Literally the Most Stressful Time Ever

NOTE: I'm using the word 'literally' in the informal sense- used for emphasis while not being literally true. Therefore, while this afternoon was pretty stressful, it was not necessarily the most stressful time ever. (Also, I may have overdramatized some events because my mind tends to blow things out of proportion)

Anyway, to the context. MasterChef at my school. My friend and I had won the heats for our house, and were into the final along with pairs from the other five houses. She came over so that we could plan and practise our two dishes, and everything was fine.

Until it wasn't.

I obviously read my email wrong (and then couldn't double-check because the school emails are down!) and we found out in form that the competition was today.

Today.

We had no ingredients, no recipe, no nothing. I was on the verge of crying, so my friend stood up and took me to see my mum (who works at the school, so it's not like we went home) so that we could ask her to get us some ingredients. Luckily, she is amazing and she agreed, so we wrote out a list of ingredients and equipment.

Although I knew that we had that part of it under control, I spent the day on the verge of panic, running over the recipes in my head (I've now only made them twice- once at home and once for the final) and hoping that we would have enough time.

Then, after lunch, it all started. My hands were shaking, but the first hour or so went along nicely. The atmosphere was quite calm, and we had some friendly banter (oh, how I hate that word) with some of the other competitors (one of whom is our friend). Pretty much everything worked, apart from when we burnt the base of our Key Lime Pie and had to restart, but otherwise, everything was good.

Our mystery ingredient was Porridge Oats, and we simply mixed them with the biscuits in the base (luckily there were enough for two mixes).

Then, with about half an hour to go, the pastry died. When I say/write died, I mean it just fell apart and, with it, my hopes and dreams (bit over dramatic, but I did warn you). Anyway, my friend directed me to the other, cleaner workspace and told me that I had time to make some more.

And so I did. I made more, I managed to put it in the oven and we started clearing up. At around ten minutes to go, we had to start thinking about plating up, so my friend did this while I tried (in vain) to get the french beans to cook faster (I was not plating up because I do not have any artistic bones in my body).

Luckily, we managed to push through and get everything served and cleared up on time (even though the pie fell apart and we had to kinda slop it on the plate). Because I'd made two pastry things, some other people were eating that and the rest of the pie was eaten in about three minutes flat.

And now, the menu:
Main Course- Boeuf en croute with Herby Potatoes, French Beans and Red Wine Sauce

Dessert- Key Lime Pie with Creme Fraiche

Pretty impressive, right? (Mum was not happy that I needed a fillet steak though...) The main course is French, and I am actually using for my Mock Practical Exam for Food, and the dessert is American (although we didn't use American limes). 

Note: we came second.

Anyway, until next time- au revoir!