Then I discovered online quizzes. No, not silly time-wasting quizzes that help you find out which My Little Pony you are. I mean quizzes you can make for yourself as a study aid.

I use ProProfs to make my own quizzes based on the textbooks for my classes. The service is free and simple to use. Once you make a quiz based on a particular chapter, you can take it as many times as you want to see how well you remember the material. It helps the facts “stick” in your head and shows which areas you might need to brush up on. The downside, of course, is that making a good quiz is time consuming. I found it was usually worth the effort, though, and the quizzes can be shared with other people.

Here is a list of culinary quizzes made using ProProfs:

ServSafe:
ServSafe by the Numbers
ServSafe Coursebook Chapter 2: The Microworld
ServSafe Coursebook Chapter 10: Food Safety Management System
ServSafe Coursebook Chapter 11: Sanitary Facilities and Equipment

Intro to Baking:
On Baking – Principles of Baking
On Baking – Quick Breads
On Baking – Yeast Breads
On Baking – Pies and Tarts
On Baking – Cookies and Brownies
On Baking – Cakes and Icings
Troubleshooting Yeast Breads

Soups and Stocks:
On Cooking – Sauce Families
On Cooking – Cold Soups
On Cooking – Bisques and Chowders
On Cooking: Thick Soups

Pantry and Breakfast:
On Cooking – Eggs and Breakfast
On Cooking – Sandwiches
On Cooking – Salads and Salad Dressings – Leafy Greens

Right here is just a simple, classic yellow rubber ducky on a mousepad. When I want to make another duck, this is the design I build on.

Once I figured out gradients in Inkscape, I was keen to make a gaudy rainbow rubber duck like this.

I guess I have a twisted sense of humor. First I made a couple of dead rubber duck designs. Then I made a sad rubber duck. Then it seemed only fitting to put them together. Whether the yellow duck is crying because he’s sad his buddy is dead or because the dead duck owed him money is anyone’s guess.

I had a little trouble with this doctor rubber duck, mostly because I wanted to give him a stethoscope. However, I couldn’t make it work; the stethoscope would either blend in with his coat collar or just clutter up the design and make it look unbalanced. I resorted to a stereotypical head mirror to show that this duck is a quack… um, a doctor. I can’t take credit for the “a duck a day keeps the quack away!” slogan, though. My husband came up with that one.

January 13th is National Rubber Ducky Day. Naturally I had to make a rainbow duck shirt to commemorate this special holiday.

All-Star Sports is one of three sister resorts on the Walt Disney World property (the other two are All-Star Music and All-Star Movies). Each All-Star has its own food court that serves hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza… typical fast food fare. The bulk of my work consisted of grilling hamburgers, cooking grilled cheese sandwiches, and toasting buns. I learned the importance staying organized and working fast when you’re hit by wave after wave of hungry people. I learned to prioritize tasks and get extra things done when things were slow, such as cleaning the fryers BEFORE the dinner rush.

Then it was on to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. The festival is an event where you can sample flavors from around the world by visiting the international kiosks set up all over the Epcot World Showcase. For example, the kiosk for Greece served up griddled kefalograviera cheese, Chicken Souvlaki, Greek salad, and yogurt parfaits. The festival also hosts special events that are centered around food and wine–cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, wine tastings, chocolate tastings, and more.

I was randomly assigned to work in different kiosks each day. One day I might be griddling cheese in Greece, and the next I might be assembling kalua pork sliders in Hawaii. If I were assigned to send people on breaks, I would work in up to four different kiosks in one day. Sometimes I was a runner, which meant I was in charge of delivering food and extra supplies to certain kiosks. I never knew what I would be doing on a given day. I had to be adaptable and ready for anything.

Working at All-Star Sports had its challenges, but the Food & Wine Festival was more demanding. For one thing, the expectations were higher: Showing up to work without your name tag or wearing white socks were fireable offenses. The hours were longer, and the work itself could be unpredictable and physically demanding. I might spend an entire day doing something easy like serving desserts on plates, or something hard like constantly pulling heavy trays of food out of an oven or pushing around a big cart full of food. I started collecting burns on my arms. I had shifts that stretched over 12 hours. There were a couple of days where I ended up soaked after working in the rain. There were days when my break was cut short and days when I wouldn’t get a break until it was close to the end of my shift. There was also a time I had to scrape food waste from one garbage can to another… by hand. (I had gloves, but it was still disgusting.) Disney had given me brand new shoes at the start of my internship. Less than two months later, the shoes were already falling apart.

