Just a dream

So, I guess part of me has always had a hidden career dream. Not too many people know this, until now. :) Part of me has always wanted to go to culinary school and become a chef. I think the main reason I didn't look into it more was because I don't know what kind of career opportunities would be presented to someone with a degree in the culinary arts. I wouldn't want to have to work every evening and weekend at some place in St. Louis and always be away from my family. I think I owe this dream primarily to my Mom. My Mom is an AMAZING cook and she has learned from another AMAZING cook, my Grandma. Mom and I love to swap recipes and she is the one I call from the grocery store with all my crazy questions. All of my days as a 4-H girl also helped me explore my skills (or lack there-of) in the kitchen. I took quite a variety of cooking/baking/etc projects in 4-H. Yeah, just ask me about my State Fair, Superior ribbon-winning bread. Got the big fat purple ribbons to prove it! Anyway, I used to be able to use the lack of a dishwasher as a deterrent to cooking/baking as much as I wanted. Really, who wants to wash all the dishes that result?!?! Not me! Well, now we have a dishwasher so that excuse is out the window. I really wish I had more time to spend in the kitchen, but for the sake of still trying to lose my baby weight, its probably a good thing that I don't spend more time there. Sure, I have had my fair share of "nice try, but no thanks" recipes. Just ask Rob about the seafood pasta dish I tried one time. I've tried to block that particular event from my memory, but I do remember it having a home-made red sauce, shrimp and lots of seasonings in it. Basically, it tasted about as good as cardboard. Leftovers were not salvaged from that dinner.

After a particularly frustrating day at work today, my curiosity got the best of me. I'm sure you've all seen the ads and TV commercials for the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in St. Louis. I decided to give them a call. Who knows, accountant turned chef...I'm sure its happened before. Needless to say, after finding out that its 4 days a week, 4 1/2 hours per day for 9 months with a price tag of roughly $16,300...I think I'll be finishing my masters degree and sitting for the CPA exam in the next year or two. So, my dreams of becoming a chef will remain just that, a dream.