Pheasant plucking anyone?

" I am not the pheasant plucker. I am the pheasant plucker's mate. I am only plucking pheasant plucker's late..."

Ended the day yesterday with watching Darina pluck a pheasant, and ended my evening tonight by plucking pheasant with Ros on the “championship” table tennis table outside the laundry.

Well, first day in the kitchen and I didn’t cut myself – there were quite a few people who did, so I feel quite good about myself for not. Today was a bit different than what we will normally do in the kitchen, we worked in groups rather than pairs. There are six of us to a teacher, and we rotate through the four kitchens at the school. This week I am in kitchen # 3, my partner is Christopher who is English, but lives in Ireland, and our teacher is Pat, who (as everyone around here) is so full of knowledge, and full of small tips that make a difference – never add honey to an egg or it will curdle.

In our group we made brown soda bread, carrot and cumin soup, mushrooms a la crème, that was served on pasta, rice pudding, and lemonade. Everyday there is a massive green salad made with a simple dressing, the greens all come from the garden or are foraged - you wouldn't believe how tasty it is.

Onto the demo today, potato and fresh herb soup, onion and thyme leave soup, parley pesto, shortcut pastry, quiche Lorraine, gruyere and dill tart, mushroom and thyme leaf tart, autumn garden salad with Ballymaloe dressing, Penny’s cabbage and fennel salad, poached apricots with sweet geranium leaves (“No kitchen should be without a sweet geranium plant.” Darina Allen), winter fruit salad with sweet geranium leaves, and fork biscuits. Tomorrow I will be making short cut pastry for a gruyere and dill tart, and fork biscuits, my partner is making potato and herb soup and poached apricots.

We had to write our first order of work for tomorrow, tricky to know about how timings will work, but I hope I am not too far off.

The wind is howling tonight, and I am tucked into bed with a wool sweater, hot water bottle and a wool blanket, going to read my recipes for tomorrow and head to bed – nearly midnight now, and my goal is to be in the kitchens by 8:15 – cooking starts at 9.

“You’re here for 12 weeks – be a complete nerd for those 12 weeks.” – Pat

Pheasant plucker!	Dinner!	Today's lunch!
Chef's whites.	A few of the salad leaves, herbs and lettuces we need to know for our herb exam.	A few more.
Order of work during the first week!	Didn't think I would ever come home from school holding this.