3/29/05-Tuesday 6:00pm
So I'm off a week. So much for trying harder at daily entries. Kudos to those who are dedicated to entries every day. I'll get better, really! Since Tuesday class entered the world of bread. I made a Milkbread ( rich sweet bread) and baguettes. Wednesday I made my first Pulled Sugar flower. I pulled hot sugar into petals then heated them over a flame to mold a fantasy flower. It was all pretty peach and pearly! Only 1 burn on my fingertip. Friday's practical was on Baguettes and Swiss Jelly roll. I passed. Saturday and Sunday I made Gum paste roses and my first Sugar Calla Lily. Tomorrow I buy my digital camera, so I can post images of what the heck I'm talking about.

Saturday Aaron and Lia came over to paint. Lia painted feet in the grass and Aaron a child with worms coming out of his head. Aaron is a little dark. Rich painted a robot which involved wise usage of duct tape. Dave came by with a special treat , an "Italian Cream Cake" his wife flew up from Green Pastures Restaurant from Austin, Texas. It's a coconut pecan cake with buttercream-cream cheese frosting. Delicious! It was already a few days old, but still tasted very fresh and moist. I hope to make cakes like it someday.

For Easter dinner I made a pureed leek soup with soft boiled egg in the center of the bowl so it peeked out of the soup slightly. It was topped with fresh spring greens and a squeeze of lemon juice. It looked like an Easter egg in a patch of grassy greens. Once the yolk burst in the soup it created a rich custardy flavor. I felt like I was literally chewing on lawn. Rich bought us a nice Italian Sparkling mineral water. Refreshing. Have you heard of the water bars in Europe? I want to go to one that stocks just water, every bottled fancy water available. I'm curious. I can tell tap water from filtered water..that's about it.

I was real tired last week. I can certainly feel my body and brain slow down after eating bread and sugar. This week is Spring Break. It's funny to think I'm on spring break, I should be on the beach in Florida right now! I'm taking advantage of this time off to fast 3 days to bring energy back. It's not a true water fast, I'm not that crazy! I get my nutrients with Spirutein soy shakes, tomato juice, and Odwalla Superfood. It's great for replenishing energy and understanding your own psychological connections to food. Once the fast is done I eat mostly vegetable soups for 3 more days. Obviously, making this career change into Pastry involves extra effort to remain healthy. I want both the enjoyment of creating pastries AND being at my healthiest. I think life is too short to worry and deprive ourselves of foods pleasures, but if we don't check in with ourselves bad habits can lead to health problems. I can go on and on about food and diet. Moderation is the key and that message is very predominant lately. Enjoy the freshest, healthiest, most in season food available, but enjoy the chocolate, wine, and cake once in a while. Enjoy the spirit of celebration they offer.

Another food book I recommend is "One Bowl-A guide to eating for Body and Spirit" by Don Gerrard. It's main message is "Eat with your senses not with your head". It teaches how to recognize what signals your body is sending you and how to know when you are full in a healthy way. There are many variations of hunger and fullness, this book breaks it down.

A quote from the book: " I eat because I am hungry but I also eat to affirm my being, my personality, my sense of life. Naturally then eating is an important emotional experience. Each bite of food initiates dozens of tiny normal reactions in every part of my body...These changes seem to me as complex as a symphony, with many individual body parts working together to make harmonious music."

As you can tell from the quote the book is a bit poetic, yet it's a very smooth read. It turns eating into a beautiful experience and explains a "Zen" style of eating. If you haven't read a book on "Zen" eating yet, there are many available, I highly recommend it as it makes eating more enjoyable on a deeper level. The author's method involves eating out of one bowl. You can eat whatever you wish as long as you eat out of your bowl and take time to eat without interruptions so you can focus on the whole experience. Of course you can't eat out of one bowl forever, but you take what you learned from the book and bowl method out with you wherever you eat. It's about what you learn about yourself and body senses. You don't even have to want to diet, it'll help you appreciate food so much more. If you have extra weight you'd like to lose this will help you make the right food choices naturally. You won't feel deprived, but find pleasure in making healthy choices. By balancing the body and mind messages you can't help but eat food that makes you feel full of life and vigor!