Why did I choose to do my internship at Disney World? I think it’s because the parks have always fascinated me. Each time I visit Disney World, I’m struck by the attention to detail. Sometimes it takes my breath away to look close and see just how far Disney went to give the parks their own reality. The architectural details, the landscaping, the music, the smells–they neglect nothing. But the cast members are a huge part of the magic. The cast members are usually helpful, friendly, and upbeat. Disney is a fascinating machine, and I wanted to see what makes it tick.

My internship confirmed something I knew all along: It’s not all sparkly pixie dust behind the scenes. The “magic” of Disney World is made possible through hard work. And believe me, not everyone who works at Disney World is a bouncy, starry-eyed Disney fanatic. I was actually surprised to meet a few cast members who were so bitter and anti-Disney that I was tempted to ask, “Why are you even here?” (I suspect they don’t last long, however.) Knowing what I know about backstage Disney, I’m even more impressed by the fantasy world. In spite of the corporate regime, in spite of the fact that things aren’t so shiny in the background, Walt Disney’s legacy still lives on.

My school had an outline of cooking skills I was expected to use in my internship: Grilling, poaching, braising, and so on. To be honest, I only used a few cooking methods. Although I did get some cooking experience, the lessons I took away from the experience had less to do with cooking and more to do with speed, organization, teamwork, planning ahead, and being adaptable. I learned how to work efficiently in small, tight places. I had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of people with different personalities and skillsets. I learned that exceptional cooking ability isn’t as valuable as being able to follow orders and work harmoniously with others.

In short, I learned that there’s a lot more to cooking than just cooking. That’s probably one of the most important lessons a culinary student can take away from working in the kitchens of Disney World.

My husband and I love pizza; we have it for dinner at least once a week. We used to eat frozen pizza from the grocery store, but once I figured out how to make it myself, we’ve been feasting on homemade pizza ever since.

The pizza dough recipe I use was adapted from The Taste of Home Cookbook. Although I’m sure there are more flavorful pizza dough recipes, I like this one because it’s so fast and easy. Instead of waiting an hour or longer for the dough to rise, you just let it rest for ten minutes before you shape it and pop it in the oven.

Basic Pizza Crust
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Cornmeal
Pizza toppings of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and sprinkle cornmeal onto a greased pizza pan.

2. Add the yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add warm water and olive oil. Add 1-1/2 cups flour and mix until batter is smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough.

3. Cover the dough and allow to rest for ten minutes.

4. Place the dough on a floured surface and round it into a smooth ball. Roll it into a circle using either a rolling pin or your hands; build up the edges slightly. Transfer the dough to the pizza pan. Prick numerous holes into the dough using either a docking tool, a fork, or your fingertips. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until browned.

5. Remove from oven and add desired toppings. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Notes:

• The cornmeal helps prevent sticking. If the pizza crust still sticks, I find the best way to get it loose is to use either a bench scraper or, better yet, a Wilton cake lifter. You could also try baking the pizza dough on wax paper instead.
• Docking (or pricking) the pizza dough helps prevent air pockets that would turn your pizza crust into pita bread. Although a docking tool is preferable, jabbing holes into the dough with your fingers works well too.
• The original recipe says to bake the pizza dough at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes, then bake with the toppings for an additional 10-15 minutes. This might work if you can spread the dough extra thin, but I found that the pizza would always come out of the oven partially raw and doughy at the end; once the toppings were on, no amount of baking seemed to help. I find it works better to bake the dough longer at a slightly lower temperature.
• If you have a large pizza dish with no raised edges, you may find it easier to roll out the dough on the dish itself.
• You can substitute olive oil with vegetable oil, or leave out the oil altogether. Although the dough is slightly less sticky and easier to work with when you leave out the oil, it adds flavor and improves the texture of the pizza.
• Rounding the dough is an important step if you want a nice uniform circle of dough instead of a lumpy misshapen one. Rounding is done by tucking the dough under and into itself until the top is smooth and round. Here’s a video that shows how it’s done: How to Shape a Round Loaf of Bread Dough

In my cooking classes, we don’t always follow recipes exactly. Sometimes we don’t have everything and end up making substitutions. (How many places keep a ready supply of amaranth flour, anyway?) Sometimes our instructor doesn’t agree with the recipe and shows us a better way to do something. Sometimes we just plain make mistakes.

