The Sweet Life

Peanut butter powder Today I didn't do anything interesting in the kitchen. I cooked pasta from a box and heated some Buitoni sauce and grated parmesan over the top. Later, I had a cheese plate, and am currently caramelizing onions for a pizza using Boboli crusts. My friend's potluck birthday celebration is tomorrow and I really haven't gotten excited about it. I think I want to make cupcakes. Yeah, that's now me. It's not that I'm uninspired; I've got ideas streaming live like ticker tape across my brain. Last night, I couldn't sleep and so I spent those hours online, researching and jotting down notes and flavor profiles. Today I stayed out of the kitchen as much as possible, focusing on laundry and cleaning. For some reason, my passion has been subdued. I recently told my dad that it takes more energy to pretend to like your job than it takes to actually do the job. It's the slow season in the industry, but that's not even the point.

Planning a birthday dinner for a savory chef isn't an easy task. Especially if it also involves an anniversary (1 year), and Valentine's Day (he cooked a birthday dinner for his mother and family the day before so we basically stayed close to home on Sunday). (For Valentine's day, I had thought of doing it over-the-top and having some sort of heart theme with each course. But I think it turned out better this way). I'd planned, researched, second guessed, changed, finalized, and fretted over the menu. I consulted cookbooks, YouTube videos, websites, blogs, friends, and even the man himself (when I found out his favorite seafood was scallops, I quickly added a course). Once the menu was finalized, I planned the prep, making lists (couldn't live without them), scheduling prep as well as shopping and lying. I made and froze rough puff pastry from Michel Roux's Pastry: Savory and Sweet . I made fresh pasta dough and filling, formed, and shaped the ravioli. I

Last year for my birthday, I had the pleasure of dining at L2O, a fine dining restaurant that tastefully uses "molecular gastronomy" here in Chicago. I'd done a stage there, unfortunately it did not work out, but I am still quite impressed with Laurent Gras' food philosophy, how well run and organized the kitchen was, as well as the vibe between the cooks. Anyway, months later I had the pleasure of receiving the recipe for their pain au lait rolls via email from Time Out Chicago . These rolls were so good that I chose them more often than the others that were offered in selection from their bread basket. I'd filed the recipe away, and recently had the pleasure of making some for a dinner party. Initially the recipe was converted from weight in ounces to volume, so when I made it, not only did I double-check the accuracy (I found discrepancies) I converted it to a more accurate gram measure. So, pulling out my measuring cups, I converted it correctly to grams