Back to baking

In two days, I will begin my summer adventure in baking along with my beloved mixer friends. At the restaurant I have two of these side by side. They are both commercial grade, of course.


Sometimes I use just one, other times I use them both at once. Either way, the sound they make together is music to my ears. Sugary sweetness, buttery smooth, or chocolate covered -- it's all yummy dessert goodness!


I am really excited to start the season fresh. The few months I have had off were a help to my schoolwork, but did nothing for my pocketbook. Even though my pay is meager now, I am going to work my hardest so that someday I can make a decent living from my cooking skills. I hope to someday teach cooking classes so I can share my knowledge too!


Speaking of sharing knowledge, I made crepes yesterday for dinner. You can read all about it on my food blog. I have no shame in admitting we ate dessert for dinner. We loved every minute of it.

Doing the happy dance!

I scored 100% on my restaurant project!! WAHOO!!


I was genuinely shocked when I saw the score! I knew I had put a lot of effort into it, but I certainly could not have predicted 100!

My instructor told us (my project partner and I) that she normally does not give out 100s, so that made me feel awesome. Even better, she requested a copy of it to use as a sample for her class.

If this is a sign of things to come, which I am sure it is, then I am really excited about my future as a culinarian. What a great way to start off my weekend!

Homework is...inspiring?

Today it certainly is! I was doing some research for the oral part of my exam this Thursday in my hospitality class. One of our topic choices is to find a franchise we had not heard of and find 10 facts about the business. Before our written part of the exam, we talk to the class about what we learned about our chosen topic.

I ran across this website called The Franchise Mall and was clicking around trying to find something interesting to talk about and clicked on a company called Sofi's Crepes . I really only clicked on the link because I just happen to LOVE crepes. Since going to Tunisia in the fall and eating the best crepe I've ever had, it's been in the back of my mind to eat one again. Soon.

The best part about this company, and the most inspiring, is how it was started. The owner, Ann Costlow, was a former stock broker and decided to leave her 16 year career and found herself cooking on a boat called The Baltimore Pride. Check out the short video on this page to see the rest of her story.

I am sure you can see why I was so inspired! Just another sign that I have made the right choice to leave my career and start something new! I totally agree with what she says in the video about work -- and feel the exact same way about working at the restaurant.

So next time you are in Baltimore, check out Sofi's Crepes -- and have one for me too!

Just Pondering My Plans

I've been knee deep in my school project for weeks and it is finally due this Friday. What I find pretty ironic is that I have an exam, project, and taxes all due in the same week. Obviously I am not in the accounting field anymore, because I am pretty sure I am the only one who has noticed. Either that, or I am the only one in class that waited until last minute to get their taxes together.


None the less, I have been moving right along with school. We only have until April 30th then a summer break for this girl. I know it's only been one semester, but this break is welcome because I will get to work full time for the first time in a year. Yes, I will be making part time wages in comparison to what I was used to, but all the hard work is going to pay off when I open my own business.

Speaking of the restaurant, I did get my schedule in the mail last week and I am really happy with it! I won't have to close the restaurant when I work nights, I am only scheduled to 9:30 and there are other employees on the schedule for close! Yahoo! I love getting good news like this, especially because I will want some kind of social life this summer!

In the fall I will be starting my lab classes for culinary school along with a safety and sanitation course. I will be sure to spare you all the details of the disgusting things found in kitchens -- I have already heard this class has many gross topics. This should be pretty hilarious considering I am somewhat of a clean freakish germophobe.

For the lab classes I have Professional Cookery and Intro to Baking. My instructor for Intro to Baking is the same one I have for Menu Planning (Chef Lucy) so I am pretty excited about that. Pro cook is Chef Shawn and I don't know his style yet -- something to look forward to. I am taking 12 credit hours, but will be in class 22 hours per week. Needless to say, it will be a busy fall, but the good news is that I will most likely finish by spring of 2012. Sounds like a plan to me.