Any resemblance is purely intentional...

Dear Readers,

I'd like to tell you a story today, so please grab your beverage of choice and snuggle up.

*ahem*

There once was a pastry cook (technically: commis de pâtisserie) freshly graduated from culinary school.  With a head full of dreams and a wall full of awards, this young pastry cook set out to turn the culinary world on its head.

Her school credentials landed her an internship with a prestigious restaurant.  On her first day, she rode the subway with dreams of spending vacations lounging at the owner's Tuscan villa; sipping cocktails and dreaming up exciting menu ideas that the New York Times reviewers would gush over.

Pictures of how she would pose for her Pastry Art and Design cover danced in her head as she tried to determine her best angle photographically.

Upon arriving at work, she was greeted by her chef, a freshly transplanted Parisian with a thick accent. A very, very thick accent.

The way he pronounced his vowels was unlike anything she had ever heard before.  To make matters worse, the constant background clang and clatter of the kitchen muffled his voice.

He asked her to go downstairs and do something that involved "mushcht - roooums."

Not wanting to look like an idiot on her first day, she dutifully ran downstairs and came back with a flat of mushrooms.

"No" said the French chef - I said "we have no mushcht - roooums downstairs....get some muscht - rooums for me"

"You want me to get you some mushrooms?" asked the commis.

Chef:  "no, no....we have no muscht -rooums - I need you to make muscht rooms"

Commis:  "huh?"

Chef:  "bah - just go - no...no champaginon*!"

Commis "You want champagne?  Hold on!"  **runs down stairs** and reappears with a bottle of Champagne.  "Chef! I brought you some champagne!"

Chef:  "Ah!  Chef.... I tell you we have no muscht - rooums and you think I say champaginon, then you get champagne... AGH, you are hopeless!"

The reader can repeat this comedy of errors as many times as they feel comfortable.  The commis certainly felt as if it repeted millions of times.

It was a humbling beginning to what would prove to be a rude awakening into the reality of kitchen work.

As it turned out that the chef was saying "we have no much room" or 'we don't have any room downstairs,' and by extension, the commis was supposed to rearrange the refrigerator in order to make room for new products.

Though the first nine months working for this particular chef involved daily tears, the commis still looks upon this time as one where she grew professionally and in unimaginable ways.

The moral of the story?  You have more to learn than you realize, stick out the difficult times and they will probably teach you the most.

Stay Sweet!

Lisa

* Champaginon: French for mushroom

My Caramel stuck!

Dear Reader,

A while back I'd posted about an insomnia fueled Internet session that resulted in my finding a Wikipedia article in need of modified information.

I expect that humanity will breathe a collective sigh of relief, because I was just the person to do it.

You can read my original post HERE.

Apricot Cognac Caramels 

On a lark I decided to check back to see if it's been changed, and I was (somewhat) surprised to find that it hadn't.

I feel a bit mixed about this.

On one hand, I was happy to be able to so easily update the information. However, it makes me a bit nervous knowing how easily I could have manipulated that information to say anything I wanted it to.

If we couple the ease of modification I experienced with how often people use the Internet for information gathering (increasingly in lieu of book research) it makes me uneasy for the future.

I don't want to imagine a world where rewriting what is often considered *fact* is so easily done.

Stay Sweet!

Lisa

So, you enjoy eating the daisies...

Dear Reader,

A few weeks ago I posted about the polarizing nature of floral flavors.

You can find my original post HERE

In my experience, people either love eating flowers and floral essences, or they cannot abide them.  In my original post I also explored where some of our cultural preferences may have originated, specifically referencing C.S. Lewis' Turkish Delight and how that flavor is culturally antiquated today.

I've done some reading since then, and found a few links I thought you might enjoy.

This link explores the connection between C.S. Lewis' Turkish Delight and the American palate.  Turkish Delight

safely edible flowers

In addition, if you happen to be a person who enjoys eating the proverbial daisies, this LINK will show you how to choose edible flowers safely.

Happy reading!

Stay sweet,

Lisa

When confections get Groovy

Dear Reader,

A year or so ago a wonderful fellow blogger honored me by asking for an interview!

So, in case you're wondering about the person behind the screen, you can find out more about me HERE.

Being interviewed was an interesting experience. I've never considered myself particularly important or worth interviewing, and I was quite surprised when I was asked.

As I revisit this interview a year or so later, a few things stand out.

Sheela chose the pictures that she used in the post herself.  I was surprised by a few of them in that I wouldn't personally haven chosen them as representative of my best work. It was a great lesson in how others view us being different from how we view ourselves. Also, she only referenced my online Etsy shop.  I do a lot more than is outlined in this interview.