Our soups & stocks instructor explained that while rules and recipes are a fine thing, you’ll turn into a nervous wreck if you chain yourself to them. What are you going to do if you can’t make that bowl of apples weigh exactly 5 pounds? Get as close as you can and stop fiddling with it. What if you can’t find your potato peeler? Use a paring knife. What if you want to make bread dough and everyone else has commandeered the mixers? Knead it the old-fashioned way. What if you’re out of buttermilk? Make your own by adding lemon juice to regular milk.

What you DON’T do is throw up your hands and give up. You deal with it and find a way to make it work. And maybe that’s the most important rule of all.

I found my favorite brownie recipe about four years ago on Allrecipes.com, Best Brownies. I made a couple of tweaks to the recipe, but it’s my all-time favorite for a quick and decadent chocolate fix.

Ingredients-

Brownies:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an flour an 8-inch baking pan.

2. Melt 1 stick of butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Remove from heat; mix in vanilla extract, sugar, white sugar, and eggs until well blended.

3. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Gradually add to batter until blended. Add chocolate chips.

4. Spread batter into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

5. To prepare frosting: Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan. Add vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Slowly add milk and stir until the mixture is smooth and spreadable.

6. Spread frosting on brownies while they are still warm. Enjoy!

Other tips:

1. When greasing and flouring your baking pan, try using cocoa powder in place of flour. It keeps the baked edges from having a white layer.

2. Don’t cheap out and use generic cocoa powder. I tried that once, and while the brownies themselves were edible, the frosting was nasty. Stick with the good stuff! My personal favorite is Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, but regular Hershey’s Cocoa is good too.

3. There’s no exact science when you’re mixing the chocolate frosting. Just add milk a little at a time until the frosting is silky-smooth and easy to spread, but not runny. If you accidentally add too much milk, you can thicken it up again by adding more powdered sugar.

4. If you’re out of powdered sugar (like I was the last time I made this recipe), you can make a substitute by processing one cup of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in a blender. The frosting may end up slightly grainy, but you won’t be able to tell once it’s spread on the warm brownies.

5. The original recipe recommends baking the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes. I never bake them for more than 20 minutes, otherwise the brownies come out much too dry and cake-y for my taste. Not all ovens are the same, so you may want to experiment and see what works for you.

Taste develops and changes over time. Sometimes your taste for something depends on how it’s prepared. It’s easy to assume that if you tasted something once and hated it, you’ll never like it in any way, shape or form. My experience with calamari taught me otherwise. I hated calamari the first time I tried it; I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted anything more disgusting. It was like chewing on a piece of cold rubber, and I came away from the experience convinced that I hated squid. But one day, I tentatively sampled a bit of fried calamari… and loved it!

I used to believe buttercream frosting made with shortening was horrible, nasty stuff that leaves a greasy film on the roof of your mouth. I wanted real butter in my buttercream, by god. But butter is a terribly uncooperative substance, much too soft and mushy for cake decorating. Trying to make buttercream roses on a sweltering August day will make you curse. I searched for palatable shortening-based buttercream recipes, and eventually found one that not only holds up beautifully in humid weather, but also tastes pretty darn good.

Shortening gets a bad rap in general. One of my baking instructors would tell you shortening has no business in a pie crust. I used to believe that too, until I stumbled upon what would become my favorite pie crust recipe. The recipe uses both butter and shortening; the butter adds flavor and makes the crust extra flaky, while the shortening adds tenderness. Say what you will about shortening, but I haven’t tasted a better pie crust.

It’s easy to develop prejudices and assumptions based on someone else’s opinion, especially if that someone is informed and experienced. But if you’re going to be a Kitchen Nazi about ingredients or The Way Things Are Done, you should at least conduct your own experiments and form judgments based on your own tastes. It’s hard to take a militant sheep seriously.

Now, if I can just overcome my prejudice against peas and lima beans…

Problem is, everyone else was buying the same kit.

Why is that a problem?

Imagine what happens when every single person in a kitchen uses the same exact tool. Let’s say someone puts away their measuring spoons… but later on, they only remember that they had them out earlier. So what do they do? They swipe the nearest set of measuring spoons they see. That’s right: YOUR measuring spoons.

Imagine when two people are teamed up to prepare the same dish. One of them takes out their whisk, the other takes out their spatula. To save time and effort, they take turns using each other’s tools. One of them forgets that the spatula they’ve been using all this time actually belongs to their partner, so into their bag it goes. Oops.

All this, and I haven’t even covered intentional theft!

Anyone who takes cooking classes and doesn’t want their knives to mysteriously disappear would be well-advised to follow these tips:

1. Try to label your tools with your name. This will at least stop some confused student from running off with your bench scraper by mistake. Also, if you happen to misplace one of your tools, you’re more likely to get it back when someone else finds it.

