So France lost in a shoot out, due to the shocking and especially stupid antics of Zidane. Not much celebrating, just a lot of heads hung in shame. I am pretty disappointed, too. I wanted to see the city go up for grabs.

It was entertaining today to watch two of our chefs have a "case of the Mun-days." This morning, the superior cuisine chef seemed in a really foul mood but trying to hide it. He couldn't hide it when he put the boiling milk for a basil ice cream in the blender and turned it on without properly securing the cap. Milk and basil went everywhere, burning his arm a little as it flew. It's all about the basics, people. I thought it was really nice of him to say that the mishap never would have happened if his assistant, who had been five minutes late, had showed up on time. In pastry, we're working on molding chocolate. The chef was demonstrating more techniques today (which is equivalent to watching paint dry), and he was securing molded eggs to his sculpture base. He squeezed the pastry bag a little too hard and it exploded, sending a huge blob of perfectly tempered chocolate over the front of his pristine coat. He was cool about it, and we all got a small reprieve from the dullness as he went to change his coat.

I made this really lovely dish of red mullet with "crispy potato scales." It's accompanied by steamed zucchini and carrots, a broccoli flan, and a citrus butter sauce. It tastes good, and looks pretty, too. I have to say that I got a nice compliment from the chef today. He was grading my plate and making his comments and summed everything up with, "Good work, good technique." That's what we like to hear: I'm getting the techniques.