It's Bella-rific Friday, and I have some fun non-stamping news to share! I made a late post yesterday and gave you a little hint. I haven't seen any guesses yet, but I also know I haven't given it a whole lot of time.
(By the way, do any of you use Feedburner? If so, how do you get your posts to show up in GoogleReader and/or emailed out to your subscribers simultaneously with your posting? Mine sometimes take up to 24 hours to be updated/emailed out. Thus, if a post isn't made first thing in the a.m., it can get 'lost,' KWIM? I've tried doing a search to find out this info, but to no avail. So if any of you have the answer? Please share it with me!)
Anyway, the card I created with this week's Bella-rific Friday sketch (courtesy of Shannanabella) is your second hint...
I'll go over the card details whilst you ponder the significance... Chefabella was colored with Copics and shaded with Prismacolors and odorless mineral spirits. Her kicky little apron was paper pieced. Don't you love that veggie background paper? It's courtesy of Basic Grey's Offbeat 6"x6" paper pad. The sentiment was hand-written, and the gingham brads were some that I found long ago at the Target Dollar Spot.
Be sure to check out Emily's blog today to see what the other Bella-rific Babes and the Sistahood created using this fab sketch -- lots of inspiration and just by leaving a comment, you could win some Bella Bucks!
Now for a little backstory on my scoopage. See, I've always been kind of a foodie at heart. I'm a decent cook for someone who is totally self-taught, though I'm utterly reliant on a recipe and my timing is terrible. I've long been a subscriber to Cook's Illustrated (greatest cooking magazine ever, IMHO), and I own countless cookbooks. I love reading foodie memoirs (The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, Calvin Trillin's Tummy Triology, and Ruth Reichl's books are particular favorites) , and have harbored a long-standing fantasy of attending the Culinary Institute of America.
Well, the whole Julie & Julia hype (regarding the current movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) made me buy a second copy of Julie Powell's book about how she set a challenge for herself to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French cooking in one year. (My original copy was loaned out before I had a chance to read it and was never returned.) So, instead of my first edition hardback (which is now going for good money on eBay...), I bought a movie tie-in paperback while I was in Michigan and read it this past week. It was delightful, and re-kindled the abovementioned culinary school fantasy.
Clearly, CIA (the main campus is located in Hyde Park, NY) isn't an option, unless I wish to abandon my family. And if I were to do that? I'd definitely have to do something like work in the restaurant industry... um... no thanks. I don't actually know what I'd want to do with a Culinary School degree; I just want to go through the process of getting one. Better stick with the hubby and children. I looked at the culinary program at OSU Okmulgee, but that's a year and a half long and an 1.25 hours away, one-way. Just not feasible; at least, not now.
Sean, always the voice of reason in this particular household, suggested that maybe I should start slow and take a few cooking classes here or there, just to make sure it was something I truly wanted to do. As opposed to impulsively diving-in, full immersion (my typical style) and then deciding I didn't really want to invest so much time, money, and energy. I reluctantly lowered my sights and did an internet search for cooking classes in Tulsa.
My hopes weren't high. Most cooking classes I've seen are so specific -- learn to make sushi (I love sushi, but have no illusions that I'll ever want to make it at home; which is saying a lot because I'm fairly delusional, as a rule) or something related to whatever gadget they're trying to sell at Williams-Sonoma. But what to my wondering eyes did appear? It looked too good to be true: a course called 'Pro Chef I' at a Tulsa gourmet shop. According to the website:
This 14-week comprehensive cooking program is for the cooking enthusiast who is
interested in developing professional chef's skills. The Pro Chef program is a fast track curriculum that
has been developed using the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) textbook and the professional experiences of our
chef. Our goal is to equip each student with skills that they can use in catering, a career in the restaurant
industry, as a personal chef, or simply to advance the home gourmet's culinary expertise.
And guess when the next semester starts? Next week! Is that kismet or what?! Well, I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself! I told my great friend and next door neighbor, Marguerite, about it the next morning on our daily walk. Her response: "I want to go to there!" a la Liz Lemon. By the end of the day, we were both signed up (there were only two spots left -- more evidence of destiny?), and starting next week, we'll be spending every Wednesday evening through November learning mad knife skillz and wearing our white chef's jackets just like the Cheftestants on Top Chef!
So you've been warned. This paper-crafting blog is going to be a hybrid paper-crafting/foodie blog for at least the next several months. Are you ready to cook vicariously?
Bon Appétit!
Supplies used:
Stamps: Chefabella by Stamping Bella
Paper: MFT Perfect Paper Panels, Pure Poppy & Ripe Avacado (PTI), patterned paper from Basic Grey's Offbeat 6"x6" pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils & odorless mineral spirits, PTI Pure Poppy grosgrain ribbon, gingham brads from Target Dollar Spot, Jody's Foam Boosters
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