Big Day at the CIA

So I definitely got to start on a great week here....Chef Ferran Adria from ElBulli in Spain arrived today to give a lecture in the morning and a cooking demo in the afternoon. I was able to see a good portion of the lecture in the morning live, and some on a live feed. I also got to watch the second half of the cooking demonstration. He is known for his awesome style of cooking which most over here call molecular gastronomy but Chef Adria does not believe in this term...all I can say is he produces such beautiful pieces of food and has such respect for the ingredients and the whole thinking behind food. Several things he said really stuck out such as food being the only art that if you deny yourself of, you will die. He was just so profound. One of his translators was his protege Chef Jose Andres. It was just a wow day in that effect.

My classes seem pretty interesting too. The teachers seem so jazzed about what they are doing. Today I had culinary math and product knowledge. We took a tour down to the storeroom where we are encouraged to go explore for this class. Seriously, kid in a candystore here! There is so much beautiful produce down there as well as other food items. We mainly focus on produce in this class. The only bad part of today is my tooth just feels horrible. I almost had to get up and leave during the cooking demo. They can't take me until my scheduled time at the dentist though so I am relieved it is almost time to go. Therefore, my food is kind of boring today and I killed myself with my lunch :( although I finally got salad (but the salad bar wasn't there today due to the festivities).

Breakfast: I went to Farq and got oatmeal. I sliced up a banana on it and added some sliced almonds. I missed my banana and oats!


Lunch: Grilled chicken caesar salad. The dressing was more like a garlic aioli though....I ate all the greens and tomatoes and a bit of chicken and bread before getting ouchy. It looks a mess due to me putting it in a to-go container, sorry!


Dinner: Luckily, I took a yogurt with me this morning because I knew I couldn't chew tonight and my product knowledge prof was ok with me missing the required meal. I just ate the strawberry low-fat yogurt with some flax mixed in and a dollop of vanilla almond butter on top. Then I got brave and tried to eat some of a multigrain thin....uh, bad idea :(


I'm off to the dentist now! I'm not sure if its just the tooth but I think I'm fighting off a cold as well and spent the morning doing homework so no workout today. If I feel better tomorrow I need to fit one in somewhere! Wish me luck, I'm scared I need a root canal...

Randomness of the Day: The lovely Brandi of Bran Appetit awarded me a Blogger Excellence Award! Thank you so much! I'm always in shock that anybody actually reads Bites of the Day!

1) Sarah at Tales of Expansion
2) Diana at Soap and Chocolate

Both Diana and Sarah crack me up and make such creative things!

3) Mara at What I Made for Dinner-I always drool over her creations.