59 days left. No, wait: 58.

Thanks to the Labor Day holiday, Advanced Baking and Pastry is shortened to 14 days, then three more rotations of three weeks each, and we'll reach the finish line, at least as far as the in-school portion of the program is concerned. It's interesting, a year ago at this time I was counting down the days, too.

Chef Lorriann is our instructor for this rotation, and our goal is to "feed the dining room": make the bread and pastries that will be served to diners in the Careme Room, our on-campus restaurant. There were nine of us in class today, six from our original 14 (Andrea, Andy, Derrick, Silvia, Jordan, and me); Alex, who joined our track back in Wine One, and two new "kids," Anthony (he has big holes in his earlobes where the bling goes) and Kristine, a "mature" woman like myself, both of whom are returning to class after taking some time off.

Chef gave us the typical day-one lecture (where to go in case of a fire drill; how grades will be calculated), then a brief review of flours (six big rolling bins in this kitchen, plus smaller containers for specialty flours) and chocolate (five types, plus cocoa powder). Then she gave us a bit of her own history (City College in SF, seven years in Europe, a long stint as pastry chef at the Mark Hopkins) which segued directly into a pep talk. Apparently she knows how burned out we're getting as we come into the last "semester" of school. "You cannot give up!" she said. "Your mother has told everyone what you're doing and they're all talking about you. She can't possibly go back and tell them now that you've quit." Even more: "You had a dream. That's why you're here. Make it happen!" She's sweet natured but tough, and enthusiastic, and as we adjourned from the lecture, Andrea said, "That's just what I needed."

What we didn't need, though, was the next hour and a half, which we spent cleaning out the contents of the large refrigerators. We've normally been assigned to clean our kitchens on the last day of class, so that the incoming group starts "fresh," but that convention was obviously not followed last week. We pulled out trays, bowls, and bins unlabeled, mislabeled, moldy, and disgusting, and any sense of enthusiasm we had quickly evaporated as we dumped, scrubbed, and mopped, before making a single mess of our own.

Eventually, though, we started working. I made a half sheet pan full of cheesecake, with graham cracker crust and sour cream topping. Chef Loriann handed me the recipe. "I've tried lots of versions but this one, from the back of the Philadelphia cream cheese, is just the best," she said.

Once that was done, we did the dishes. Again.