The Last Voyage

Well Mates, sadly to say this will be my last voyage blog for 2011 because Moraine Park Technical College will be closed thru January 3. I want to thank you all who have been on board sailing away with my everyday adventures. It’s been a fun time with my 2011 ship, but I will have a brand new ship to set sail for 2012. I will even have video clips to be posted on my blog so not only will you will read about my trips, but you can see it live. So enjoy the rest of the 2011 and have a lot of fun! Until 2012 I’ll see you on the next voyage!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Last Day of Finals

At last, after a week of cleaning, taking exams, and selling cookies today is the last day of classes before the winter break. You can tell people were happy to get on break, but sad because we won’t be cooking in the kitchens for a month, so it is a bitter sweet feeling. Before we could go on break we had two more finals to go. In my potatoes/vegetable class our final was we had to create an agenda for people to clean up in the kitchen, create a plan to make it easier for new students to understand the concepts of classrooms, and basic knowledge of the kitchen. As a group we came up with some great ideas, so hopefully these ideas can benefit others in the near future. Since we finished a little early my friend Chelssie and I figured it would be a good idea to go around and sell our cookies for our fundraiser. So we went around sold cookies while playing Yahtzee on a cart. It was a great combo and people really liked the cookies. They sold fast. By the time we finished selling cookies we only had four trays of cookies left, and we started with thirty trays.
In my afternoon salads class the only thing we had left to do was clean up the rest of the kitchen since we did our final test out on Tuesday. This process didn’t take long because we have been cleaning all week. Basically we had to polish the stainless steel appliances and make sure everything was tidied up for break. Once we finished we started to pack up our bags and cheered for winter break. Finally we all get to enjoy our holiday, but we made sure we will all keep in contact over break to have some fun hanging out.

Later in the night I had my second dj debut at Slim & Chubby’s Bar located downtown Fond du Lac, on Main Street. I was excited because I love music, dancing, having a great time with friends and meeting new people. The start of the night started a little slow and I was getting worry because I didn’t want to end early. As time went on people slowly started to come in, then I got some pop music going, then the next thing you know around 11:30 p.m. there were a crowd of people who hit up the dance floor and danced the night away. This made me happy to see people having a great time, and I was able to DJ until the bar closed. Overall this day and night was really fun, can’t complain at all!. Like always I’ll catch you on the next voyage!
Cheers,
Lee IV

Day 3 of finals

As the week gets closer to Winter Break, I still can’t believe how fast this semester went by. Well on my Wednesday final I had my baking class, since I taken my final two weeks ago the only thing we had to do was clean up the baking to which we were assigned to. It take us long to complete our cleaning assignment, so since I had a lot of free time left I figure I could squeeze in some club hours to finish off package the cookies we were selling. There were about four hundred cookies to be package up and be sold to people who were eager to purchase them at every moment. I knew we had a lot of cookies, but it wasn’t until we finished I realize how much cookies we actually did. We package fifty trays of cookies, and we sold them for a good cost of ten dollars.

In my afternoon class we had a fun final for hot sandwich class; we played Jeopardy to test our knowledge throughout the semester. Each time we got an answer correct we would receive a pen as an inside joke with our instructor Lois. As a class we had a good time answering questions and making fun one another, I must say this was a fun class everyone in class has an unique personality which made our class so much fun! It is a bit sad that this is our last class together but there will more fun ahead.
After class I quickly got ready for a job interview for Service Master in town, which is a janitorial service that cleans different companies around town. The interview went well and I got the job after I said when I was able to work. This is a perfect time for me to get a second job because winter holiday is approaching and I need extra money to save up for my backpacking trip in the summer. Once I finish my interview I headed back to school to meet up some friends from Moraine Park. We were all getting hungry so we decided it was time for dinner, so of course we went across the street to our favorite restaurant BackYard Grill and bar. Like always we had good service and the food was delicious, we enjoyed every bite of our meal. Then we headed back to school to play the board game Yahtzee; this game never gets old every roll counts. We played this until it was time for us to go bowling at Ledgeview lanes which is basically next door to BackYard Grill and bar. The special on Wednesday is buy two game and get one free, which is a good deal but on Tuesday and Thursday are better deal because it is all you can bowl for two hours. Anyways we had a good time bowling and jamming to music; with the three games I bowled a 191, 119, and 171. I haven’t bowled that in awhile hopefully I can break 200 next time. Since it was late and we had class in the morning my friends decided to sleep over my house, especially since I live in town it wouldn’t make since to drive so far home. I must say this was a great Wednesday! Well I’m docking the ship for the night; I’ll catch you on the next voyage!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Finals Day 2