When the interview posted, the picture of me she used actually made me laugh.

It was a quick snap I took to send a friend in England (featuring my newly purple hair) and posted... somewhere.

I had no idea how that photo would take on a life of its own.  My makeup free face, cheeky smirk and the weird angle intended to show my hair color was only intended to be shared between friends. Yet here it was, forever immortalized on the internet.

Being prudent about what I post online was actually the best lesson I took from the experience. We never know where something we say or do online might resurface.  I'm not ashamed of the picture, but I wouldn't have chosen it to represent myself professionally. Though I am wearing a white chef coat in it, so it works.

In all, I'm happy with how the interview went and it was a fun learning experience.

I hope you enjoy reading it.  :)

Stay Sweet!

Lisa

A picture can be worth 1000 words

Dear Readers,

I'd like to introduce you to Marco Pierre White.

He is a legend.

If you're interested, you can read more about him here.

Many people today know him for two things:

i) He holds the record as the youngest chef ever to receive three Michelin stars (age 33)
ii) A young Gordon Ramsey worked under him at his restaurant, Harvey's 

Today we are bombarded with images of celebrity chefs.  Usually they are well rested with professionally applied makeup, crisp aprons and flattering lighting.  Though these elements make for a pretty picture, those pictures often don't reflect reality.

I love this photo because it shows how stress has chiseled his face. It shows how lack of sleep has created shadows and bags under his eyes.  Their piercing gaze reflects the intensity and focus he brings to his work.

Kitchens are bastions of machismo and testosterone in our politically correct world.  The disheveled hair, unshaven face and dangling cigarette illustrate that perfectly.

I love this picture because it is real and the passion it displays almost palpable.  It is not polished and glistening, but neither is kitchen work.

Stay Sweet!

Lisa

Fonts and Food, an unlikely pair

There is a hidden, yet extremely important job in the restaurant industry: graphic designer.

Graphic design can, quite literally, make or break your business.  The wrong font or an odd size will garishly stand out and give the impression that your business is amateurish and doesn't care about detail.

Attention to detail is paramount when preparing food, and so it follows that how we choose to present our menus and signage  is extremely important.

There is a joke that circulates industry that if you're ever writing a menu, don't use the font Papyrus.

Restaurant managers will visit a new restaurant's opening night and secretly give it six months before it closes if the menu is written in Papyrus.

They will laugh under their breath as they order and condescendingly ask if the manager's sixteen year old nephew is their graphic designer.

Avoid all of this abuse and just don't use Papyrus, trust me.
You will be a joke in the industry if you do.

While I'm dispensing unsolicited advice, I'll also say that under pain of death, Comic Sans is to be avoided like the plague.

Lollipops with Beyond Wonderland
the font causes the tag to be larger than the candy!

I hope I've made my point with the above layout, that if a font or color is off, it is glaringly obvious.

The real challenge is that menus need to be readable, but people want them to be stylish, too.

It's this desire for style that often leads people into the proverbial land of bad design. This land is a place you don't want to be, though we often find ourselves in despite our best intentions.

I once created a lollipop I named Strega (Italian: witch) and thought it would be awesome if I had a 'witchy' font to match the label. I used one called Beyond Wonderland.  It was lovely, and interestingly, designed after Lewis Caroll's own handwriting.

However, because of the stylized design of the letters, it had to be printed relatively large in order for people to be able to read.

I soon ditched my fashionable witchy look and reverted to my reliable, easily readable friend Cronos.   Cronos is a font that many people may not have on their systems, but is apparently state of the art for web designers; it's stylish, yet still readable.  There is a saying that if someone notices your font choice, it's wrong.

Fonts and design are another level of things one needs to know in order to run a successful business that they don't tell you about in Culinary school!

Just remember: nix the Papyrus and Comic Sans and you'll be fine!

Stay Sweet!

Lisa

Five things Culinary Schools won't tell you...

Dear Reader, 

Chuckling at my deathly pallor in the mirror, the result of years under kitchen fluorescents, I popped yet another dose of Advil. 

Despite the fact that this is all I've ever wanted to do, I found myself chuckling at my life choices in the early morning hours. While every sane person I knew was asleep, I was molding molten sugar and trying not to think too much about my aching back. It got me thinking... 

People's eyes often fly open with excitement when I tell them what I do for a living.  

