"You May Bounce."

When push came to shove, we in Team 1 held our own. For the final buffet of class, we served up some damn good food. Miggi made an exceptional pumpkin custard, starting with baked fresh pumpkin that was puréed and blended with eggs, cream, and spices. It was just peppery enough to lean towards the savory side, and she topped it with toasted coconut at the end. More than one guest asked for the recipe ("Do you have it in a book we can buy in the giftshop?") -- and so did I.

The next chafing dish held jambalaya. "Utilizing the rondo," I sautéed the "trinity": onions, celery and green pepper, then added andouille sausage, garlic, chopped tomatoes, cayenne pepper and Tabasco. About 45 minutes before service, I added chicken stock, brought the whole pot to a boil, stirred in 4 quarts of rice, covered the whole pot with aluminum foil, and stuck it into the oven. Twenty five minutes later, the rice was cooked perfectly. Sara sautéed boneless chicken slices, shrimp, mussels, and clams, then mixed the seafood into the rice.

We had turkey again this week, whole breasts on the bone that were brined for a couple of days. We made a bread stuffing and served slices of turkey on top of the stuffing, surrounded by carrots, the whole thing napped with some chicken velouté. We told our guest that they could practice for Thanksgiving.

Then we had a chafer filled with duck confit, glazed with orange sauce. That's the dish that everybody in the kitchen kept picking at -- and I mean "picking" in the best possible way.

And we served soup: white bean with pork sausage and spinach. Add the duck, and you'd have cassoulet. The food looked and tasted delicious, our team worked together, and it was all good.

Chef Glenn said he was sorry that he only had us for three weeks: "A couple more weeks and we'd be producing some decent food." And then he excused us. "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."