Welcome back to day two of finals, if you are taking finals as well I wish you the best of luck! In my potatoes/vegetables class we had a challenge final, we had to pick a tray of food and make several dishes out of them such as the television show “Chopped” on the Food Network. The tray I picked had a lot of fun items that I was able to cook with. I have pictures to show you the dishes I came up with and they turned out pretty well. My afternoon final was for salads class, and of course we had to create several salad dishes ranging from Chef Salad to a compose salad. This time around I felt more confident with my salad garnish. I found out lately that I like to create and design food items rather than making them.

After a day of final exams I headed home and I had nothing planned, until I came home my housemate reminded me it was my friend’s birthday. Well like always my adventure is never ending, so we went to La Tapitia Mexican restaurant located on Johnson Street in Fond du Lac, WI. This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in town, if you never been here before then I recommend this is a must have food. From their authentic tacos to their hocharta (rice water) everything is good. There were about fifteen of us celebrating my friend Denny’s birthday. We laughed and ate well for hours; spending time with friends is always a good time. That is all for now another day in the book checked off!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Finals Week

Ah the best part of the school semester is finals week; actually I’m just kidding because the last week is always a lot more pressure on people. Especially this time of the year people are eager for winter holidays, or its crunch time for people with finals and getting a good grade on their last exams is a must. Then as for some this is their last semester and will be graduating in the spring. As you can see there is a lot of mixed emotions around school, plus the cold month’s lies ahead although it has been unusually warm.
For me my finals started on Monday for my Food Principles class. We had a written exam and a knife cutting skill testing, I felt the exams went pretty well, but I guess I have to wait and see. After my class I had to work at Qdoba, and work wasn’t too bad. A steady rush of people came in which isn’t too bad because it makes time go by fast. Afterwards I went back to school to help make cookies for the Culinary Arts Club. For the first time I actually made cookies from scratch and they turned out good. I made a batch of chocolate jam print cookies, the raspberry is a good color with the chocolate, and the taste is even better. Making cookies is a little tough for me but the ending results is worth the time and work. Later in the night I went to one of my friends’ house to play the board game Life; I haven’t played this game since I was little so it brought back memories as a child. It was a lot of fun, and we played about two hours without realizing how time flies. After we finished I called it a night I was a bit tired after a long day. Well I will catch you soon for day two of finals. Ciao!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Saturday Fun day!!

As soon as I thought I had nothing plan for the weekend my agenda slightly changed. Since we needed extra people to help to make cookies for our fundraiser, I decided to come in to school to help make cookies. My friend Chellsie and I made three types of cookies ranging from spiced cutout cookies and preferment. We had a lot of fun cutting, organizing and baking cookies. Since we took time out of our morning our instructor, Tom, made us breakfast consisting of toast and amazing cheesy scrambled eggs. This was a rare occasion because Tom usually never cooks since he is always baking something. We baked cookies for about three hours, before I had to work at Qdoba. Once I finished my shift I went home to change before I went Appleton with a friend to get dinner at Sairam Indian restaurant. If you have not been at this place I recommend coming here because the food is beyond amazing, and the ingredients are fresh, spicy if needed, and tasty. Since I haven’t eaten here in such a long time I decided to get a lentil soup for my appetizer, a masala chai, and chicken curry for my main course. After eating all of these foods I barely had room to fit more food in, so I took some home for leftovers; which is perfect for a midnight snack.

