Back to School

This past week, after a lengthy summer break that afforded opportunities to enjoy Australia's natural abundance, I had to start class again, and to be quite honest, it was nice to be back at work. This semester I have four classes (just like last semester), and as of now, I am taking courses in International Security, Globalization and Governance, China and the World Economy, and Development Dilemmas in Southeast Asia. Given that I have somewhat limited knowledge in several of these subject areas, I am excited about what I will learn this semester, and it was good to see classmates and friends from last year. 

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet here in Sydney. The days are getting shorter and the mornings are getting cooler, and you can tell that fall is on its way. This past weekend we did have a chance to see friends from home as Randall and Nancy Wells were in Sydney on a two week tour of Australia and New Zealand. The Wells are family friends from Highlands United Methodist Church, and we met in the city for breakfast this past Saturday. This upcoming weekend, Callie's family will arrive from Birmingham and so we are very excited to have all these familiar visitors arriving in the Great Southern Land. Before long, it will be our turn to head back home, but in the meantime and in an effort to see as much of this part of the world as possible, we are looking forward to upcoming trips to New Zealand and Canberra. More on those plans later, but for now, it's back to school.

And for me this week, it was back to cakes (thank goodness).  The gateau above is a Feuille D'automne, which translates as "leaves of autumn."  Beneath the ruffles of dark couverture chocolate are layers of rich chocolate mousse and crisp almond meringue.  The composition is very similar to that of the Gateau Concorde, so needless to say, Wilson was in love.  I'll admit that the chocolate ruffles (or flower - it's open to interpretation) were a bit of a challenge, and some of my classmates ended up with mounds of chocolate shards in the center of their cakes.

We also made a Buche de Noel this week, which is otherwise known as a Chocolate Christmas Roll/Log.  Recipes vary, but the Le Cordon Bleu version includes an almond dacquiose (sweet, moist sponge) surrounding layers of Cointreau and chocolate mousse and covered in a chocolate ganache.  It is traditionally garnished with meringue mushrooms, chocolate "bark," and a plaque reading "Joyeux Noel" as pictured here.  The dacquiose is delicious on its own, and Eddie and I managed to consume every scrap that remained during the lesson.

This week we'll be making the final preparations for the afternoon tea that our class will be serving on Wednesday, and rumors have it that Andre Cointreau, the owner of all Le Cordon Bleu schools, will be arriving on our campus this week.  Hopefully our products will be up to his standards!