[Sweetnapa]

Hello Everyone,
I recently moved to the wine country of Napa, CA to attend culinary school for baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, and I started a blog about school, Napa, wine, and desserts in general. I'm two weeks into classes, and we don't get into the kitchen for another week, so there are now mostly wine and Napa postings.

http://sweetnapa.blogspot.com/

Check it out if you're interested!

[Rainey]

How exciting! I hope it's a wonderful experience that exceeds your hopes!
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God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

[Sweetnapa]

Thank you I'm having a blast so far.... even though I actually have two written "final" tests tomorrow for my math and science classes! Exploring Napa is more fun than studying

[fizylizzy]

i am looking forward to reading more of your blog! i was considering the baking and pastry program but it's quite expensive and i am trying to see of alternatives to culinary school.

i've started a blog too, inspired by many like you.

http://www.kainna.wordpress.com

enjoy/food/life!!

[Sweetnapa]

I'm so happy that I was part of the inspiration to start the blog. I became hooked on blogging once I started, and I hope that you like it as much!

I really like the design of your blog, and it's a lot of fun to read. And I'm glad you had more luck with rosettes than I had.

[Sarah F]

Just speaking of culinary school- how did you make the decision where you wanted to go? I am looking at schools and trying to make a decision. Currently I am favoring the French Culinary Institute in NYC. Has anyone heard anything about them?
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"It is never too late to be what you might have been" George Eliot

[Sweetnapa]

My choice was mostly location based. I had been going to law school at UC-Davis, about an hour away, and CIA Greystone was the closest culinary school that I knew of. It also specializes more in baking and pastry, which was what I wanted to focus on. My other choice was the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, but after taking a day class there, I wasn't that impressed... and I didn't want to deal with SF lodging and parking issues. I figured that this would be my only opportunity to live in Napa, so I decided to go for it. My boyfriend lives in LA, which I don't like too much, so this was also close enough to be convenient to visit each other on weekends.

Also, I came very close to going to law school in Portland, OR, and if I had, I'd probably be attending the Le Cordon Bleu program at the Western Culinary Institute right now.

And.... My family is in NJ and NYC, but because of my boyfriend (...and just slightly, my carefully and fully furnished apartment things), I decided not to go back to the East Coast--so I didn't really look much into their culinary schools.

Your question is very good because I had a hard time finding objective information on the web about culinary schools. From what I saw, a lot of them just try to sell you on the idea of going to culinary school, and it's hard to get information about how these schools are different. If you can find bloggers who go to the schools, that's just about the only way that I can think of to hear personal opinions (at least, to some extent; I know I have my own policy not to talk too personally about the school itself on my blog, but would probably share more through personal emails). I've heard generally good things about FCI (my favorite boss went there a dozen years ago), and actually, if you go to http://www.foodite.com/ that's a blog by a person who just started at FCI.

Hope that helps

[Sarah F]

Thank you for the great advice!! That blog is great- and I will make sure to search for others
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"It is never too late to be what you might have been" George Eliot