Since I drove to Appleton, it only made sense to do a little shopping to get the best use of my gas. I went Barnes and Nobles to check out the newest arrival of books and the newest tablets that allow people to read books on them. There were so many choices; sometimes I get lost at this store because there are so many genres to choose from. The best area of the store for me is the Travel corner because it encourages me to keep traveling and checkout pictures of places around the world. Afterwards I quickly went to the mall to get some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery before they closed for the night. It was totally worth the rush because the ice cream is so good. Once I got my ice cream fix in it was time to head back home. As my voyage ended for the day there will be another voyage ahead, so until then see you later!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Wonderful Wednesday

On Wednesday, December 7, I had a great time with class and other special events. Since I had my baking final last week I didn’t have to wake up early for my morning class. Therefore, I was able to sleep in, and I attended a potluck lunch for the Multicultural Club. They had all types of food ranging from rice, chicken, chips, and other great snacks. I didn’t stay too long because I had to get ready for my afternoon hot sandwiches class. We were planning an appetizer party for people to come and eat, and the cost was for open donation. We had a lot of various foods ranging from fried red tomatoes, egg rolls, mac and cheese, and plenty of other great foods. Once I finished my dishes some of my other classmates went around advertising our special event. We had a great turn out of people, as food was running low we quickly whipped some more hot foods to get on the line. People enjoyed the foods we cooked up and they came back for more. At the end we started cleaning up to finish our day off and ate some leftovers. I have some pictures above to show the line of people who came out to our special event.

Later in the night I attended a homebrew meeting at the Elks Lodge building located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. This meeting was more special than usual because this event was a social meeting and the end of the year celebration. Most of the members brought some of their best stuff which has been brewing all year. There were over twenty types of homebrew beers ranging from IPA to Stout beers. All of these beers were great in quality and taste, and there was even a chance for people to win a 50-50 raffle, so I decided to buy one for a dollar. As time went on I met people who are alumni from Marian University, and other people who been home brewing their beers for years. I gained some useful information about the process and history of different types of beers. Soon afterwards the 50-50 raffle was called off, and surprise enough my ticket was called out. I was so surprised that I had to make sure it was my ticket was the correct one. I wanted to stay longer because I was having so much fun, but I had to leave since I had class in the morning. I must say this wonderful Wednesday was a lot of fun! Well until next time I’ll catch you soon!

Cheers,
Lee IV

8 hours of classes!

On Tuesday, December 6, in my potatoes and vegetables class we made some good food of course. We made a vegetarian stir-fry made with broccoli, carrots, red cabbage, red peppers, and sesame seeds served on jasmine rice. It was really tasty! The pictures above show all the delicious foods we made. We also made scalloped potatoes topped with a garnish. In this class I learned so much about the different cooking methods of cooking potatoes and the side dishes you can create using simple ingredients. In my afternoon salads class we had another mini competition within our class to see who can create the most creative composed salad. A composed salad is anything you want in a salad which is arranged on a small plate. It seems simple but you have to show your art side and make everything on the plate edible. At the end I didn’t win but I did get some useful ideas from my fellow classmate; the best part of going to school is learning new things and learning our skills. I didn’t have much to say today but my pictures will explain all the fun things we did today! I hope you enjoy them!

Cheers,
Lee IV

The Monday Blues!

My weekend was pretty relaxing; I basically worked at Qdoba and played video games with some of my friends. With that being said another week of classes was approaching, and now it is Monday, you know people’s favorite day of the week! My Monday started with my Food Principle class. We started to review our final exam questions, and we had a cheese presentation by Geogerina, a sales representative, from Grande Cheese Company. She informed us about the numerous varieties of cheese they offer, and how Grande Cheese uses the freshest ingredients without any fillers or preservatives. Thus far their headquarters is located in Lomira, Wisconsin, but they are in the process of moving their headquarters to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin which would add two hundred jobs in town. The best part of the presentation was that we were able to try the cheese from Grande. I found out which cheeses I liked and didn’t like. I learned that for aged cheese you must have an acquired taste for it otherwise it is a hit or miss. Once class finished my friend Hayley and I purchased our tickets for the Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan concert at the Resch Center in Green Bay, on February 16, 2012. We are so excited to attend this because these two artists are becoming huge in the spotlight, and their music is amazing, especially if you like country. Afterwards I started to write my blogs, and talked to friends from school. It is funny although I was done with class at 11 a.m. I didn’t leave school till 6 p.m. because I got distracted talking to people and running errands around school. I didn’t mind because I had nothing else to do and Moraine Park Technical College is basically my second home. Well the Monday Blues turned into Happy Blues; it is amazing how things turn out at the end of the day. Well that is all for now I will catch you on my Tuesday voyage! Ciao!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Happy Friday!