Visions of sugarplums dance in their heads as fantasies of leaving the proverbial 'grind' flood their minds.  They dramatically toss off their $100,000./year career with benefits and don the distinctive striped apron of a kitchen Commis. 

They imagine themselves making a single pie, or perhaps "that cake they saw that their kid could make" and then retiring for the evening; fully satisfied with their life's work.

As I'm sure you can imagine, the reality of kitchen work is nothing like the sugar covered fantasies played out on The Food Network.  If you peel away the pink candyfloss fantasy, you will find under appreciated minions with foul mouths, sallow complexions and scheduled back surgery.

As the Advil kicked in, I laughed at the idea of creating a REAL list of what kitchen work is like.  The horror! 

Five things they don't tell you about in Culinary School:

1. Your feet/hands/back/knees will get destroyed.  Accept this fact and have a career escape plan in place by the time you are 40. 
2. You will live in a constant state of sleep deprivation.  Paradoxically, this will make you extremely high strung.
3. The hours you work in a week are, in fact, not legal. But you knew that...
4. The pastry department is not climate controlled. It is usually shared with the salad guy and sandwiched as an afterthought next to the dishwasher.  The owner will randomly unplug your refrigerator in order to save money.
5. Kitchens are not bastions of political correctness. If you are easily offended, get out.  Your humor will soon degrade into the socially unacceptable.  Accept this fact and try not to swear at the hapless supermarket cashier.  

When asking yourself if kitchen work is the right career for you, consider the theater adage "If you can imagine yourself doing *anything* else, go do it." 

It is true that the hours are long, the conditions deplorable and the pay insulting.  However, if it's what you truly love, you'll relish those 3 a.m Advil breaks.   

Stay sweet!

Lisa 

A sticky sweet mess

Dear Reader,

In lieu of sleeping, the cruel mistress that is Insomnia often demands that I peruse Wikipedia in the middle of the night.


In submitting to her wishes, I happened upon a questionable post under the Caramel listing.
Here is the original post:

Caramel sauce[edit]

Caramel sauce is made by mixing hot caramel with some combination of cream, milk, and water; butterscotch sauce uses brown sugar and adds butter.^[8]Caramel sauce is used for a variety of desserts, notably crème caramel or flan.

Caramel candy[edit]

Caramel candy is a soft, dense, chewy candy made by boiling a mixture of milk or cream, sugar(s), butter, and vanilla (or vanilla flavoring). The sugar(s) are heated separately to reach 170 °C (340 °F), caramelizing them before the other ingredients are added.^[9] Alternatively, all ingredients may be cooked together; in this procedure, the mixture is not heated above the firm ball stage (120 °C [250 °F]), so that caramelization of the milk occurs but not caramelization of the sugars. This type of candy is often called milk caramel or cream caramel.

----------

There are a few problems with this post.  Caramel sauce often contains butter and additional flavorings such as vanilla or fruit puree and the temperatures they are citing are far too high and would result in burning. In addition, calling the clear caramel used for Flan a caramel sauce could technically be considered correct, but is a bit of a stretch.

I noticed the edit button next to the listings, so I went ahead and changed Wikipedia.  The two sections now read this way:

Caramel Sauce[edit]

Caramel sauce is made by mixing caramelized sugar with cream. Depending on the intended application, additional ingredients such as butter, fruit purees, liquors or vanilla are often used. Caramel sauce used in a variety of desserts, though most notably as a topping for ice cream. When it is used for crème caramel or flan, it is known as clear caramel and only contains caramelized sugar and water. Butterscotch sauce is made with dark brown sugar, butter and often a splash of whiskey. Traditionally, butterscotch is a hard candy more in line with a toffee, with the suffix "scotch" meaning "to score."

Caramel candy[edit]

Caramel candy is a soft, dense, chewy candy made by boiling a mixture of milk or cream, sugar(s), glucose, butter, and vanilla (or vanilla flavoring). The sugar and glucose are heated separately to reach 260 °F (130 °C), the cream and butter and then added and cooked to other ingredients are added and the mixture is frequently stirred until it reaches 240 °F (120 °C). Upon completion of cooking, vanilla or any additional flavorings and salt are added. Adding the vanilla or flavorings earlier would result in their burning off at the high temperatures. Adding salt earlier in the process would result in inverting the sugars as they cooked.
Alternately, all ingredients may be cooked together. In this procedure, the mixture is not heated above the firm ball stage (120 °C [250 °F]), so that caramelization of the milk occurs. This temperature is not high enough to caramelize sugar and this type of candy is often called milk caramel or cream caramel.

