Simple Delicious (with Bacon)

Bacon + garlic + canned tomatoes (seeded, chopped pureed, whatever you feel like) + fresh rosemary + cream = the perfect tomato soup to enjoy with some freshly baked rustic bread.

Bacon + Yeo's sweet chili sauce + a bit of hoisin sauce + a bit of soy sauce = instant, incredible glaze for meat or vegetables (if applying to meat, especially pork, you probably don't need the bacon) that reminded me of meaty and sweet char siu.

Gingerbread House (Library, really) Continues

Seeing hours of hard thinking, cutting, rolling, and baking finally amount to tangible progress is cool. It's also cool to see all the 2D pieces I designed forming a 3D building.

Spending all of my precious bakery time on this one project is not so cool. Oh well.

Recently at the Pastry Shop

Assembling a 3-tier wedding cake, rolling and coloring fondant, Chocolate Mousse Cups from start to finish, biscotti, cutting oddly shaped cakes, decorating cupcakes using frosting, planning and assembling a gingerbread house (library, actually).

Lunch Today

Roasted vegetables: a medley of potatoes, beets, and winter squash that tasted of chestnuts. A handful of bitter greens from the garden, undressed.

Cakes Cakes Cakes

Day 5: cheesecakes with marbled mocha topping, chocolate cakes, roll-out sugar cookies, dipping and filling eclairs, creme brulee.

Renewal

"A Return To Cooking" - Ruhlman and Ripert. Successful chef seeks a path back to the essence of cooking, philosophizes along the way. A quiet night with a beautiful moon - low, big, hazy-orange. Where is this all going?

Introspection.

I have also gotten distracted from cooking. The REAL cooking; what I do at home, not at work or at an internship. The food that I make for myself and the people I care about. The process I control to the greatest extent possible. I've maintained my patience and my curiosity, but I've strayed in other ways. My perfectionism gets in the way of enjoyment. I examine and criticize technique and barely acknowledge success. I cook hungry, frustrated, snarly and inhale the meal, never relishing the simple enjoyment of food created, food shared.

It's past time to slow down, start smiling, and get back to enjoying cooking. Find new ingredients and better ones for inspiration. Snack while I cook. Maybe even drink. Do fewer things at once. Be kinder. Worry less and be happy with the results of my labors. They'll never be perfect, but they're almost always good.

Lunch Today

Roasted Root Vegetable Trio: sweet potato, All Purples from Applewald Farm, beet from another other local farm.