I love my Fridays because it is the start of the weekend and I don’t have classes on these days. So I always use my Friday as the day to pay bills and run errands. I started my day off by attending a meeting at Moraine Park about me doing a lunch and learn in January about my experience in Australia. Hopefully this event would give people the opportunity to learn more about this country and encourage them to travel there. I will have more information when the date gets closer. Afterwards I went to the barbershop to get my haircut because NO Shave November was done, and I got my haircut for $5 which is a good price! Then I went to State Farm Insurance to get my car insurance. Although it is more money for me it feels nice to pay for things on my own; I guess it is all a part of growing up. Well today wasn’t the most exciting day but everyday can’t be fun all the time since taking care of business is part of life. I do wonder what the weekend lies ahead though, so stay tune on my weekend voyage!

Cheers,
Lee IV

New Month New Fun

Thursday, December 1, was the new month which only means more fun lies ahead. This is the day I have been waiting for because in my salad class we were having our salad competition. After waiting for two months for our spinach and lettuce to grow we had the opportunity to display and sell our salads. Each group in my salads class has very creative ideas which give the competition more of a challenge. Once everything was done we had to display our salads in the cafeteria for people to sell. It was a slow start, so I decided it was a good idea to play music at our table because if our team name was Party Rock we should play music, and it worked, one person bought our salad. So that was a start but not enough to sell the rest of our salad, so then I decided to go around the school and tell people to check out the competition, and it worked. People saw how unique each group designed their salad, especially since everything was freshly grown at school and locally. At the end the results were in to see which group made the most in profits of selling their salads, and the winners were my friend Angel and I. We sold five salads for $6 each with the grand total of $30. At first we hesitated about pricing our salads, but everything worked out well and we did a good job. Overall each group did a wonderful job on their salads. There will be more competition soon so stay tuned!
Later in the night my day got even better because I had the opportunity to DJ for the first time at a local bar named Slim and Chubby’s located on Main Street in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. I was a little nervous because it was my first debut and I wanted to do a good job. So I told some of my friends to come out and check out the fun. Once I got to the bar the owner showed me the basic concept of using the computer and lights throughout the night, it wasn’t too hard to learn, but the challenge is to keep people happy and having fun. Although there weren’t a lot of people out, my friends came to support me so that meant a lot and we still had a lot of fun. We rocked the night away by singing and dancing, it wasn’t a bad start for me. My next DJ night is on Thursday, December 15, at Slim and Chubby’s, so if your 21 and older come check out the fun! Well that’s all for now, check you later!

Cheers,
Lee IV

The Big Day!

Wednesday, November 30, was the last day of the month, and was either “Go Big or Go Home” because I had my test out day for my baking class. For my final I had to make three coconut crème pies and honey oatmeal bread. After a night of planning out my recipes I had everything ready, but for some reason I had a rough start. When I was making my bread I forgot to add the water first, which is a huge component of making bread, but luckily enough my instructor had some sourdough to add to my mixture to make my dough to a good consistency. After that things went a lot smoother and I was shaking and baking literally. While I was letting my dough rest, I started on making my coconut crème pies. All the recipes I was making were made from scratch, and this time I was working by myself without a partner. Baking can be a lot of fun especially when everything tastes good and turns out good. After an hour I finally finished my pies and they turned out really good. I topped them off with a crème, and made a face out of the crème. By this time it was time for me to start baking my bread, and put some sweet designs into them. The breads took about an hour to bake then I had to let them cool off on the rack. Overall my test out went well although it was a rough start; my saying is “it doesn’t matter how you start its how you finish.” All the breads that my class made were sold out within hours; I guess people really love bread especially when they are freshly from the oven.

