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...

It's dough time! And that means I've been in the kitchen kneading and rolling, stuffing and filling. I really have to make time to make dough, if you know what I mean. It's not like other cooking methods. You have to develop a relationship with the dough, knead it, let it rest, knead it again, get your hands dirty and tune out the world. And, since I've been home a lot this week, I've had the time. Plus, it keeps me occupied and out of trouble! Last night I made pasta dough, recipe courtesy of The French Laundry Cookbook and I have to say that kneading for 15 minutes two days this week (my first batch was a, erm, tester batch!) makes for sore heels of hands, but it is one luscious dough to put one's hands on. Today I'll be using it to make agnolotti. I made the chard and ricotta filling yesterday. Late this morning I made cinnamon rolls because yesterday a friend told me he was eating one and since then, there have been subtle hints for me to make t...

I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I have to save money. This isn't easy for me, because I love food and books. I love to eat out, not because I don't like to cook. On the contrary. I love to eat, first of all, but I also like eating out because it can inspire me in the kitchen. Especially desserts. But, with the beginning of the new year, business is slow, and so hours have been cut. This whole not eating out thing sorta got me down. And I've been wanting to go to my favorite little place, Bistrot Zinc , which is only a couple of blocks away. It's the one French restaurant that I must visit when I return from Paris (sadly, might not make it this year), because of the ambiance and the food. And every time that I eat there, no matter how full I am, I have their Tarte aux Pommes. Yesterday, I had a craving that almost drove me crazy, but instead of charging a meal on my card, I cooked at home, and made a little tart of my own. It was almost like...

Last night S. and I went to the Chicago Theatre to see Cirque Du Soleil 's Banana Shpeel and I feel in love again with magic. Once the show started, I forgot all time, space, anything that would or could possibly happen outside those walls. I was a kid again, giggling at the corny jokes, gasping at the amazing acts, dazzled, beguiled, and then disappointed when the curtain fell. See, I never wanted the show to end. I could have stayed there, fixated for days on end. And then afterwards, I asked S. "Do you think they're eating and trying to come down after tonight?" See, having worked the line, I too have had to wear down an adrenaline filled shift. I truly believe that if I hadn't followed pastry, I would have been a performing artist. I played piano; my first degree is in music. I've been in a couple of school plays. I've loved musicals since I was a child. There's just something about a performance that entrances me. But instead of workin...

First of all, I must apologize because this might be my lamest post yet. How lame? About as lame as the "snow" we're getting "all weekend." Yeah. Exactly. While my friends post on Facebook how they're playing in piles of snow with their kids, I'm walking to work and home in light, misty condensation, cursing the weatherman. He's getting nothing from me this year (like he has every year). My second apology is for not photographing the candies I made. Nougat, Darjeeling Tea Caramels, and Pecan Toffee, one side covered in dark chocolate, the other, milk chocolate. I went to Paper Source and bought card stock, ribbons, sticker seals, the works. I cut squares, made paper cones, and put candies in, closed them with many things that didn't work for the most part, shipped off some goodies, and passed out the rest. Yeah, they were cute, but I've got a lot of fine tuning to do. My third apology is for the quality of the photo that I did post...