College?? Psha...she's DONE!

Well, Anisa is now a certified Pastry Chef. She has her AA degree in Pastry and Baking. It's weird to think that I have a baby who is now done with one degree (she's not sure what's next).

On Wed, 9-21-11, we trecked into the city to the Building Museum for her Portfolio Show. All the graduates show off what they have learned/what they do. Some have their AA, some have finished their BA. There are culinary students, graphic artists, musicians, video artists....a little bit of everything artsy. :)

The day actually started on Tuesday. Anisa had to go into school to make her desserts. She chose to make french macarons. Macarons are actually like little puff cookies with a frosting-ish center. Lots of people know of the coconut macarOOns, but those are not the traditional french cookie. Macarons can be made of almost any flavor combination you want. She chose to make Orange Creamsicle (by Daddy's request), Lemon-Lime, and Raspberry. There is an exact method to making macarons (I found this blog and it tells an adorable story of making them and how they are so temperamental). The humidity in the air has to be just right, the batter has to be beaten just right, the oven temp has to be just right...there are many many ways to ruin the little cookies, and only a couple of ways to make them perfectly. They have to have a perfect "foot", and a perfectly domed little top. I'm so proud of my baby who made very nice looking and tasting french macarons...I didn't know she had it in her! :)So, on Wed, we drove into DC in rush hour traffic. Our normally 20-30 minute drive became an hour long stop and go fest. Luckily we had Toby Keith, Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton to keep us company. Plus, we can always find stuff to talk about, other drivers to talk smack about, etc. :) We arrived at the Building Museum right on time. Anisa ran in to find her table and we started unloading. Luckily, her table was right between her 2 good friends from school, Shakyla and Sama'Ria.The idea of the Portfolio show (from what I can understand) is to basically show what they've made in their Capstone class. She had to "build" a bakery from the ground up. She had to find a property, shop for it - ovens, counters, sinks, tables, lamps, display cases, etc. then come up with her total business plan. She chose to name her "bakery" CRUMBS. She came up with her menu and logo. We had shopped and I had sewn for this event. We ran to Joann's and found some cute fabric to make her a tablecloth and a cute little apron. We hit the Container Store and found some little spice racks to display her little macarons. Target was where we found her little 3-tier dessert holder. Then off to Michaels for flowers and ribbon. She was set. Didn't really know what to expect once we got to the show, but her table turned out to be one of the most decorated/pretty tables. :) I helped her get her stuff inside, then headed home to get Travis. It only took me half hour to get home. :)Travis and I headed BACK into DC, found parking and went into the show. There were potential employers, teachers from the school and of course, friends and family. It was fun to see all the other chefs/artists and what they made. We walked around, tasted some of the other foods, looked at the art and listened to music. We chatted with some of the other students then went upstairs to watch our baby at work. We watched as people would stop at her table and she would explain her business and desserts. We really enjoyed seeing people's reactions to her macarons. As one of the chefs took a bite, we saw him nod his head positively. She smiled and chatted and just looked cute. :)She said she was nervous about the whole show, but when it was all finally over and done, she was disappointed that it was over. I was amazed to look through her portfolio to see all the work she had done to "build" her bakery. It was one of those "Wow, I didn't realize my kid could do something like that", proud mommy moments. Of course, I'm proud of my kids, they're awesome (except for those times when they're being little turds, but that's normal). But sometimes they do stuff that still shocks me. God really did give me some GOOD girls. I'm gonna really enjoy watching them as they become productive citizens....and I hope you all can enjoy some of Anisa's sweets someday. :)