I am not Dead
It certainly has been quite some time since I have been on this website and of course I still am paying for the website so I can keep my domain name. :p I graduated pastry school and now wish I was reliving my school days over and over on repeat. I miss being in that kitchen almost every day. Smelling the warm smells of baking bread and constantly being covered in chocolate. No matter how hard I try it would end up everywhere. I could just look at chocolate and it would end up in weird places. True story- I even had some end up on my back somehow. ah those were the days.
I got a job at a horrible bakery that was unsafe and unsanitary. They wanted us to serve frozen desserts and claim they were made in house. The owner would let her kids run around behind the counter and with the smores cupcakes she would blow on them to make the fire go out. (During the pandemic no less). I quit and I never looked back and I am glad I did. I learned what not to do when I open my own business and that is something.
Currently- I am back to working in pharmacy. I have made myself a goal to bake once a week while im working since I don’t have alot of time during the week to bake. I have moved from Vancouver, WA back to Bellingham to be closer to family. The good thing about that is My father and I have always talked about opening up a bakery together and that might become reality now. Another goal of mine will be to actually use this website for its intended purpose so I don’t waste the money I am paying every month into it.
Well, Cheers everyone! Here are some pictures from when I was at that horrible bakery!
Happy Spring!
Happy May! It’s the first day of May and we have some exciting news to share! We are officially a business with our name trademarked! Thanks to the generous donation we received we can begin working towards opening up. Starting in July I will be officially taking orders!
I have decided to only do the 1 year program with the college and switch gears and get my associates in business administration while working full time. So this isn’t the end of my baking career but just the beginning. The second year at my current school is mostly business so this works out great for me, plus my employer will be covering my associates degree so it saves me money in the long run.
I am so incredibly bless for the opportunities life is throwing me lately. It was luck that I got an email from my manager telling me about the program she was doing in getting her Master’s through our employer. So to be given the chance to get an actual degree really excites me. I never thought in a million years that I would be even able to consider getting my associates. My dreams are slowly becoming a reality and I am so excited to continue to share this journey with you.
Now that I have gotten that out of the way! I have some new pictures to share with you all. Right now I am currently in Cookies and Bars and Viennoiserie (Danish, Croissant and puff pastry). Which has been super fun! I really enjoy seeing the layers come together to make something extraordinary! I am still struggling with some of my written quizzes but I will continue to learn from my mistakes and study more.
Also! (sorry this post is going on!!) I enabled comments on my posts so now we can interact with each other! I hope you enjoy this feature, this is also thanks to a donation we received! So I really appreciate you’re support and just know that It means a lot to me and I think about how lucky I am every day! I know I also promised some recipes, but I just want to make them look good before I post the biscuits I promised. :p I can’t be posting wonky treats!
Till next time. Happy Baking!~
-Sara
Happy Valentine’s Day
Or Happy Single’s awareness Day! Whichever you feel the closest too.
School has been pretty intense lately. I am currently in Bread class and Early morning products. I feel like I didn’t really realize how difficult the average blueberry muffin is. How you can under bake them so easily. You are able to over mix them easily as well. I have also gotten the most horrible burns from that class too. It’s only my own fault. But, to be honest I look at them like badges of honor, like I earned them. (I don’t feel like that at the time though). A good friend of mine said that all great chefs and great bakers have battle scars, so I am just earning my stripes. (Not that I think anyone should cut or burn themselves) I am going to add some wonderful pictures to this post. They might show up pretty large but I hope that just adds to the allure. I should also mention that I have added a “Donate” feature to this website. Any donation will be put either into a savings account to start applying for licenses and to open a booth at the farmers market or goes towards perfecting my craft. (meaning trying out new recipes and making upgrades on my kitchen so that it is safe and sanitary for selling baked goods).
First picture is the lovely caramel raisin bran muffins that are my absolute favorite from school and the same muffins I received my biggest burn from. They are almost like upside down cake since you put a caramel on the bottom of the muffin tin and when you take them out of the oven you turn them out. (which is how I got my burn :p)
Second picture is my Independent study Loaf. Which was Roasted potato, garlic and thyme bread. I made this from start to finish and am extremely proud of it.
Third picture is some baguettes that I have been making at school.
I hope everyone is enjoying this Portland Oregon snow!
Update: From now on, you will be able to comment on blog posts! I have not figured out how to add them to previous posts so please stay tuned!
New Beginnings~
Happy New Year! 2020 was intense, not just for myself but for everyone. My family, my friends, probably your friends and family as well.
