The Sweet Life

Thanksgiving came slowly, but it went away uneventful. Next thing I knew, Christmas was here. I spent it at home in Texas with family, quite happy I was able to go home. Last year I had to work, and I really missed my parents because we always spent Christmas together. Just before leaving, I was on a mad dash around the city delivering Christmas candies (I only made three successful candies this year-nougat, Jasmine tea caramels, and Thai chili truffles) to friends. Then NYE was upon us. I had such high hopes for this year. I won't go into detail, but I will say that this time around, only two of us on Team Pastry toasted with champagne, while everyone else cleared out quite early. And now I sit here the first day of the new year with two fingers washed with hydrogen peroxide, swabbed with anti-bacterial ointment and bandaged. Dry torn, often bleeding cuticles are a hazard of the job. Now that the busy holiday season is over, I can spend more time in the kitchen (at home),...

Let me preface this by stating that I am such a nerd. I am. I admit it, with a bit of pride. I mean, who buys a kitchen scale and sends her friend a text message about her purchase with the name and model number? Who dreams about getting her box from UPS the night before only to find that it's filled with a Christmas present, not the scale she ordered and feels disappointed? Me. And I feel no shame. None at all. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'll tell you all about it. Today I welcomed home my newest culinary purchase. I'd been meaning to replace my old Salter Electronic Aquatronic scale, purchased in Houston, TX before I moved to Chicago and started culinary school. As a starter scale, it was great, helping me to mise out recipes using pounds and ounces, liquid and dry. Even in school it came in handy, weighing things out for class since we didn't have a lot of scales, and it was digital. But now that I'm in the "industry" and mo...

What does a poor, currently broke (too much dining out I think) pastry cook buy with the last of her cash? The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller, that's what. I've been eyeing this tome ever since I discovered it years ago. At $50.00, it's not something I would just waltz right in and buy, but I had a coupon from Borders for 40% off in my email and since there's a store a block away from work, I bought it. It didn't help that my co-worker told me that she was going to go buy a book she wanted, which is how the seed was planted. So, I printed out my coupon at work and ran over on my break. I was originally looking for Essence: Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage by David Everitt-matthias , but they still don't have it in. The French Laundry . . . I would look through the book whenever I went to the bookstore and daydream of food. And now that I have it, I don't know, the anticipation is gone. It sits on my kitchen cart, still in the shrink wra...

I was going to title this post, Japonais , but when I saw my stats for this blog, I changed my mind. Sep 2, 2007. Where did the time go? In between the long days at work, and the agonizing sleepless nights (no, I don't have a sick kid at home, just Mr. Sandman's annoying cousin, Mr. Insomnia) I've lost all sense of time. Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is just down the street. I don't have to tell you that I haven't been cooking or baking much, just look at the dust on my blog and it'll tell you. I've just been busy, unimaginative, uninspired. But with everything I've tossed from the fridge and cabinets, I can say I've a very clean kitchen! But don't fret-I'm not starving. I'm well taken care of between the line crew and overnight cooks, so I haven't missed too many meals. It's just on those days when I'm off from work I get a little nervous about what and how to feed myself. My eating habits are not what I am po...

Summer, where have you gone? In between sleepless nights and long workdays, I have lost a large chunk of my year. It started out promising with the first day of the Farmers Market, and ended up here. Me, sitting in front of my computer scratching my head wondering what, exactly, have I done? I've been to the Market outside my window twice. Yes, twice. Though many a Saturday morning I have found myself (as on many other mornings) awake twisted in my sheets, hearing the first trucks pull in and start setting up. And when the sun starts to make an appearance, I fall asleep, only to wake a few hours later just in time to shower and head off to work. I did manage to go to the Green Street Market. Once. And was too tired really to be impressed with anything. I actually bought something, not because I really wanted to cook and eat it, but because I felt I was supposed to. What little produce I did manage to buy died on my counter or in my fridge. I am ashamed. My birthday. Ye...

You Are Cookie Monster Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!" The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Today is the first day of the Farmer's Market that's closest to me. It's every Saturday from now through October. Excited, and sleepy (I didn't get many winks last night) I ventured over to the ATM and walked to see what's available. What really got my attention were the flowers. I really wanted peonies, but my allergies were acting up. Let me correct that, I really wanted one of everything, but couldn't get too much. The one thing I don't like about my apartment is that there's no balcony, and no direct sunlight. I did see strawberries and rhubarb, but I'd made a tart a little while back and wasn't in the mood to make another one. Besides that, Thursday and Friday were my days off and I don't know next week's schedule yet, so I didn't want the produce to rot away in the veggie bin. I didn't walk away empty-handed, nor did I leave with anything exciting: beautiful spring onions, dried tart cherries (I just love these thing...