stupid hackers

Hey, guys! Just wanted to apologize for those bogus blog entries with all the stupid fake links. I hope none of you clicked on any of that. :(

I am now in Manila, and finding it hard to decide between sleep and more ukulele playing.. :)

Pictures shall ensue, but not now. I think I will play uke a little bit more.

TO ALL MY EAST COAST AND CHI-TOWN LIVIN' HOMIES

Hey, guys. If you could lend me a helping hand, I would appreciate it sooooo so much.

I am currently on the prowl for some awesome, kickass pastry externships and I'm interested in doing it on the East coast and Chicago. Cities I'd love to check out include New York (of course), Chicago, Charlotte NC, Asheville NC, Rhode Island, and Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, or even Boston, MA. I'd consider places in Connecticut, and maybe Jersey as well.

So if any of you have suggestions as to good bakeries, restaurants, or dessert places in any of those locations (or anywhere else you think might be worthwhile to check out), please please PLEASE let me know. Mucho appreciated!! ;)

What I've been up to so far: working on a crocheted Santa doll in hopes that it becomes one of our regular Christmas decorations for years to come, sewing up a few more Christmas presents (microwaveable handwarmer pouches or neck pillow, anyone? How about a few crocheted catnip balls?), trying to catch up on my everlasting list of knitting projects, and just trying to keep up in Breads class. Also, I met up with a dear friend of mine from long ago in Japan, Geraldine, and met some fun friends of hers at her holiday dinner party on Saturday. Nothing else fun, just living to live and working towards my goals. Also, I've been thinking that if I have a New Year's Resolution list, that getting back on my exercise ball and possibly the elliptical machine would be on that list, next to completely catching up on my knitting project list.

omggoingtobelateforschoolttylbaii

I know, I know.

I've been a bad blogger. But for those of you who have access to my Facebook, you all know how I've been doing. I've been doing great, actually. :) Cakes went much more smoothly than I thought, and breads so far has been amazing. Thanks to Chef Christophe, the last half of Cakes was a bit more bearable, and I have Chef Lori again for Breads (with Chef Holly, equally as amazing).

So one of the things that have been holding me back from blogging is finding a photo-sharing website that doesn't put a cap on how much MB I'm allowed to upload (like Flickr). I am currently trying to figure out Google's Picasa, so we'll see how that goes. :) Otherwise, pictures, as always, can be found in my Facebook account. But yes. If anything, I will try to write more updates since Facebook can hold my pictures :)

What a week...

The first week of cakes class was...stressful. Also, I had an interview with the Cafe Bistro at Nordstrom, but I turned it down because Kara's Cupcakes also called me to interview with them. Pictures will ensue sometime...

A great veggie side dish!

You need:
some asparagus
some grape tomatoes
olive oil
lemon juice, 1/4 cup (and some zest, if you have a fresh lemon)
Parmesan cheese

Just sear some asparagus in olive oil and garlic (add salt and pepper to taste, if desired), and place 1/4-1/2 cup of water and cover to steam cook to finish the asparagus off. If all the water has evaporated and the asparagus is still not cooked all the way through, add another 1/4 cup of water and let steam again. Drain, and set aside. Next, cut some small slits into your grape tomatoes, and roast in olive oil and garlic until they are soft and are dark in color. A taste test wouldn't hurt, either. :) Drain and toss in with asparagus. Drizzle some extra olive oil and the lemon juice over the veggies, and sprinkle some Parmesan (or make curls out of whole Parmesan, if available) to finish.

Enjoy!!

Hi, my name is Marielle, and I am afraid of cakes.

Okay, there, I said it. Happy now? I felt so ashamed of the relief that washed over me when Bella said she'd take on the petit fours for competition. I was so nervous icing my cake for Pastry 101 (a 101 class!), and even more so when it came to piping simple shells on the edges. I was shaking so hard, you'd think it was a matter of life or death, depending on how perfect the shells were or weren't. I can't say I was intimidated by my pirate cake, since that was just slopping on the icing and smoothing it around the cake, no intricate work of art there. But I will say that I will be shaking in my boots when I remake the pirate cake into a better, more detailed and planned out cake than the first one was (as per request by Chef Renee).

I blame myself for not wanting to put myself out there and keep trying after every cake icing failure at Saiko and Haagen-Dazs, but cakes make me feel so STUPID. Ask me to do a loaf of bread, no problem! Need a pie or tart shell? Easy peasy, Lemon Squeezy! Want me to ice an ice cream cake? Well, man the front, because I'll be in the freezer icing and re-icing that damn cake for God knows how long! My first attempt at an ice cream cake began to melt a little and leak around the edges as I took too long to just slap some icing on and put it back in the freezer to firm up again. Lois, my boss at Haagen-Dazs, ended up just taking over after a long time to save the cake. At Saiko Bakery after the trained baker he hired left us, neither Don nor I really knew what we were doing but Don just assumed responsibilities since he was bossman, and thought it was excusable if the cake was ugly in any way (then we could just blame Don). Do I need to mention that my handwriting, horrible as it is with a pen or pencil, is absolutely HORRENDOUS with icing? After a while, it just was assumed that I would not do any icing duties at neither Saiko nor Haagen-Dazs. I'll bake or pack the ice cream for it, but be prepared to ask the back of my head to ice that damn cake, because I will be running in the opposite direction even before the words come out of your mouth. Maybe it's my search for perfection, for being able to do things right the first time most of the time. But I will say it now and forever again: CAKES ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE.

So call me Crazy if you will, but I still think about interning at Charm City Cakes. Who knows? Maybe my innate ability to win at Sculptorades has something to do with it, but I think that if I can get beyond the icing and get to the cool scupture part of cakes, then maybe (just maybe!) I'll be all right.

Sigh. My quest for knowledge and perfection will be the death of me.

Top Chef NY! Season ender of CSI!! And BAGUETTES!!

Soooo...TOP CHEF WILL BE IN NEW YORK NEXT!! That is SUPER EXCITING. I wonder when it will begin airing?

Also, I know it's four months late, but...I seriously squealed when he got shot (I watched a rerun of it on CBS tonight). I knew he was leaving the show following Ms. Fox, but that is a gruesome (and very open-ended!) way to leave the show. So sad. But my sexy CSI Nick is still there! ^_^

Aaaaand.....breads week is this week, and we made baguettes. :) Too bad that "Glory Walk" took up some of our precious time (students who had their last class before their externships today walked a lap around school while a bunch of people applauded them as they passed by), because at least two thirds of us left waaaay past 8 (thanks to Chef Renee for sticking around!), including me. I only hope that I was able to get Kelly, aka Birthday Girl, home in time for Grey's Anatomy. Haha! Oh well. Although I had to wrap the baguettes while still warm (thus making the crust not as crunchy), Van and I had a very soul-soothing dinner of pieces of baguettes ripped off from the loaf dunked in anything we had on hand: leftover coq au vin from work at Williams-Sonoma and some green beans and bacon that Tin sauteed earlier. Dessert consisted of Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream and some chocolate chip cookies I had made a couple days ago. It took all my strength to fight the food coma and get my butt showered and in bed like a good girl :)


So tomorrow will be chock-full of Safety-Sani Certification goodness, as well as shokupan (Japanese dinner or white bread..I haven't quite decided if i wanna throw in some raisins and swirl in some cinnamon) and either melonpan or pizza dough...I'm thinking the melonpan, though. Oooh, it's a shame I didn't plan this out earlier, because if I'm making melonpan, I could also make anpan. Unfortunately, anko takes a buttload of time to make. Oh well, maybe another time. :)