My winter classes have finally started. I am now taking a bread class and an early morning product (muffins, biscuits and scones) class. I already love these classes way more than my last quarter. (not that I didn’t like those classes I am just enjoying these ones more) I feel like I learn so much every day and who doesn’t love the smell of fresh bread straight out of the oven? So far we have made bagels, pretzels, cinnamon loaf, butter rolls, sandwich loaf and in my early am class we have made biscuits and scones. (Green onion and cheddar biscuits and raspberry white chocolate chip scones YUM)
I hope to keep up on this website a bit more than I have been but life has been crazy so you will have to forgive me.
Holiday Hustle/Bustle
Howdy!
Hopefully you’re caught up with all your seasonal shopping and are slowly starting to wrap them. I am on winter break right now and am enjoying some much needed space and rest. The last week of school was intense. We had a pop up for our Barista/Coffee class which also involved some baking in our cake class. I feel very fortunate that my signature drink was chosen to be on our holiday menu, and it was quite popular. I came up with a recipe for Ginger Beer that was absolutely delicious! I will post the recipe below for your enjoyment! I have not done any holiday baking yet but the plan is to do it next weekend. Stay tuned for pictures of that!~
1 pound peeled and coarsely chopped ginger. (if you don’t peel it all the way that’s okay)
4 Cups boiling hot water
2/3-1 cup granulated sugar
1 lime cut into quarters
Your favorite plain seltzer
Put the cut/peeled ginger in a glass container (that’s safe enough for boiling water) and pour the water on top of the ginger to cover. Cover the container with the lid or with plastic wrap. Leave to sit on the counter for two days, then strain. Dissolve the sugar in the liquid.
Pour 3 ounces of the ginger syrup in your cup, then pour 6 ounces of seltzer. Add Ice and then squeeze a lime quarter and drop that in the drink. ~Enjoy!
Delicious Refreshing Ginger Beer!
Orange Chiffon/Reflections
Orange Chiffon Cake
It’s finally here, the last few days of my cake class. I have learned so much in that class. I would have never imagined myself being able to calmly make a Chiffon cake at 8pm at night. The cake is absolutely delightful, airy and soft. I am also wondering if I could make it cranberry for the holidays?
COVID has really turned everything upside down but, I am glad that it has brought me to where I am now. At the beginning of the year I was going to school at the Oregon Culinary Institute. That school has since went into bankruptcy and has closed. I am glad that I feel at home with the school I am going to now.
I had this whole post worded out but now that I am putting “pen to paper” I have completely forgotten what I was going to say, so please enjoy some pictures of my bake.
I am hoping to figure out how you all can add comments to these blog posts, so thank you for being patient.
Happy Thanksgiving by the way! I hope you get to spend it with the ones you love - safely of course.
xoxo
Pumpkin Roulade
Happy Wednesday!
Sorry about the big picture, I could not figure out how to make it smaller. That’s the joy of learning how to run your own website. Sometimes you get the perfect size picture and sometimes you get a massive roll in your face!
Next week is final's week in my Cakes, Desserts and Torte’s class and this was my final practical exam; The Pumpkin Roulade. This dessert tastes like the holidays with it’s sweet cream cheese pumpkin buttercream to the lovely sponge itself. I will tell you that I really don’t want to make another one in my life. I have probably “attempted” to make around 8. I successfully made 3. This recipe was extremely temperamental, but it makes for a light moist cake.
I might make it again in the future but, for now I will make other delectable desserts.
I also see that I have a few new subscribers! Thank you so much for joining me! I hope you enjoy my content and you will be the first to know about my business and future treats!
xoxo
-Sara
A little something sweet…
I remember being a little kid and watching my father in the kitchen baking cookies. The aroma of baked goods is something we are all familiar with but it stuck with me for my entire life. Every Halloween and Christmas we would bake cookies together. My grandmother also loved baking and I believe that’s where my father got his love for it from. My grandmother would bake a special pumpkin pie for me every holiday and birthday and that is a memory I will cherish forever. No one ever makes pies as good as grandma’s and no one makes gingerbread cookies as well as my father. Isn’t that something we can all say about our own family though?
My baking life started then but now as an adult it is starting to form into a future for me. The last few years I have been experimenting with recipes I have never tried and with each attempt I try something more advanced. I also started pastry school this year even with COVID-19 on the prowl, I knew that nothing should or could hold me back from living my dream as a pastry chef.
This area of my website will be just a place I can share recipes, let you know what’s going on, or even my thoughts or dreams. Basically where I can come to show you a piece of me or a piece of pie. I am very happy you are here to join me on my journey and wither you came for the recipes/pictures and you stay for the humor and ravings of a mad cat lady, I am still glad you found me.