I've been playing with hot sugar again...Slowly everything gave way to a new and exciting journey. I was learning to make beautiful pastries, making new friends, rediscovering the joy of time off during the week. An early spring visit to Paris to reconnect with a special friend turned into returning for the summer to work for for a great cafe. Once you start to follow one dream, it seems to make all your dreams possible, or so I'm discovering. I feel I've recreated myself, but really I've just become who I was meant to be all along. The food lover, pastry maker was always hiding inside, I just had to dig a little deeper and get a little push to let her out. I've never been happier.
Wednesday was also my official "last day" of school. We had a great seminar on Tea. I learned about what makes White, Green, Oolong, Black, & Pu-Erh teas different from one another. It was a nice class to finish the year with. After wards, I went out to have drinks with my classmates and reflect on our year of learning together, and to discuss what our future's hold. Everyone is looking for jobs, but in different capacities.
There are some down sides of chasing this dream of mine. Chefs are truly artists. We create beautiful, delicious things with food as our medium. And for the most part, we earn the artists' wage. I don't plan on being rich, I desire more to have a fulfilling life, but money is necessary to pay rent, and afford a few creature comforts. January is going to be a busy month, as I intend to be job searching. I will continue to work for Crema, but not sure if they will be able to take me on full time, so I need to line up another part time job, or find someone who can offer me full time employment. I am also going to be searching for contacts and opportunities to go back to France. What better place to get a job, and continue learning?
Classes are done....however there are still finals looming, 3 in fact! January 4th is the practicum. If you recall my midterms, this is similar, but even more challenging. We still have blindly pull a card. This time that card on contains a dessert name and description, there is no recipe. The recipe has to come from my head. I'm confident on being able to recreate any of the possible items, once I can recall the recipe. I'm going to be spending a lot of the next few weeks memorizing recipes, lots of recipes.
On January 5th, our creative practicum is due. I'm actually excited about this one. The sky is the limit, we just have to create our own dessert using techniques we had learned over the year. The key is, be creative. I think I can handle it.
January 9th, is the written exam. Lots and lots of questions covering everything we've learned over the past year. Slightly nerve wracking, but at least some of it will be multiple choice. And then I am done. January 23rd is graduation. And of course I have to turn in my portfolio.
In the meantime, between cramming recipes in my brain, looking for jobs, and continuing to work, I'm going to try to enjoy my Christmas. I'll be headed to Ohio with lots of goodies to share with my family and friends. I'll be baking a special Pear & Chocolate Buche de Noel for a guest who is flying all the way from Paris on Christmas day just to see me.
A Festive Poinsettia Piece for a Festive Time of YearI'm off to enjoy my Christmas. Going to take a little break and I'll be back after January 9th, to let you know how I survied finals.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year. I hope this time of year brings magical things to your lives.
The Entire Sugar Piece
1 comment:
You've come so far and you're almost done! Then you can follow your next dream: bringing your American flair to French pastry :)
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