2. Bring unique tools. If you’re the only one who brings a blue-handled paring knife to class, an “honest mix-up” becomes next to impossible. Stealing it is more risky, too, since everyone knows YOU’RE the guy or girl with that weird blue knife thing.

3. Bring tools someone would be too embarrassed to steal. A set of small measuring bowls with pink floral patterns all over them might not be safe from girly-girls, but at least the prissy things aren’t going to appeal to thieves who don’t want their manliness called into question.

4. Bring inexpensive tools. I don’t want to work with shoddy equipment, of course. At the same time, it would hurt to lose a knife I paid several hundred dollars for. If you lose something that didn’t cost a lot of money, you won’t cry as much.

I reflected on all the ingredients I’ve been working with lately: Blueberries. Batters. Raw chicken. Port wine. Raw steak. Pizza sauce. Chicken soup. Dirty dish water.

Now when you consider what goes on in a kitchen, you have to ask yourself… why in the name of all that is sane  do cooks wear white uniforms? Isn’t that a little like wearing a “kick me” sign to school, or a bull’s-eye shirt at a shooting range?

I turned to one of my textbooks for answers. This source, of course, extolled the practical virtues of the chef’s uniform: Checked pants disguise stains. Double-breasted jackets protect you from scalding heat and can be rebuttoned to hide unsightly stains. The handkerchief you wear around your neck absorbs perspiration. The apron shields your uniform from flying food and anything else that stains. The hat restrains your hair.

As far as the pants go, I’m all for prints that help camouflage stains. But your trousers shouldn’t have much to worry about, since they should be protected by an apron (which is usually white). As for the sweat-catching neckerchiefs, they probably had a lot more value back when cooks worked around open fires and suffocated themselves in hot, stuffy kitchens. No one seems to want to wear them nowadays.

I acknowledge that the design of the double-breasted jacket is both clever and practical. I’m already grateful for the rebuttoning feature. But if you stain both sides and don’t bleach it out in time, you’re still screwed.

So why white? Is it because it reflects light and keeps you cooler as you work in the kitchen? Actually, it’s because a famous chef known as Marie-Antoine Careme established the tradition; he thought it made cooks look clean and sanitary. Really quite bold of him, considering that there were no dry cleaners or washing machines in the early 1800′s.

I think it’s impractical, myself. If I ever open a restaurant, I think I’ll have my cooks wear black uniforms. Then they’ll look like ninjas.

Ninja chefs. That would be so cool.

Granted, that big knife can be intimidating if you’re not used to it. It’ll bite you if you get overconfident and try anything fancy. “Watch me dice this onion in 2.5 seconds–AGH! MY FINGER!”

At the same time, it could just as easily take your finger off if you handle it timidly. If your grip is loose, it could slip and chomp down on your hand instead of the celery.

The chef’s knife is one of the most important tools in the kitchen. It’s your sidekick, your buddy… as long as you handle it with confidence and respect.

When holding a knife, many people instinctively wrap all their fingers around the handle. Actually, it’s better and safer to grip the blade itself between your thumb and index finger, just in front of the bolster. This gives you precise control over your knife, not to mention a more secure grip.

When cutting fruits and vegetables, use the “claw” method. When you hold down the vegetable with your free hand, curl your fingers into a claw shape. You can then use the second joint of your index finger to guide the knife. (It’s harder to cut off a knuckle joint than it is to slice off the tip of one of your fingers.)

A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one. When your knife has a razor sharp edge, you don’t have to struggle when you’re cutting vegetables or dividing a chicken. A dull knife will fight and resist. You’ll get bad results at best. At worst, you lose a finger. Keep your knife sharp, and hone the edge with a steel between sharpenings.

Perhaps you’ve heard that a falling knife has no handle. It’s true. Try to catch a knife, and you’ll probably slice your hand open. Just step back and let it fall. The worst that will happen is that the tip of your knife will get damaged. I’d take that over stitches, myself.

Walking around with a knife is sometimes necessary, but potentially dangerous. Please don’t point it in the air, brandish it like a sword, or wave it like a feather duster. (Hey, I’ve seen it happen.) Instead, hold it parallel to your leg as you walk, pointed down. If you must walk behind someone, announce that you’re carrying a knife (“Knife!”)… because you never know when someone will decide to dart away from their station and bump into you on their way to fetch another onion.

While there’s no need to be afraid of your knife, you should respect it. As long as you use the proper techniques and don’t try to show off, your knife will be your best friend in the kitchen.