Dad's Memoirs!

ABOVE:  A pic of my dad in his prime working in the Ambassador College kitchen in Big Sandy, Texas in the 80's.
My Dad's finished memoirs!  A few family members and friends have asked to read it, so with my father's permission, I found it easiest to just post it in PDF form.  MPC was so kind to print him a few personal physical hard copies too, but that's up to him what he does with them.  I learned a lot about my family history I wasn't aware of and am thankful for it.  With both of my parents older now, I am thankful for this.  My family is definitely nothing extraordinarily special except for God's great master plan in us, and we as everyone else human have had our down moments, but it's definitely a for fun read especially for the family and close friends.  It's a family treasure to have.  One thing that I've learned in life is that if you know where someone came from, you tend to understand them more.  I wish I had memoirs on everyone.  :-)  Thanks so much to everyone that helped put it together for my dad....Jeremiah and Breanna Jacques, Mr. Hilliker, Aubrey Mercado, Zachary Bush, Philip Nice, and others that I'm probably not even aware.  They didn't have to, but they so kindly gave of their time to help my dad with this.  Thanks to my Dad for taking time to write them so my brother and I will know from where we came.  Anyway, just click on the below cover and scroll down to read if you so desire.

Piano Update

Still heavy into piano lessons.  There is so much to learn and I still have a long ways to go.  This semester has been solely piano theory.  My teacher had me to buy several books on piano theory and on accompanying choirs.  She gives me tests and written assignments.  To keep me motivated, she also has me working on a super hard song that I can only play if I strictly follow certain theory rules that's forcing me to grow as practical application is put to use.  There were some things I needed to brush up on, and some advanced theory I just needed to learn period such as transposing...AKA math patterns...an example would be with hymns when sometimes the advanced pianists will go up higher to another key on the last verse....that I am learning.  For me, this is more difficult than the concert piano training.  This is some brain hurting material.  I am learning so much though.  Mr. Malone and Mr. Jenkins are so kind though....I really need to practice playing the hymns period, and with a singing audience :-), and they invited me to play at the AC students hymn sings.  At one point I was thinking maybe I should just wait until next fall semester, but I start that this month in April.  It should be fun, and a push for me to get on the hymns so that I can be of more service for God in this way.  I'm a little nervous, but that's normal and after I've done it one or two times nerves should vanish.  I have the piano accompaniment hymnal that I'm using...it's different for the pianists than the regular singing one.  Thankful to Mr. Malone and Jenkins for taking the time to make this one for pianists!  Also, my niece, Sophia, turns 4 in a few months, so technically she only has one year left before she can start formal piano lessons with Mr. Jenkins!  I am sooo excited for her.  She already wants to start so bad..she begs to "practice" with me sometimes, so if she keeps that enthusiasm, she'll do great!  Probably end up being much better than I!  :-)

ABOVE:  A taste of what my lessons are like from a clip I took a few weeks back.  My teacher lets me record while she is instructing on some things so that I can go back over it during the week.  A quick video clip of learning a warm-up for choir accompaniment opportunities w/a choir accompaniment book.  There are so many different combinations to know, but once you get the general theory of it, it's easy.  Transposing an entire song, on the other hand, is so hard to me, at least.  Obviously that is my teacher's hand and not mine.  :-)!  Just thought it would be fun to share a small taste of my piano lesson experience.  :-)

BELOW:  Sophia, ever so lightly...so much so you can barely hear her; sings Row, Row, Row Your Boat in my "fun room."  It's hard to tell kids who haven't had any formal training yet to sing louder b/c then they'll usually shout too much.   Totally prefer the "muted" version.  :-)

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Chef's Certification Progress

