Culinary Institute of America

Thanksgiving is only a week away. And this year, KitchenDaily wants to make sure you've got everything just right by offering a primer on everything basic, beginning with classic turkey gravy. In an episode of KitchenBasics with the Culinary Institute of America, the CIA's chef Katherine Polenz offers a step-by-step demonstration of the gradual process, explaining the science of thickening sauce along the way. Follow Polenz's flavor-enhancing advice (like her secret ingredient) and important visual cues (such as how to know when the gravy's thickened), and you'll be guaranteed to have a smooth, complex sauce that's as much the talk of the table as the turkey. For the instructional video and recipe head to KitchenDaily.

Graduate schools are a great way to switch careers or advance the one you have. I talked about the most common reasons to get a grad degree, and my new school series will give you a quick glimpse of what options are out there.

Think you have what it takes to be the next Anthony Bourdain? Well, why not start off where he did, at the Culinary Institute of America, a cooking school that's based in New York. As a graduate, you'll be part of the school's elite alumni network, which boasts of Alinea's Grant Achatz, Chipotle CEO Steven Ells, Iron Chef's Cat Cora, and the list goes on. Jennifer Purcell, one of the associate deans at the CIA, told me more about the famous culinary school.

SavvySugar: What can a typical student expect to experience at the CIA?

Jennifer Purcell: A class day may start at 7 a.m. and end around 1:30 p.m., and that’s for a kitchen course. [Expect to] stand on your feet and cook, and kitchens are warm! They can be long days, but we also have sit-down lectures, courses and classes, but the bulk of our coursework is culinary. You’re in the kitchens, and repetition is key, because it’s how you build your skills. The classes are sequential so your building blocks of starting with basics and you build on those throughout the program until you end up in the CIA's four public restaurants. The whole experience is to synthesize all of your training and put it into action in a live restaurant.

To find out about the common misconceptions people have of cooking schools, read on!

I should have put self-control on my list of New Year's resolutions, because I haven't been able to resist temptation this month, especially when it comes to nostalgic candies, dragées, or any charming confection. At least one publisher appealed to my weakness when I received a copy of Peter Greweling's Chocolates and Confections at Home With the Culinary Institute of America ($23), I think my heart actually skipped a beat. Did it let me down? Find out and read more.