After my baking test out I could finally take a breather and take away the pressure I put on myself. Then I realized MPTC student life was having a Casino Night event in the cafeteria. This event was free for students to play various games such as roulette, poker, and blackjack to win prizes at the end of the event. I played roulette for about two hours because it is my new favorite game to play especially at the casino, the odds of winning are pretty good. So I stayed until the end hoping to win the grand prize of a $200 Visa gift card, but of course I didn’t win any prizes nor the grand prize unfortunately. At least I had a good time at the event; I hope there will be more casino nights because the thrill of winning is always a thrill. Well until next time, Check you later!
Cheers,
Lee IV

Week after Turkey Break

After having a week off from school it was back to reality at school. My day started with going to my vegetables and potatoes class. We did a lot of exciting things such as making twice baked potatoes, baked potatoes, and made random objects made out of potatoes. I always wonder who said you can’t play with your food because in culinary that rule doesn’t apply.

After class I had the opportunity to get a free massage sponsor by MPTC student life. Usually this event occurs once a month, but since by high demand an additional date was added on. I recommend signing up early because spots fill up fast within seconds. Once I was finished with my massage I had to start my salads class. Our main focus was to work on the salad competition on Thursday, so my friend Angel and I worked on our design and made flyers to spread the news about the event. Our main focus was to show people the salads that we made were freshly grown in Moraine Park’s hydroponics lab, and every product was made in Wisconsin. It is important especially nowadays to purchase food that are locally grown and support local business. When foods are purchased locally the food is a lot fresher compared to products shipped from around the world. In my next blog I will tell you the results of our salad competition.

After a long fun day of classes, a couple of friends from MPTC decided to celebrate our friend Chelssie’s birthday at BackYard Grill and Bar in Fond du Lac located on Johnson Street across from Moraine Park. Since the restaurant was so close we decided to walk, instead of driving and wasting gas. The only bad part about walking was the weather was chilly and windy, but that didn’t stop us. We ran across the street without any problems. As we sat we beat the dinner rush, so we were able to get our food super fast. I got a southwestern burger with fries, and it was delicious! No matter what time of the year or day BackYard Grill and Bar is constantly crowded, and has tons of great food to try, everything on the menu is good. After a great meal we headed back to school to play a board game named “Things”. It is a fun game to play with friends, and you get a good laugh from it. We played for two hours; it is amazing how fast time flies when you’re having fun. Well of course all good things come to an end so it was time to go home and call it a day. That’s all for now until next time, Ciao!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Turkey Break Day 4

Today is the day I have been waiting all week for, the official turkey day! Since I didn’t go home for turkey day my friend Dustin invited me over to have dinner with some of his housemates. The weather was pretty warm, perfect weather to go for a walk and play some American football. The turkey we had we got for free, which saved us money; this turkey was a nice a nice sized for us to eat. I figured since we got the turkey for free I could contribute by bringing my homemade apple pie I made in class, and then I realized I should make my infamous homemade mac & cheese. When I went to Festival Foods to buy the ingredients I needed, I noticed since it was turkey day a lot of businesses were closed and everything seemed so deserted. It kind of reminded me of an old western film when the town was a ghost town. The store wasn’t crowded so I was able to get in and out of the store without any crowded lines, then I headed back to my friend’s house to start my cooking. By the time I got back the turkey was already cooking for an hour and it smelled so good. Knowing that we had another three hours for the turkey to be done my stomach was growling loud. During this time we started to make our side dishes and our dinner menu was getting bigger and bigger. Finally after three hours all the food was ready and it was it time for us to eat. Although it was only four of us we had a lot of food, but who can complain it smelled and looked so good. Altogether we had green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, apple pie, mac and cheese, and of course the turkey. We really enjoyed the food we made; I even had enough room for seconds. Of course for some reason when we eat a turkey dinner we tend to go into a food coma, so we slept for about an hour. Afterwards I was feeling refreshed and by this time I caught the end of the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins football game. It was a great ending as the Cowboys finished with the victory by kicking a game winning field goal. Once the game ended I helped cleaned up and gathered some food for leftovers, then I went back home.
As I was sitting home I was contemplating rather or not should I go shopping at midnight for Black Friday. Since I never went at midnight I figured I should go to get the full experience of the thrill of Black Friday deals. I went to Best Buy by myself to see what deals I could find; by the time I got there the line was already wrapped around the building at 10:30 p.m. I wasn’t too shocked since I heard Wal-Mart was crazy packed there. As I waited in line I met some cool people who were talking about what they were trying to buy. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular; my goal was anything that was a reasonable price I would buy it. Finally midnight approached and people went inside to find the gifts they wanted to buy, I went to the camera section and got a great deal on a camera bundle. Then I looked in the tablet section too see if there were any deals, and indeed there was. I got an Android tablet which is pretty much a smaller version of a computer. Shortly afterwards I got in line to checkout then I saw some of my friends, which made waiting in line a lot smoother because we talked and made the time go by faster. In total we were in line for about 45 minutes, but it was worth it because of the deals I got. Afterwards I went home to start playing with my new toys then went to bed since I still had to work the next morning. Well after this long day that is it for this voyage, catch you next time!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Turkey Break Day 3

