Skip to content
Sharpened Knives - Food Gypsy

Le Cordon Bleu, Exam Day

It all boils down to this.  How much have you learned?  How far have you come?  Can you now step up and be confident enough, solid enough within yourself and the new knowledge imparted over the last ten weeks to cook… well?

Yes.  Of course you can.

Spent the weekend in good company.  Laughing.  Practicing and quizzing all day.

Blowing off some steam on Saturday night.  My booze addled brain appeared to absorb more readily on Sunday morning.  Sunday night at 9pm… we hit the wall… the wall that said:

“You know what you know… now… let go.”

Letting go.

There is such a thing as “over studying”, moving past the place of knowledge into the place of doubt.

Poulet Saute Chansseur - the practice round Checking doneness...had no cognac used brandy instead. One for the dish, one for the cook!

Instead, I sharpened the crease in my pants and the edge on my knifes. Then I slept, easily dreaming.  Grateful for every moment along this journey of 20,000 miles.  It has been one truly amazing year.

This is what I came here for.  To know what I did not know.

No matter what the outcome, I am better for the experience.  Richer for the knowledge.  Deeper in the kitchen.

Tonight, after I serve these last two plates in Basic Cuisine, I will clean out my locker and come home to the bottle of champagne in the fridge, and I will celebrate the journey.

I will toast the many times I set fear aside… fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success… fear of not being enough.  I will toast moving my entire life, embracing the moment, and with one big, deep breath… jumping…

That is something worth celebrating.

Then I will open the fridge and say…”Hmmm, do I want the lamb, the chicken or the veal?!”  There’s a whole lot of French food in my fridge!

Navarin d'agneau printanier - never using raw organic sugar to Glace au brun again!
Feeding my lovely neighbour Daname!

Cori Horton

Fearlessly cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer, food marketing consultant, recipe developer and sustainability advocate. A Cordon Bleu trained chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and now shares all things delicious - right here.

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Oh S***! the Onions! LoL

    I owe you so so much! You calmed me down after the written, which helped me out so much. I really needed to just let out those tears. I was just so stressed. But it’s finally over. All thats left to do is WAIT.

    I Love You. You’re my heroe!

    D.

  2. Hey Cori, Sounds like you’re having fun. Good luck with your new venture – great site!

    Cheers, Susan S.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back To Top