Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend! Whether you spent it with family or friends, out by the pool, or simply by sleeping in, I hope it was a nice break from the everyday chaos. I sure enjoyed it! I got to spend part of the weekend with my amazing roommate in her hometown of Knightstown, IN. We got to go swimming, do some 4 wheeling, and just enjoy the country. One great thing about being in college is all of the new friends that you make! I'm very grateful that we randomly became roommates and I hope that we stay in touch long after our days at Sullivan come to a close.
   As for school, things are quite busy around Sullivan! Since I last blogged, we had an extremely fun Spring Luau in mid-May. (I got to sell massive amounts of cotton candy to raise money for Christian Fellowship!) There was a dunk tank, all kinds of inflatables to race friends on, a delicious free BBQ, and much more. It was a nice day out of class where you could bond with other students. In addition, some Sullivan students took a trip to Cumberland Falls, and this coming weekend they will be visiting a giant Go Karting Track! All of these activities help you build closer relationships with fellow students.
    Last week in lab we worked on dead dough showpieces. We had to come up with our own unique design and use various dyed, dead doughs to make the designs come to life. I've always loved palm trees and beaches, so I chose that as a theme! At times it was difficult to get all of the pieces to come together, but it was worth it in the end. (View my pic at the bottom of this post.)
   Since Week #10 just started, it's Final Practical time! This can at times be stressful, but the Chefs here are always willing to help with any questions or problems that a student may face. Since I'm in Artisan Theory, our Final consists of making 5 French style baguettes along with presenting some decorated pate choux swans. Luckily, our final is split in to 2 days, so there is plenty of time to get everything done. We also make work plans which helps to keep everyone on task. I'm hoping to get a high grade on Thursday when I present my finished products! Next week will be the end of the quarter and we will all take our written finals. The weather sure is beautiful outside so I'm ready for a break!

My roomie (and lab partner) posing with me to show off our finished napoleons! They sure were a challenge to assemble.

A very pretty (and tasty!) strawberry shortcake. Sable crust on the bottom, 2 layers of yellow chiffon cake macerated with a savarin syrup, then layered with strawberries and Bettercreme!

My finished dead dough showpiece! I'm not a very artsy person so I was shocked that my palm tree design actually worked! This took quite a while, but it was definitely worth the extra effort.