It's been a busier year for me, so I haven't posted in awhile, and this could be my last post in another long while, but I did manage to finish the chef's course I was taking.  I am still working on extra lab lessons and cannot wait to get into spherification for fun, but back in December and January, every Sunday for several hours a day I would cram in online lectures and tests, as well as the regular class time on Monday evenings, and did it, got finished.  My sis in law is still working on hers as well.  It is a lot of fun, and sister bonding too.  The thing that I learned most from this course is that chef's training is about being more practical and more efficient to be overall quicker and more functional in the kitchen, and not about making fancy things.  The recipes in our course pretty much call for salt and pepper as the seasoning agents....focusing on bringing out the natural flavors in each dish with accents.  The "fancy" lectures come as bonus lectures.  I was surprised to learn this, but happy about this.  Our classes have taught us that ratios is what cooking is all about.  It's not really about following recipes, but it's about knowing ratios.  Can't escape math!  :-)  We have learned time saver things....smashing garlic and ginger instead of cutting it actually brings out more flavor this way.......How to easily peel a tomato, or dice an onion only with a few strokes of a knife....ETC...and fun facts like the term Sweet breads is not referring to bread, but actually innards of animals that you can eat.  Anyway, I am happy to have pushed ahead to finish.  I've mentioned before that unless I owned a restaurant which would be pretty impossible with my lifestyle and I also already love my job as HQ Receptionist b/c it's an everyday opportunity to live in my role as a helpmeet to everyone else in the office and abroad.  I wouldn't want to work in the culinary field though I totally do have a lot of respect for food services....I don't think I'd have what it takes in more ways than one...standing on my feet all day for one....ETC...it's a lot of pressure!  I just really like the culinary arts and learning about nutrition to maybe be able to help with that in the future life while people are still on planet Earth;  :-)  so trying to make myself available and ready for God for whatever purpose He wants of me in the future, and now I can raise the royal bar in service in my life now even when need be.  I'm trying to make sure that everything that I do is with a potential future purpose.  Easier said than done sometimes.  This is done, except for the extra lab things!  Still the rest of the semester left of that.  Here is a funny from my niece:  One night at culinary class we didn't have lab meaning that we didn't have to cook, just a night of listening to lectures.  When Sophia's dad came to pick up her mom, Sophia told her dad these exact words..."We didn't cook today, but we will probably cook tomorrow."  LOL  I guess that meant sorry Daddy no dinner tonight, but don't worry, we'll probably have food to eat tomorrow.  LOL  No worries, he did have dinner waiting for him as my sis in law is great!  :-)

 ABOVE:  A photo of the certificate in my kitchen.  Hopefully it is not vain to hang it...a lot of work went into obtaining it, so hopefully it is okay to have it out.  I am one that is sometimes leery of such things.  Still a work in progress.
BELOW is a small portfolio of some of things we've done...I guess kind of a little mini Pinterest of ideas, but I'll try to post everything, on my culinary site later on when I have more time...probably this summer.

ABOVE:  CONFIT DUCK leg and thigh with accent poached pear in red wine alongside smashed potatoes with cabbage.  The confit method is an interesting method to learn, though pretty easy, and it came out delicious.

BELOW:  POACHED PEAR in red wine with vanilla bean ice cream as a simple elegant dessert. It was fun and pretty simple coring the pear while keeping it whole.

ABOVE:  Grill Pan New York Strip Steak...learning how to perfect indoor grill pan lines...with a special super easy Chef's recipe for Chimichurri Sauce.

BELOW:  A lesson on perfecting pan roasting a whole chicken.  Poultry was my challenge as it turned out.  I failed the poultry test the first time, but succeeded with an A the second time around.  We used brussel sprouts and brown rice as sides.

BELOW:  Deep Fried Chicken and Deep Fried restaurant style French Fries w/fried dill pickles.  This method takes a lot of effort, but it is delicious!  You use starchy potatoes, not waxy, and cut fries out.  Then, you first have to put cut raw potatotes in freezer, then take out and deep fry to blanch, then put them back in the freezer, then take them out and deep fry them again, then put them back in the freezer, and then do one final deep fry, and voila, you have restaurant french fries...kind of like McDonald's actually.  Lots of steps to get there....but this chef's way makes them where they are NOT greasy or soggy as you cook them at the right temperature and something about the chemistry of the exact proper temperature and this method will expel the grease rather than soak it into the fries.   The same applies to the chicken.  Not a healthy lesson, but glad to know how to get the desired affect to have these every now and then sparingly.

 ABOVE:  Mint Raita Chicken Legs...this is for more of the curry fan club....in which I am not a part of, but it was alright.  :-)

BELOW:  Beef Bourguignon...absolutely delicious lesson on stewing!

 ABOVE:  Lesson on braising meats with Beef Short Ribs in wine sauce.

BELOW:  Nicoise Salad with Pan Grilled Salmon.  Learned the different kinds of salad.  The most common American Salad as we know it is the Cobb Salad as most already know.  Not that it really matters unless you work or own a restaurant, but terms are a fun hobby for the foodies.

 ABOVE:  Stuffed Leg of Lamb with get this.....anchovies!  We were all wondering how this would turn out and had to just trust our chef's course, and it was actually quite delicious.  The fish cut down some of the lamb flavor, and vice versa leaving this dish with a perfect balance.  So good!

BELOW:  Using the cast iron skillets from my dad to do a test run on Egg Frittata's...Learned the difference between and Frittata and Quiche is that with Quiche everything in the egg settles on the bottom, and with Frittata's, everything in the egg rises to the top.  It's all the chemistry of how you whip it.  I may not have done so great in chemistry back in high school, but I managed to survive this aspect of it at least!  :-)