I'm so hungry! I'm dying for a banana!

3/22/05-Tuesday 9:40pm
Today I made a pound cake, spice cake, and French buttercream. French buttercream is a very light icing. No shortening, just butter, boiled sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.

Notice I posted "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano . I've been reading a chapter here and there for the last 2 months and find it very informative. A good read. It emphasizes eating fresh in season food and not depriving yourself of the finer foods in life. The last chapter I read was all about Champagne and how to enjoy it. The next is about chocolate. The main point is not to overindulge. Learn to enjoy every bite of food and be aware of how much you eat. In America we are so rushed through meals we forget to taste. So we eat more until we are satisfied when really all we need to do is focus more on the few little bites in the first place. ...so easy to say.

3/21/05-Monday 10:00pm
I'll get faster with the entries. Thursday was Rich's birthday party, so was tied up. It went well. The Irish Stew , soda bread, and cake were tastey. Rich loves eclaires, so I made up an eclaire - like cake. White cake with vanilla custard filling topped with chocolate ganache...I got a little out of hand with piping chocolate filigree , swirls and triangles with melted chocolate and decorating the cake with it. Fun!. Had a few shots of the Irish whiskey and a pint of Guinness that made me a little slow in class Friday. I had a written test on pies along with a practical on creme caramel and muffins. My muffins were a bit too large, so was docked half a point, but I still aced it. I'll master size proportion for the next test..that's my issue so far. I'm consistently too large or too small. One of the students set their caramel sugar sauce on fire today. That's what happens if you walk away from cooking sugar.

Friday I was pooped and embarrassingly indulged in an episode of "America's Next Top Model". That was my Friday night ..comatose with Tyra Banks.

Saturday was an outing to the Japanese gardens with Hazel and Tamara. This was the Spring Equinox weekend, so we enjoyed a peek of Spring's beauty in the gardens. So many blossoms and camelia's.

Saturday night Rich and I attended a dinner gathering hosted by friends we met just this last year, Karl and Myrna. Karl is a comic book artist and Myrna a painter. Much of her painting is at McMenamins sites here in Portland (historic sites converted into brew pubs, theaters, and restaurants). Other guests were Lisa and John, who run a doggy daycare business. There was so much fun discussion about dogs and cats. And Drew who's also a comic artist, known for wonder woman and his girlfriend Karen who's an animator for the Simpson's. She had a cute "Simpon's-like" humor to her. Everyone seemed to have a sunshiny yet dark-twisted humor aspect. Very enjoyable. And the food was tastey as all heck. Karl and Myrna made a Curried Corn Chowder that was spicy, but just the way I like it, followed by Shrimp tamales with roasted garlic sauce. Dessert was roasted Apple Cake with Sherry custard sauce. It's inspiring me to want to have more dinner parties. I love small groups and having that time to really get to know friends on a deeper level that ya don't quite get at the keger's.

Sunday was my second attendance at the "International Cake Exploration Society's (ICES)" meeting...the Oregon chapter. Several very gracious women demo'd airbrushing techniques, buttercream flowers, baby shower cake ideas, and animal piping. A potluck was organized including a "Twinkie Tiramisu". Incase you can't find those ladyfingers!

After class Rich and I looked at rocks...in the rain. We made our final purchase for slate and one large stone step to place next to the patio doors.

Monday , today, was Sponge Cake day. Chef Peter demo'd how to make "Genoise", "Swiss Roll- Jellyroll", "Chocolate Chiffon", and "Ladyfingers". I made all recipes without error.

3/16/05-Wednesday 11:55am
What a long crabby day. Things were not going my way. My Pate a choux (cream puffs) were underbaked and I spilt my pie. My cherry pie tipped while I was carrying it home and the filling ran out of it because it was still hot. I lost my favorite mechanical pencil! What am I going to do???!!!! My pencil!

Have you ever seen the Kids in the Hall skit about the bank clerk who loses his pen? All he can think and worry about is what obscene disgusting things someone might be doing with his pen. My pencil!

