Pastry school – week 8, baby!

Hello there, friends!

I cannot believe two weeks has gotten away from me! I was busy making bread, learning the secret Danish recipe, and baking croissants and pain au chocolat – I’m like a little French Patisserie over here!

Yesterday, I tested a new muffin recipe with my good friend, David Chow. We made blueberry, raspberry, strawberry explosion muffins topped with cinnamon and sugar (yes, I did say and mean explosion – I kept begging David to let me add more fruits – he relented somewhat easily: I have a great pouting face when I want something - just saying). They were quite delicious, I have to say!

I also had the pleasure of learning all the cuts of beef from a cow carcass this past week – such a fun exercise for a vegetarian, don’t you think? In my fundamentals of cooking class, we focused on plating and presentation, as well as timing and putting multiple dishes together at one time. Stressful? Somewhat. Educational? Very!

I also gave my very first cooking lesson last week! Thank you to my lovelies, Coco and Pamela, for being my first clients. We made mango salsa, quinoa paired with avocado, dried cranberry, toasted almond salad, and crepes for dessert. I had such a great time, and cannot wait for the next lesson! You never know – it could be with YOU!

Well, I’m off to plan a menu to test – feel free to send me messages asking about cooking lessons, catering, being a private chef, and suggestions on things you have always wanted to learn how to make – I have a network of great chefs at my disposal who would be delighted to help me learn a new dish or technique that I can impart upon you!

I wish you a glorious day, filled with all the love you can fit in your hearts and then some!

Love always,

Lauren
xoxo

Homemade pasta, potatoes, danishes, croissants, midterms, and my kitchenaid mixer returns!

Oh my gosh! I just had the best morning! I spent 5 hours baking fresh croissants and danishes with the fabulous David Chow - he taught me a secret croissant recipe and will be teaching me a secret danish recipe that only 6 people in the world know. I have been sworn to secrecy, so the only way to experience it will be to have me bake them for you! I got to work with huge industrial mixers and bake food for the other Art Institute campus - SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I love my life as a pastry chef in training - life is just grand, friends!!

Apart from my amazing morning, this has been quite the eventful week! I had 4 midterms last week (gulp), all of which I did very well on – phew. Will I ever want to move into a new place and write 4 midterms in the same week again? No! But here I am – alive, no cuts, only a few bruises, a little smarter, and smiling – no harm done :)

This week was all about potatoes and starches in class. One of the unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) things about my fundamentals 5-hour-long cooking class every Monday and Tuesday is that I tend to eat my weight in whatever we are making for the day – so Monday, I stuffed myself with potatoes and inadvertently felt as though I myself had become a potato. Nice. Yesterday, I’m not sure I could have shoved any more rice or pasta in my mouth at one time. A very attractive sight, let me tell you. 

Thankfully, next week is all about meat, and as a non-meat eater, it’s safe to say I will finally leave a fundamentals class with an empty stomach! Or maybe I will eat all the accompanying sauces with a straw and keep up with my track record. Who knows? All I know is I’m growing some nice extra padding on the BE-hind – it will keep me warm for my first Canadian winter since 2007 – perfect!

I must make mention of my dearest friend Coco, who innocently called me on Monday night, not knowing that I was carrying a 40 pound backpack, a 20 pound knife kit, a chef’s coat on a hanger, and a 30 pound Kitchen aid mixer in a giant box not fit for carrying, desperately trying to make my way home...on foot. I had to go one block at a time, because my forearms kept giving out from the weight, causing my fingers to undo themselves from their death grip on the bottom of the box! I explained this sight to Coco, who immediately changed her course in her car to get me. Apparently, I looked like some sort of new aged homeless person when she saw me with all my stuff. She immediately burst out laughing at the sight of me. I feel I would have done the same in her position. I was a hot mess!

The important thing is that the Kitchen aid mixer, my beloved and most prized kitchen toy (shh, don’t tell my other kitchen toys), has made it home to me! Check it out!

