Culinary Institute

Apple tarts...creme patissiere...delectable cakes and pastries...

These are just a few in a long line of recipes my sister is baking and cooking up at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. I thought I would give you all a little background on our pastry chef and how she was led to this yummy calling...

Carla, the eldest in the Crosby line, dreamed of going to lawschool before she could even say Delta Gamma at Ole Miss. She knew with her debating skills and sharp mind law school was definitely the way to go.

So, off to Alabama Law School she went after recieving her undergrad at the University of Mississippi in political science. (She was thrilled to go to UofA of course and admitted it was the prettiest campus of all). Okay, okay, maybe she didn't admit that...but it was the second prettiest to her next to the grove...

Where were we. Ah, yes....Culinary school. Carla married J.B., also an Ole Miss boy, at the start of her last year of law school. J.B. also had aspirations of being a lawyer and always imagined himself at Alabama for his own degree of law. However, there were different plans in tact...

After Carla finished law school J.B. was accepted to one of the most prestigious law schools around, located in beautiful Boston, MASS. The great Harvard itself. So, to Boston they went. While J.B. went through school, Carla of course found a job doing what lawyers do. She enjoyed her work...at times...but went through many spells wondering if this where she was supposed to be. Was this what she was called to do??

A few years pass, three to be exact, and our fearless lawyer couple decide to move to the Big Apple for one year, and one year only. There, J.B. can clerk for a judge and Carla can shop...I mean do lawyer work. But something changes in that lawyer girl's heart...

To back up our story a bit, a few years prior Carla began to really enjoy cooking. Cooking anything and everything. And she was good. Real good. So, as the couple anticipated their move to NYC, Carla began to day dream about cooking school. Oh, that's "culinary school", in fancy language.

To make a long story short Carla found the perfect match for her. A French Culinary Institute that taught everything you ever wanted to know about pastries. Pastries of any kind. You name it and she'll be able to make it. Little did she know that her sister's favorite food is pastries. Seriously, in the whole wide world if she had to choose a pastry over anything, anything at all, she would choose the donut (I mean pastry). And that SHE would be ME.

Alright, so you get the idea. My sister is attending her first culinary school and as a matter of fact she attended her first day of class this week...and something else she just started is a BLOG.

She is giving updates on her day to day assignments and posting pics of her beautiful creations. So for all you cooking fans out there, go check it out!

http://thegrocery.blogspot.com/

You can also find it to your right under my list of friends, under Carla.

Hope you've enjoyed this little story... And maybe, just maybe, we can persuade Carla to open up a little bakery here in Alabama after she finishes and give us (I mean me) free pastries everyday...