Ack! I know that I haven't posted in awhile. Things have been a little bit cray around here. I bet you are wondering what an unemployed baker and pastry lady does with her time. No? Ok. Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.
Since I don't have a full time job at the moment, I've been keeping myself busy by doing a few odd jobs. Every day has been pretty weird, but I'm keeping myself entertained, for sure! For example, here's what I did last week:
Tuesday morning Prepare treats for 50 office holiday partygoers. I view this as a chance to perfect the macaron skills that I learned in France. I also make some candy cane brownies and sugar cookies with an obnoxious amount of sprinkles on them. Sprinkles are the glitter of the food world, no?
Tuesday afternoon: Leave a partially demolished kitchen at my house and sprint to the Davidson Chocolate Company, where I spend a few hours dipping truffles for the holiday rush. It's crazy how quickly the chocolates fly off of the shelves versus the amount of time and care it takes to make them. I try to perfect my chocolate swirling technique, but let's just say I'm not Jaques Torres.
Chocolates, before they are displayed in the case and then beautifully packaged:
They actually just got a new website, so you should check it out! Those pictures are much more beautiful than my cruddy iPhone shots. You can place online orders for Valentine's Day treats (and who knows… maybe I'll be making some of those chocolates, too!)
Tuesday evening: Around seven pm, I leave the chocolate shop and set off on the 1.5 hour drive to South Carolina, where I am helping my friend cater two holiday cocktail parties. Armed with a 1.5 liter bottle of Diet Coke and a ginormous bag of cheez doodles, I follow my trusty google map. TRUSTY?! Um, trusty as a sly fox, maybe. While attempting to take me on a secret back route, I end up driving an hour out of my way and getting lost in the middle of nowhere.
I roll up to Greenville at about 10pm and catch up with my friend over a bottle of vino before passing out at around midnight.
Wednesday morning: I wake up at about 6:30 to the delicious scent of pork. Four butts have been slow cooking overnight and the whole house smells amazing. Around 7:30, we get to work preparing for the parties that evening. I stick to the easy prep stuff, like making hummus, chopping vegetables, slicing rolls, etc. I also get to pull a silly large amount of pork for BBQ sliders, which is amazingly fun.
VAT O PORK.
Even though baking is my forte, I have a great time catering because I really love parties (and party planning). I mean, what is catering if not preparing for a gigantic dinner party, right? Anyway, I have such a great time that I lose track of time and have to fly out the door and speed up I-85.
Wednesday Afternoon: Make it back to Charlotte at 3:32pm, only a few minutes late for my next shift at the chocolate shop. I dip 140 marshmallows in chocolate and cover them with a "light sprinkling" of rainbow sprinkles. Debate the definition of "light sprinkling" (apparently light to me is obscenely heavy to the rest of the world… what can I say? I love sprinkles).
Whew! Quite a whirlwind. Needless to say, I sat down to a nice glass of vodka and a long winter's nap after those two days. I hope the holiday season is treating everyone else well! I can't wait to show you some great holiday treats I"ve been cooking up.
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