So after sugar pulling club I came home and remade my Cream Puffs with success. Rich's birthday is tomorrow so I made vanilla cake with pastry cream filling, chocolate buttercream which I'll coat with chocolate ganache tomorrow. Rich made a Sheperds Pie Irish stew and mashed potatoes. I just finished piping them into rosettes. A few good friends are coming by to celebrate and drink Guiness and Harp.

Going to sleep now. I'll probably be to busy party'n tomorrow to post. Do something special to honor St. Patty's Day. Go on a Leprechaun and four leaf clover hunt. The Leprechaun is a solitary creature and is to be found inhabiting gullys or lurking behind bushes or under hedges. Tapping on a shoe that he is making, the sound of his labour is the only signal that he is there.

May less mishievous fairies flutter with you and well brewed ales pass your lips!

3/14/05-Monday
My cake portfolio has been posted! I finished it today. There was no school today due to new instructor training. Instead of frolicking in the sun I was at my machine. I hated every minute grrr. Thank god I'm not sitting 8 hours a day every day anymore. I need to move and work with my hands. Computer work is such a snail paced process. To take a concept and build a web site or software from it is lengthy...the thrill is gone too soon! With cakes I get an idea and can whip it out in only a few hours. Every step is interesting and everyone who see's & eats the cake is happy! People see my site or software and may think it's "pretty neat" which isn't enough for me!

To catch up, Thursday I'm blank on what we did. Oh ya, we made tarts. Straying from cookie week to tarts. Mine turned out swell. One tart was poached pear, pineapple, and apricot with a "Creme d Amande" filling. The other tart was Pastry Cream topped with kiwi, strawberries, pineapple. Friday we had our first written exam and practical. I think I aced the written part. For the practical we made Peanut Butter cookies and Almond Macaroons. I was terribly worried my peanut butter cookies were too doughy and wouldn't spread in the oven, which they didn't do. Well, they spread, but not enough! Chef Peter was happy with them anyway. They were about a a quarter to half inch smaller than his, but consistent in size, so I received a good mark. He holds his cookie up against the students cookie to judge presentation then breaks off a piece and observes the change of color from the brown of the bottom to the moist darkness of the center to the lighter dryness of the exterior. He then eats it to test that the edges are crunchy and center moist. Some students didn't do so well. I'd never seen cookies thrown into the trash with such force!

This weekend I hosted a craft group. Hillary, Robbyn, Alea, and Anina came over to decorate panoramic sugar eggs. We sipped on mimosas and sparkling water & root veggie juice...got crazy with the piping and had a blast! I made the "Lemon Curd Mousse Cake" recipe from April's Bon Appetit. It was wonderful! I recommend it. I had a slight problem with congealing of the lemon curd though.

Tip: If you make mousse that contains gelatin in the fruit make sure the egg whites are room temperature when folded in or the fruit will lump up. The Bon Appetit recipe says to fold egg whites in first then chilled whipped cream. If any of the lemon curd hasn't been folded into the egg whites thoroughly it will gel as soon as the cold whipped cream hits it.

I'm off to see "Sideways" now. Tomorrow is my birthday!

3/08/05-Tuesday
Mt. St. Helens blew today! I had a great view of the ash and steam while on the bus over the bridge. Incredible! A 5 mile radius has been blocked off for several months. Hikers have found ways to intrude in the past though, so hopefully no one was trespassing on the Mountain today. It was another spring-like day. Portland's expecting 70 degrees Thursday and Friday. I just returned from a walk in the park where all the trees are blooming pink. The air is sweet!

In class we worked on 4 cookie recipes. Biscotti, Almond Macaroons, Linzer, and Strassenbau. The biscotti was mixed with orange peel and almonds..they turned out well. The Almond Macaroons were a meringue base and turned out well. I have to finish the Linzer cookies. They were baked, but need a raspberry filling which I'll do first thing tomorrow. The Strassenbau cookies taste great, but they didn't hold shape. This is a dough you can pipe out into stars and shells, but mine spread in baking. I'll have a chance to repeat this recipe Thursday. I may need to refrigerate the cookies before baking. The dough was awful soft. That's the tip today.

Tip: to keep your cookies from loosing their shape and spreading be sure to refrigerate them before throwing into the oven...unlike I did.

