NOT happy

I'm not mad, necessarily. I'm just not happy today. We had a practice practical exam today, paired with another person (in the real one, we won't be paired). There were a lot of problems today. First, the chicken was frozen, so when we cut it the skin shrunk. The bain marie got kind of pushed to the back, so our sauce and soup were cold. The oven we used wasn't on, so our plates weren't warm when we got food on them. I sauteed the zucchini in the chicken juices, which made it taste good but there was too much liquid and they were squishy. The picture above is the meal. I was proud of the plating, which I came up with, but other than that...unhappy. The good that came out of it is this: I learned what worked and what didn't. I know what needs to be done first and what doesn't need to be done until the last minute. And I know what to watch out for when we actually do the practical. Oh, and I learned that while I'm undersalting on purpose (I like a lot more salt than most people do), the food is still not salted enough. Oh, and the potatoes are quenelles. They're little diamondy shapes. I'm rather proud of those. I think plating was the only thing that chef actually thought was noticeable on our team. Maybe the sauce too.