I leave with a final “Did you Know?” thought, one of the many I’ve learned thus far:

3 things to remember about poached eggs:

1. ALWAYS use cold eggs. Why? Because you want the egg to stick together as much as possible so it doesn't fall apart in the simmering water

2. NEVER cook poached eggs in boiling water - the water should be simmering, which means slightly moving. Why? Because if the water moves around too much, your eggs will break up and be a hot mess!

3. ALWAYS crack your egg into a ramican and then gradually slide it in from the ramican to the water. Why? Because then you don't risk getting egg shell in the water, and it's much easier to boot!

Word.

Home Sweet Home....again!

Oh my goodness, friends! Yesterday, was a glorious day! It has been 6 months and 1 day since I last had a place to call “my own” (nothing is really ours, per say – even our bodies are on loan!). Yesterday, November 1^st, 2010, in the midst of studying for midterms (more on that another time), I moved into my very first apartment in Vancouver, BC. I finally have a home! Well, for the next year, at least, haha.

April 30^th, I moved out of the place I called home in L.A., the same place, oddly enough, that I moved into November 1^st of 2008. Hm…

Although I love where my life choices have led me to date (and truly wouldn’t change a single thing), I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling discombobulated over the course of the last 6 months. Leaving my career at lululemon after almost 4 years and completely changing my life as I knew it (no more Tuesday morning breakfasts with Amy and Lauren, or strolls down the street to the Brentwood Farmer’s market, no more cozy apartment, or, or, or – the list is endless) took a toll on me that I didn’t want to admit out loud, much less to myself (I’m one of those proud, I can-do-it-myself and “tough” ladies).

I don’t know about you, but when I’m feeling out of sorts and off balance, I like to have a safe haven to go where I can be alone with my thoughts to get grounded again – to re-center myself. Even though I move around a lot (7 cities in 3 countries and 12 different ‘homes’ since 2000), usually, my apartment is my safe haven. It contains the little things that represent me: the vase of roses on the coffee table, the uniform colored candles, the array of cookbooks and other books of interest on the bookshelves, the countless kitchen tools from Williams Sonoma and other magical places tucked neatly away in my kitchen drawers and counters, the cozy cream colored duvet on my bed, the pictures of my family in pretty little frames, the baby blanket I’ve had since I was 2 and still carry around with me – um – what? Ya, I said it).

The little things are what make the big things worth it to me. The little things are what ground me when I’m feeling I am being pulled in too many directions and need to re-focus (yes, even when I’m the conductor, to speak in a musical sense, of those directions).

So after 6 months of living out of suitcases and lululemon bags and not having any place to put my little things (much less put anything away), I am home. I recognize that homes are temporary (clearly), and I won’t get too attached to this one. But for the time being, I just want to say: Welcome back, safe haven. It’s nice to have you again, if only for a year.

Love always,
Lauren
xxx

Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room.  ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

Pinups For Pink!

Hello friends!

Did you have a fabulous weekend? I certainly hope so! I did! I had the pleasure of participating in a silent charity auction with the ladies at Pinups For Pink last Saturday at Ginger 62 here in Vancouver. It was such a great experience!

Pinups For Pink is a charity initiative led by 3 women whose goal was to add footprints on the road to finding a cure for breast cancer. They decided to create a calendar showcasing some of the rising stars in the community - women who are innovators and leaders when it comes to making change - women who I aspire to be like with every smile, every hug, and every move I make to better the lives of those around me.

I baked one of my famous cakes and 2 banana breads for the event, and passed out samples all night. I'm happy to report that they went over very well! I also auctioned off my very first private cooking class for 4 people. This marks my first business venture under Delectable You - a momentous occasion for me, to say the least!

Check out some video and pictures below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shoYbMHtDAM check out this link to another video from the end of the night!

Thank you to the ladies at Pinups For Pink for being amazing and inspiring those around you to stay positive, strive for excellence, and never give up.

