Iceland Recap And What It’s Like To Be Back In School

So I’m back in school. Legit school, not a 12 week vacation with some cooking lessons mixed in. I knew this going in, but it was also quickly reinforced on our first official day. So playing around in Iceland last weekend seems like a distant memory now that I’m here. But let’s recap real quick:

I climbed a freaking glacier. I wanted to challenge myself. I challenged myself. It was terrifying since I’m afraid of heights and they send you down a hole where you can’t see the bottom, it’s called a “moulin.” It made for one hell of an Instagram picture.  I saw more geological wonders in that 48 hours in Iceland than I’ve seen in my entire life. This included the Northern Lights. Which are fantastic to see, but aren’t green to the naked eye. You need a fancy camera with the settings right. Who knew? I’d post a picture but I don’t have a fancy camera.

Okay, back to school. Let’s start with the awesome demographics. There are 64(!!!) of us, from all walks of life. There are the corporate types like me that were fed up with it and wanted change, or at least needed a break. There are people right out of college/university that aren’t sure what they want to do. There are retired people or people whose kids finally moved out and are taking time for themselves. There are 15 different nationalities. I’ve already met some amazing people and am looking forward to continue to get to know everyone. I’ve made a point to try and spend time getting to know everyone, regardless of their background. What’s great is we all speak the same language. We’re all passionate about cooking and food. We all left behind or at least took a significant break from a previous life. It’s actually something I have to remember when meeting people, that I’m not the only one who took a leap of faith of sorts.

The school grounds themselves are fantastic. 100 acres of organic farm. We started day 1 with a tour of the grounds. On day 2 we did 10 hours of cooking and demonstrations then foraged for some wild berries. If there’s one thing I learned so far it’s that I know nothing about food. I know how to buy something in the grocery store and feed you something edible, maybe even tasty, but I have NO idea how my food gets on the shelf.

I knew going in that, sure, I was excited about technique but most of my interest lies in understanding the ingredients and where they come from. What’s in season when and what needs what to grow. Did you know that true French tarragon is sterile? There aren’t any seeds. You chop off part of one plant to create another. Did you know that planting wild flowers around your garden can be great to attract vital insects for pollination? On day 2 we covered something like 25 different varieties of salad greens, all of which can be harvested here. Identifying those greens is our entire mid-term, by the way. This stuff is my jam and I plan to spend as much extra time as I can in the gardens and greenhouses.

The curriculum is heavy. I have 3 four inch binders that will all be full. The afternoons are lectures and demonstrations in the demonstration kitchen. Then the next morning is spent cooking the recipes we saw the previous afternoon. In the evenings we have to create an “order of work” for the next day’s cooking as well, I just finished mine. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I have to make a potato and fresh herb soup, basic Irish soda bread and a compote of wild balckberry & apples with rose geranium leaves. These will get more and more difficult as time goes on. Once things really get going I’ll start posting pictures of my successes and disasters in the kitchen.

Okay, this is getting long and boring. Let’s end with this. Three days in, before the hard stuff has really started, this feels 100% completely right. I feel great. Others do too. You can see it in their faces during introductions and then again after 10 pretty rough hours of cooking and curriculum. It’s a fresh start for so many of us and I think most people realize the opportunity.

One of the reasons I came here is I never really fully applied myself before this. High school, college, corporate world. Sure I worked hard because I wanted to be successful and afford my life, but I never gave it everything I had because I just didn’t care that much. How can I care that some dude at Dunder Mifflin or Initech got their TPS report on time? It feels good to care.

This blog was mostly getting some facts on the school out of the way and transitioning to the reality that the “I quit my job” fun is over. School is in session. Instead of climbing glaciers I’ll be milking cows. Subsequent blogs will hopefully be more entertaining, maybe once I slice my finger off or something. 8 of 64 people had “badges of honor” today in the form of blue band aids and finger condoms. Turn out real knives are sharp.

Thanks for reading.