Why The Culinary Institute of My Own Damn Kitchen?

You probably already know the answer to the title: Because I wanna be a chef and these culinary schools around here are too expensive for me!
I'd love to go back to my original career (as a corporate trainer teaching people how to use the company's proprietary software). I loved it and I did well with it and there is nothing that feels better than excelling in a career. But the recession has decided that this career choice is now a very low demand career choice. And thus, like many, I am found in the predicament of having to
redefine myself.

My dream has always been to own my own cafe' bakery and/or restaurant. I want to wow people with my absolute obsession of manipulating food into delectable experiences that transcend the tongue and stomach. Everytime I see an empty commercial building or store that looks ideal for my very own cafe' bakery, I pine and look and pine and look... and wonder if I can ever make that dream a reality. I've been doing this since I was about 19.

But before I open the doors to my new restaurant, I need to master a few more things in the kitchen. Since I can't afford culinary school, I am setting out to meet all the requirements one would need to meet in order to become a real live chef. Or at least I will try. It will be an unofficial exercise, helping me become as knoweledgeable as possible in chefdom, commercial kitchens and all things restaurant before I venture time and a huge chunk of retirement money on a real live restaurant. I will seek out and study cookbooks, textbooks, tomes about cooking and anything else I can get my eyes and hands on. I will peruse curriculums of various culinary academies to see what I need to master for each "semester."

These are tough times and we all need hope. I need hope and I need to pull myself out of this unemployed-induced depression for which I find myself. So, I think this will be just the thing! :-) Will you follow me? Support me? Encourage me when I'm crying over burnt beets? If you could/would, that would be sooo awesome. I hope one day, I'll have my own home kitchen that is larger than an apartment sized kitchen and a real dining room where I can actually entertain in my home. In the meantime, I will make lemons into lemonade in my small damn kitchen and take you on a journey of my self-induced culinary bootcamp, even if it's in an unaccredited sort of way. And yes, I'm a dork, I'm kind of inspired by the movie Julie & Julia. But my attitude is why not do what she did. What's the worst that can happen? Nothing?

Believe me, if I could afford to go to The Restaurant School or an official Culinary Arts Institute, I mostly certain would - in a half of a heartbeat. But until I figure out a fiscal way, here I am, setting out on blind faith and a silly notion that I can become a semi-true chef via The Culinary Institute of My Own Damn Kitchen.

Using my former training and instructional design skills from my corporate background, I will create a curriculum, my first course assignments, and criteria for testing and evaluation. I will share this plan with you in my next blog. And of course, I will welcome comments and wisdom (and used books) from all. I hope I can inform and share what I learn, or at the very least, make you laugh your butt off when I smack myself in the face with a lump of biscuit dough. Of course, my first study plan will be COFFEE! Those of you who know me well can understand and appreciate that this needs to be my first "course credit."

Welcome, one and all, to The Culinary Institute of My Own Damn Kitchen. :-D

With Love,
Michelle