Good part of day: I released 1000 ladybugs into my greenhouse and on my Angel's Trumpets. I have an aphid problem that's driving me batty. I like handling so many ladybugs at once...except when they crawl into my pants.

Recipe: Bon Appetit's April issue has a tastey recipe for "Cauliflour-Leek Kugel with Almond Herb Crust". I made it for dinner and it's out of this world or as the Recipe states "it's utterly surprising and irresistible".

4c. cauliflour
3T. olive oil
2c. coarsely chopped leeks
4T. unsalted matzo meal ( I replaced it with 1 cup dried bread crumbs from whole grain bread because I wanted more with higher nutrition factor. Use more or less as you please.)
2 large eggs
1/2 frsh parsley chopped
1/2 cup dill chopped ( I used dried, but a little less dried)
1/3 c. almonds chopped
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil or steam the cauliflour until soft. Drain, then mash it with a potato masher until coarse.

2. Saute the leeks in 1 T. olive oil about 5 minutes and add to the cauliflour.

3. Mix in the Matzo meal (bread crumbs).

4. Beat the eggs, 1/4 cup parsley, 1/4 c. dill, salt & pepper and blend into the cauliflour mixture.

5. Coat a casserole dish with oil and fill with the mixture.

6. Mix almonds, rest of parsley, rest of dill, and 2 T. oil. Sprinkle evenly over krugel. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until top is brown.

3/07/05-Monday
I was so tied up with the baby shower cake Thursday and Friday I missed my entries. The cake was a success though. I'll post the photos once developed. I feel like the last person on the planet without a digital camera.

Buttercream

I have a request for a buttercream recipe. This is my latest fave recipe. You can use all butter, which will have a better flavor, but it gets soft quick and isn't best for lots of detail or hot days.

8oz. butter (2 sticks)
4oz. shortening
1 lb. powdered sugar
1tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon
1oz. pasteurized egg white
1oz. water

Cream the butter and shortening until light. Add the sifted sugar in 4 parts and whip on medium speed until very light and fluffy ( about 5 minutes). Add the vanilla, lemon, and egg whites. Whip another 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add the water for an extra soft buttercream.

Today class focused on cookies. It's cookie week. Last week was pie week. I made a batch of peanut butter cookies and icebox cookies. It took forever! I'm embarassed! My digital scale died, so I have to wait in line to share the community scale. Lag time. Several other students lost their scales too, so we're fighting for the public use. Patience is important. So begins the search for a new personal scale which can get pricey.

Tip: Don't over mix the cookie batter. Mix just until ingredients are blended. Overmixing causes the flour glutens (proteins) to overdevelop and create a tough cookie. Also, if making a small batch just use your hands to mix (wear gloves or use a bowl scraper to fold ingredients together). Mixers don't have the gentle touch that hand motion does. Your cookie will be more tender.

T

3/02/05-Wednesday
Yesterday I made a "Pate a choux" which is a pastry dough for cream puffs and eclaires. Today I filled them with vanilla pastry cream and coated with melted chocolate. I also made a cream pie with graham cracker crust. Today was the first day of "Pulled Sugar Club". Corree, Ruth, and I received personal sugar pulling instruction which isn't in the actual educational program until the last 2 months. By attending the sugar pulling club every Wednesday we are getting a jump start on this artistic sculpturing process.

I met with career services to review my resume. They were happy with it and said I could start interviewing for externships. Eeek. Luckily I have prior kitchen experience plus cake training at the local Decorette Shop. My history isn't too barren. But I have to lock a company in asap. It seems odd to have just started school and be looking for a job. I'll make a job hunt schedule tomorrow.

I'm making a baby shower cake for my friend Robbyn this weekend. It's a baby cake, a cartoony baby with a bit of dimension.

I'm hunting for a high resolution digital camera so I can post photos soon. My sis gave me one she doesn't use anymore which might be good for now. But it's missing the instructions, so needs some online research.

I've been tired this week. A little nervous with all the hands on work. I'm still feeling out the class and instructor.

My flowers are sprouting in the greenhouse. I release 1500 ladybugs to tackle my aphid problem. The greenhouse gets out of control with aphids this time of year. My Angels Trumpets are blooming like crazy too. It smells lovely!