Wednesday, November 23, was the first Wednesday in awhile not baking something good but a change in pace is not always a bad thing. So instead I began my day with a morning workout then I started on my blog to get the day started. In the afternoon I met up with a friend that I have not seen in years at Starbucks in Fond du Lac on Johnson Street right of the highway. It was good to catch up on our lives; it is amazing how fast time goes by when we are constantly on the go. We laughed about funny stories in the past, and our plans to do in the future. It felt like we were there for a short time, but actually we were there for about two hours. Since we had other things to do we had to leave, but we are planning another coffee break soon. If anyone is looking for ideas to do in town with friends I recommend go to Starbucks and grab a comfy chair and relax.

Later that night I met up with some friends from MPTC at Ledgeview Lanes in Fond du Lac to go bowling. The specials for the night were buy two get one free game for $9 including shoes rental. There were seven of us, and we had a great time bowling and dancing to the music we picked out on the jukebox. For every time there was a spare or strike we cheered for one another. I must say after bowing three games it is definitely a good workout, you burn a lot of calories without realizing it. Once we finished bowling we were getting hungry, but we couldn’t decide what we were craving, then remembered Applebee’s is open late night. We drove to Applebee’s and there were a good amount of people there since it was turkey eve, more people decided to come out. The good part of ordering at Applebee’s is that there appetizer menu is half-off, therefore you get your money worth. Our waiter was really funny; she made our night and the food was good. Once we were done we all went home and got ready for the big day ahead for turkey day and Black Friday shopping. Now the fun things lay ahead, until next time ciao!

Cheers,
Lee IV

Turkey Break Part 2

On Tuesday, November 22, for the first time in awhile I didn’t have to wake up early for my morning class because turkey break officially started. Therefore, I slept in but not for too long because if I sleep away my morning I feel I wasted my day away. Once I got ready for the day I headed over to school to water the plants that we are growing for my salads class. They are looking green; I can’t wait to harvest them! Afterwards I headed to the auto lab to change my new license plates for my vehicle, since the tools were strong enough because the old license plates had rust on them. The students from the auto lab were friendly and gladly switched my plates for me. As a tip to save money on car repairs you can take your vehicle to the auto lab and they will try to fix it for you. The only thing you pay is the parts, and the labor is free but tips are always a good thing to show support. You can view a list of their repair schedule at http://www.morainepark.edu/services/automotive-lab/vehicle-repair-schedule/.
In the afternoon I headed off to Biolife to give plasma, this is a great way to earn extra cash and most important, save people lives. For more information about Biolife you can check out the website at http://www.biolifeplasma.com/. Once I got home one of my past housemates came down to visit us; we decided it would be a good idea to go to Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee since we haven’t gone in a long time. The drive wasn’t too bad until we hit city traffic because of rush hour but that is a given since everyone is heading home. After a hour later we arrived at the casino, it is always a thrill for me to see if I will win or lose money. I am not a big spender on gambling; therefore I prefer to bid smaller amounts to have my money last longer. One of my favorite games to play is roulette, black jack and spin the wheel. My friends and I were having a good time playing, walking around and see how other people play their favorite games to win big. After being at the casinos for a couple of hours we figured it was time for us to head back home, and call it a night. As a result we broke even with our money, it is always nice to come out on top and not be in the negative. Well another fun day I’ll say, until next time Ciao!

Cheers,
Lee IV