I should be sleeping but I'm not. How did I end up here? At the computer? So late at night? My husband is asleep. Even my insomniac dogs are asleep.
Bright and early tomorrow morning I'm speaking at career day at a disadvantaged school where I volunteer an afternoon a week. Turns out my current kindof/sort of career is the only one of my many that young kids are interested in.
I'm going as a pastry chef. Shhhhh. Don't tell the kids but I don't actually make money doing this. Right now I don't make money doing anything. I do love to bake, though. I've got the clothes and the tools.
When I was little, I traded in my blanket for an Easy Bake Oven. I wanted an Easy Bake Oven soooo incredibly bad. I would have sold my soul.
What a rip-off!! You can't cook with light bulbs. You can try all you want but you really need double wall ovens---electric with convection. They work so much better than light bulbs. My mom felt a little bad because she knew it wouldn't work well. She was so happy I finally gave up my blanket. I might still be carrying it around with me if it weren't for my greed for little pans and tiny spatulas and cake mixes..all so neat.
I don't have decent ovens at home. My plan was to make cupcakes. 70 cupcakes. I'm not thrilled with how they came out. They'd never cut in a professional situation. I'm guessing the 6 and 7 year olds aren't going to care. They'll get their sugar fix.
I ran out of cupcake papers and had to go to the scary all-night grocery store. I ended up buying a couple of cake mixes and some frosting in a can. You can't tell anyone. Promise me you won't. Usually I make Italian meringue buttercream. You have to get the sugar to exactly 120 C and the egg whites at soft peaks simultaneously, timing is critical for this...then very careful pour in a steady stream into your mixer so you don't get a crystallized sugar mess on the mixer. But it's really late here. I think I already mentionned I should be in bed, right?
And that frosting in the can will taste better to the kids anyway. The teachers will probably want to run me out of the school on a rail. So much sugar, so early in the day.
But the kids will love me. I might even be more popular than the flight attendants this year. I'll probably still come behind the professional football team doctor. He always wins. You just can't compete with putting a cast on a kid. And having the quarterback as a friend. That's just too cool.
I'm jealous. I've always wanted to be a pastry chef. But then I realized that I'd much rather be an interior designer with a fabulous kitchen where I could cook -- that would be better. Sadly, I am neither.
Honey the kids will really won't know the difference. And quite frankly, after two weeks without sugar, I'd think that crap in a can is nirvana too. I make that buttercream all the time and it's just heavenly. There are certain cooking techinques that mystify me because they work so beautifully and real buttercream is one of them and emulsion, as in making an oil and vinegar dressing that doesn't separate is another one. I love when it comes together.
Posted by: Emily | Monday, 04 April 2005 at 12:06
I'm with Em: that chocolate frosting in a can sounds delicious right about now! (Em and I were going to do the fat flush together, if I recall, but she's doing it and I'm . . . NOT -- that's because I have no discipline, none.)
I also loved my easy bake oven and hey, you can too bake a cake in there under the lightbulb! The problem is, you have to bake about 10 little cakes to get a satisfying fill, and that takes a while. :-)
Posted by: wessel | Tuesday, 05 April 2005 at 05:20
Cake? Did someone say cake? I'll be right over.
Glad everything went well.
Posted by: chris | Tuesday, 05 April 2005 at 07:14
I had to go and look up the italian buttercream thing because I'd never heard of it before and boy does it sound scary. Is it really good? I imagine it's quite high volume, and sets to give you a crispy/creamy combination is that right?
Anyway glad the kids liked the cakes
Posted by: Thalia | Wednesday, 06 April 2005 at 08:55
Oh, Thalia, Italian buttercream is simply the best. Really, really good. Once you master it, you'll rarely go back. It is silky smooth and easy to work with.
We need to have a virtual teaparty. I'll definitely make the cakes.
Posted by: millie | Wednesday, 06 April 2005 at 22:33