And thank you, friends, for supporting me in my recent ventures! I couldn't do any of this without your well wishes. Even though most of you are far away, knowing you are in my life, rooting for me, keeps me motivated to keep on keeping on, and to be the change I want to see in the world. And on the days where I would rather not, you give me the strength to find a new set of eyes. So thanks :)

Have a lovely evening, and may you dream the sweetest dreams tonight!

Love always,
Lauren
xxx

Pastry School - Week 3!

Hello, friends!

This marks week 3 of pastry school – yahoo! I learned all about stocks and sauces (want a killer Hollandaise sauce? See me in my kitchen!), vegetables (I’m gonna make you LOVE spinach!), foodborne illnesses (and how NOT to give them to you), and employability skills in the industry. 

In addition to school, I have been focused on job hunting, starting Delectable You – the business (I am a portable bakery and private chef), building a website, creating a generic business card (yes, ladies and gents – I now have my very first business card….EVER! This is a momentous occasion! Check it out below!) and baking for a charity event I am participating in tomorrow called Pinups for Pink where I will be auctioning off a private cooking class for 4 people with yours truly! 

I learned a lot about balance this week. I just barely managed to fit my work outs and sleep time in. Hm…

This week, I needed to be reminded to slow down, to take time to stop, breathe, look around, and enjoy this wonderful life I have. Greenday was right: time grabs you by the wrists, and directs you where to go. If you let it, life will move at lighting speed. You risk missing out on the magical little things that make the big things worth it if you don’t take time to just stop and be. Feel the wind in your hair, experience the sensation of the blood rushing through your veins - so lucky to be alive!

Someone I love recently told me that the grass in greener where it’s watered. I’m going to take his advice, and do just that – I’m going to give my body some much needed sleep! Sweet dreams, friends. May your dreams and lives be filled with love, happiness and laughing until you pee!

Lauren

xoxo…

Pastry School - Week 2 - Salamander: 1, Lauren: 0

Hello friends!

I'm into my second week of pastry school, and I got my first war wound, baby! As I was taking out my french onion soup from the salamander, I burned my wrist. Note to self - the oven in HOT! That's why it COOKS things, Lauren! (I'm shaking my head at myself right now). Did I mention I'm klutzy? The good news? Chef George's critique was positive: he said overall, it was "quite good" - Yeah baby, YEAH! (by the way - I'm making french onion soup because one of my classes is about the fundamentals of cooking. So I get to nurture my cooking skills before I dive into all pastry - so great!)

Tomorrow is all lecture classes, so there will be no opportunity to burn myself, although I cannot promise I won't trip over something - perhaps it will be my shoe? I wouldn't put it past me :)

Well - I'm off to bed! I leave you with some photos of two masterpieces I created for dinner tonight: mango salsa and watermelon salad. Let me know if you want the recipes!

Goodnight, world :) Sweet dreams! xoxo

Lauren
xxx

My first day of Pastry School!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gkJqGSphY

Hello loves!

Ever the nerd (I'll never change :) ), I put together some videos of me on my first day at pastry school (check out the youtube link for a video from my first day actually at school in the kitchen!!). I do hope you enjoy them, and I hope you remember this sentiment as you watch:

I was listening to a great song a while ago (the name escapes me), and one of the lines stuck with me:

She turned her can'ts into cans and her dreams into plans.

I'd like to think that is how I live my life. I encourage you to do the same. Pastry school was a dream that I turned into a plan, and today, a reality. Pastry school was an I can't because I didn't have the money to do it, because how was I going to go to school and afford to live?, because how could I give up such a great career?, because it wasn't the kind of career I ever envisioned myself making a living in, because, because, because, bla, bla, bla...until finally I said, "Wait a minute: I can," and then I did. And now here I am - smiling in the light of I can :)

All we have is now, and if Buddha is right (which I believe he is) about all human suffering being rooted in desire, stop desiring. Find the peace and strength to see how amazing, wonderful and powerful you are, and go make that dream a reality before you even have a chance to desire it. As the legendary basketball mentor and coach, John Wooden would say, each day matters, so make each day your Masterpiece. I say you start with today :)

Love always,
Lauren
xxx