cookies will come spewing out on Tuesday during my all-day exam. In addition to the written portion, I will be making one large one-step tart (shell is baked with the filling), four two-step tartlettes (shell is baked once, filled, and can be baked again), and a batch of cookies. In four hours. I feel more self medicating coming on.