Before my husband and I were engaged he sprung the idea of moving to Texas as a possibility (he was thinking of applying for a promotion). After living my entire life in California - first growing up in Laguna Beach and then going to Undergrad in Santa Barbara and Grad School in Orange - the idea of moving to TEXAS sounded quite unbelievable. However, after learning that we could potentially move to Austin, a place where I already knew a good friend, and a place that I have highly enjoyed in the past, I decided that I could absolutely back his decision to move there. However, this introduced the question of what would I do while in Texas for the two years we were there. I have always been in the English/Literature arena, graduating with BAs in English and Classics and obtaining my MA in English. I had always thought I would eventually go into teaching. However, it seemed foolish to attempt to obtain a teaching credential and position in a state I would only be residing in for 2 years. So I took a look at what would I WANT to do if I could do anything.
This is what led me to culinary school. I have always been interested in cooking, baking and experimenting in the kitchen. After leaving Santa Barbara and moving back in with my parents in Laguna Beach, I became their new live in chef (well not really, but I sure did cook a lot for them). So I had always thrown around the idea of culinary school but never really thought I had the time, between Grad School and work (I'm a researcher at a Documentary Film Company) I never had the opportunity. When the concept of moving to Austin was brought up, I immediately thought of culinary school as an idea. And I found the school for me: CAA - the Culinary Academy of Austin. While not as prestigious as other schools, it offered small classes, highly trained chefs, one on one time, great kitchens and most importantly, a program called "student at large." This program is designed for chefs like me, offering all of the classes that the person desires, while allowing them to not take classes that don't apply to them. So I will take all of the cooking classes, while skipping business management, kitchen design, and other courses that are more dedicated to professional chefs.
And now after this huge introduction - I have decided to start a blog. A blog dedicated to my culinary experience in this new land of Texas, a very, very different land than the one I left.
I hope you enjoy.