You can link directly to them here

This was an interesting middle of the night experiment.  I've never changed anything on Wikipedia before, and I foresee my midnight wanderings through cyber-land as being much more interactive from now on.

Stay sweet!

Lisa 

Please don't eat the daisies... unless...

Dear Reader,

Lavender Honey Handmade Caramels 

Floral flavors are polarizing; people either love them or hate them, there is absolutely no in between.

To make matters more confusing, people who have never tried them tend to romanticize what they must taste like.

Items such as 'lavender honey caramels' evoke thoughts of frolicking through a field in Provence on a perfect summers day, the air so heavy and sweet with the fragrance of lavender that you can't help but taste it.

Of course, unless you love the flavor of lavender, the reality of the flavor is nothing like the fantasy.  The most common feedback I receive from someone who isn't fond of or accustomed to a floral is that "it tastes soapy."
*le sigh*

Our popular culture is not at all helpful when it comes to romanticizing floral flavors.  I've received a few requests for Turkish Delight to accompany The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe themed children's parties.

Though I can understand the allure of wanting to transport oneself to Narnia, I will always suggest another confection with which to ply guests, especially if they are young children.  I have yet to encounter a five year old that will willingly or eagerly stuff themselves with what is essentially paste with rose flavoring.

Rose Turkish Delight - courtesy of Food.com 

To understand why Turkish Delight was chosen for the book, people must consider that it was published in 1950.

This was, after all, only a few years after the strict rationing Britain experienced during WWII ended. Sugar was an especially scarce commodity during the war years, and anything sweet had been both coveted and relished for some time.

In addition, rose was a popular flavor during Victorian times (C.S. Lewis' childhood years) plus, it nods towards the exotic with its middle-eastern origins.
Modern children simply do not have the pallet of Mr. Lewis and there is nothing wrong with this. His preferences were not better or more superior to anyone else's, they were simply a product of the times in which he lived, as are our own.

I'm fairly certain that if the book were written today, some kind of chocolate or ice cream would replace the Delight.

Nevertheless, the people who enjoy floral flavors really LOVE them.  If they are used correctly and sparingly, I believe they can add a wonderfully light and slightly exotic note to many items.  In my shop, lavender lollipops are my most popular flavor, especially for Spring and Summer events.

Lavender Lollipops are especially popular
for Spring/Summer  events

I always walk a fine line when I introduce a new item with a floral note.  On one hand, I want my products to be fun and creative, but on the other hand, if people don't care for something they react negatively.

To explain: people generally don't taste something they dislike and think it is their personal preference.  If people taste something they don't care for, they generally think the reason is because I'm unable do my job well.
It can be especially tricky explaining to customers that my products are not the problem, they simply don't care for the taste of florals.

Especially in this time of social media, a person's opinion will be emblazened on the internet forever.

I want my customers to both enjoy my products and send all of their friends to me as well.  I want to keep them as customers for generations, and that won't happen if I produce things they don't enjoy.

brown butter chocolate chip cookies with sea salt
                                                                                                     

Sadly, this situation puts constraints on what I produce, though I console myself by making everything the best it can possibly be.

For example, making chocolate chip cookies doesn't necessarily feed my creative soul, but making the best people have ever tasted allows me to pay my bills.  In addition, making something familar that people enjoy builds trust in my customers.  If customers enjoy my chocolate chip cookies and vanilla cake, they are more likely to give my pistachio rose lollipops a try.

In the same way that flavors such as anise (licorice) and grapefruit can be polarizing, floral flavors are very much a matter of personal preference.

Personally, I love the complexity and depth they add to a dish. I know that not everyone shares my opinion and that's okay.

Their dislike simply means that there is more for me to enjoy.

Stay Sweet!

xo
Lisa

Who am I?

Dear Reader,

Why am I here?  Why *are* we here?  

Aren't those the questions we all ask?  

Happily, in this case and despite its deeply philosophical origins, the answer to the question is simple: experimentation.  

With pastry, as in life, things don't always work out as planned 

Handmade sugar flower bouquet - red spectrum

I intend this blog to be a haven of experimentation beyond my standing product line. 

A place where I can document my thought processes and new, 

sugar-sweet creations can (hopefully) be brought to life. 

I intend to give you a glimpse into my world, dear reader, while putting the whole messy and frenetic process on display.

Valrhona Chocolate 'Turtle' brownies with caramel and pecans.
Delicious, but unfortunately didn't ship well

Please, grab a beverage of choice and settle in for what promises to be a slightly bumpy, but always sweet adventure!

Stay Sweet!

xo

Lisa