use real butter

ilike

Last night I had my last class and finished my pastry course! I felt both relief and sadness. Sadness, because I love the class and my instructor and most of the people in the class. Actually, we were missing several people (again!) last night. Everyone who showed up was pretty dedicated from the get go, and it was nice to bake with all of them one last time. I was relieved because I have been acquiring so much information that there is a backlog of stuff I need to process and ingest on my own before I feel I’ve mastered it and can move on. While we sat around eating our light dinner of soup and salad and bread, three of us were analyzing the soup, trying to pinpoint all of the flavors and the sources of those flavors. I like foodies. There aren’t enough of them in my life. Elena lives in the next state, Kell is in the next hemisphere, Nicole is moving to Seattle, Fiona moved to Australia… and everyone else is scattered like gunshot (i.e. not here). *sigh*

shan demos string work with royal icing

We finished decorating our cakes. Fondant and royal icing are so nasty to work with and even more disgusting to taste - blegh! Allison and I kept to a simple plan and it turned out… okay.

our cake: silver and matte white with a lot of screw ups

I’m sure the innards were delicious because we made a dense chocolate cake soaked in almond syrup, layered with chocolate almond buttercream! But I’ll never know because I sent the whole thing home with Allison. I couldn’t bear the thought of cutting the cake. I am convinced though, that collaborative artistic ideas never come out better than single artistic ideas (if someone actually has a plan). At least with pastry people, they each have a vision, and it’s best to let the vision drive and the passive partner takes orders. If it’s not my vision, I go into support mode, which is fine, but completely uninspired. I think I’m too careful to offend (believe it or not!) my partner and just want them to be happy with it. Designing web pages goes similarly… Just give me the damn keys and buckle your seatbelt.

final: casino cake, buxom bodice cake, silver and white, ladies hat cake

I’ll first begin with the sweet. Yesterday, I picked up TWO packages from the post office. One was from Australia, so I immediately knew that was from Kell. The other… the other was - the long lost package that Amos and Louie sent over three months ago! I had even called the freaking Ned post office to inquire and they told me they had never seen it. When I got it yesterday, the postal worker (my favorite one, she’s quite nice) looked at the date and said, “March?! I’ve seen this thing in the back forever!” I think it might have remained in the back forever if Amos hadn’t called and raised a little hell.

Kell and Jerad sent me the sweetest card congratulating me on my defense, and a book that all of the foodies have been reading. Plus, a long handwritten letter from Kell, something that people just don’t seem to do as much of anymore. I cherished every last scribble. Amos and Louie had more official looking stuff in their package - US Marshall sportswear! So cool. Louie is what is right with federal law enforcement. They also included Louie’s favorite movie of all time: Anchorman. Jeremy wanted to watch it right away, but we had stuff to do. I loved Elf, so hopefully Anchorman will be just as funny.

loot from care packages: thanks kell, jerad, amos, and louie!

In an effort to use up egg yolks and to test a new recipe:

i made earl grey crème brûlée today