Plans...

Another week down, another post up.

Spring has arrived here in Melbourne. Amongst others things such as Fashion Week and the Racing Carnivals, i'm most glad to say its the start of the sunnier seasons :)

Work was great this week! I was a little apprehensive heading in, just because of my lacklustre performance last weekend, but a little reassurance (thanks mum) and self-confidence was obviously  enough to make the difference. My chef even asked me to work the next day, and return the following weekend for the same two days. Good signs right?
So Friday is officially retitled as Tubeday now. I pumped out 260 of Burch and Purchese's intricately layered taste tubes, more then usual due to an order to be picked up the following day. As painful a job as they seem (so precise and repetitive), its also helpful doing alot of them and often and it helps me memorise their components and structure well. I still think 260 for an individual may be some sort of record, if not a good PB lol.
Saturday was significantly less tubular thankfully, as i pumped out a couple of the house crumbles that are incorporated throughout a few of the desserts and also sold as retail packs. This consisted of some grand scale mixing. I don't think i've ever mixed anything with 3kg of melted butter in it before, but even then it was overly buttery because there was just SO MUCH bulk of dry ingredients that it was soaked up. Good fun though. Each new recipe is a challenge and a new lesson to learn, the times they work out first go feel awesome, and the times its takes a couple of attempts not so. But its how we learn from our mistakes that define us. Really keen for nexts weeks shifts, i've even enquired about getting a company chef jacket so i can look suave like the rest of them :)

Also i booked some tickets to head home for a couple of days at the start of October. KEEN AS! I miss my family and little dogs so much, can't wait to share all my adventures with them in the near future.  Time to enjoy some of this sunshine.

Where to begin?

What a week, what a week, what a might hectic week.

So i lost my keys. Luckily i don't own a car or safety deposit box. But those keys were how to get into the building, and how to get into my room, and how to get my mail. Luckily (or unluckily $$$) for 24hr locksmiths i got back into my room that night. A rather expensive lesson to learn on losing things.

FFWD. I received an intriguing invitation in my email inbox. It had some difficult conditions to meet prior to attending, i'll leave it at that.

BUT it was those difficult conditions that then impacted my concentration at work over the next couple of days. Now this is a high speed, high quality work-place, so my absent mindedness and silly errors aren't acceptable at the best of times, let alone when the boss is working with me 1-on-1. Hence i'v made the promise to myself to pull out all stops and really try to commit during my next shift. A team is only as good as its weakest player and at the moment i'm letting the team down.

THEN Melbourne hits 20degrees celsius. Whats with that? Luckily its forecast to be cold and miserable tommorrow. Some normality appears to be returning at last......

Oh and i baked some profiteroles just to 'puff' up my spirits a little :)
Photo wouldn't upload though :(

Pinch me....i must be employed!

Or is it dreaming? Well in my case its both. I'm a pretty bad blogger at the best of times with my student timetable, and it just got alot busier.
 After a couple of weeks staging one day a work, just learning for the experience, i submitted a resume to the chefs at Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio in the hope that one day down the the track, they may be in dire need of workers and discover my paperwork tucked away in a filing cabinet drawer and give me a call. Hence my shock at being offered a p/t job at the end of the very same day.
Let me put this into perspective for you. As a patisserie student, this job is equivalent to a dance academy student going on tour with Beyonce or Gaga, an economy student working at Wall Street or an apprentice carpenter working with Noah (from the bible. You've gotta admit that ark was impressive).
The Chefs and concepts behind B&P are at the fore of their field, and probably one of only a few elite sweet destinations in Australia. In dessert terms alone, it is like fine-dining take-away style. Hence i'm now 2 stone heavier. But the atmosphere of the retail store, open kitchen, and vibrant and friendly team that staff both sides of the business make for a great family away from home. Something i'd been missing since i left home 6months ago.

There are a couple of other keen bloggers at B&P. Rachel over at Sweet Perfections and Kylie (of Masterchef S4 fame) on her self-titled blog of adventures Kylie Millar.

SO, for now, i bid adieu momentarily while i get my new lifestyle in shape and organised. But keep following us all for no doubt some crazy news and exciting stories!

USA Family Feast trip

Ok so the idea of beind the holiday wasn't to feast, but it was a family trip, and i did take it upon myself to find some of the biggest eats i could.

Yeah so....i ate it. Over two nights. Can i just say, not only did that much Peanut Butter Cup beat me (at 1am that morning) but i also cracked a hotel plate in two trying to cut through it.

"You know, it doesn't seem that big if you shut your eyes first". Yet again, i was defeated, and getting a little downhearted by now. The 'OMG Burger' at The Catch in Anaheim was a monstrous challenge, and to be consumed in 60mins? I don't think so.....I got about halfway through, realised i was defeated and suggested to go home via The Cheesecake Factory to commiserate.

Our last stop before returning home was Waikiki. I was determined to finish on a high, so i took my mum to Mac24/7 Bar to try the Mac-Daddy Pancake challenge as seen on Man v Food. Whilst my mum charitably fed about 9 homeless people with her leftovers, i finally succeeded!

I may have felt ill, and unprepared for the winners shirt and photo that was about to be taken. But i'd ended MY family feast trip on a high. And for what its worth. I don't know where these rumours of Americans and their large servings come from.....LOL

Fine Dining Dessert Wrap

Just so that you don't think i've been sitting around idly when not at school, i've also been experiencing the upper echelon of desserts, and recording it for your pleasure (or pain).

Cutler & Co. - Violet ice-cream, chocolate ganache, sour cherry and clove meringue.

Jacques Reymond - Venezuelan Chocolate and Hazlenut Tart and Passionfruit creme w/tuile

Matteo's - Chestnut Chiffon Cake, Mandarin Curd & Sorbet, Blueberry Ice-cream & Cocoa Soil

Vue de Monde - Tonka Bean Souffle, chocolate ganache and smoked cocoa ice-cream

I like to think of it as 'industry research' or my 'professional development'  :)

brb?

Yes.....perhaps if you are as clever at deducing things as Holmes or Watson, you may realise that there is a 12 month gap in posts. I wish i could say it was due to some wonderful job or great adveture i'd had; it wasn't.

However, to bring you up to speed. I DID spend 4 weeks in the USA for our Aussie Xmas. I DID throw in the towel at uni to follow my heart (and stomach) into becoming a patissier and I WILL try a little harder to keep as regular as a yoga instructor from Byron Bay.
See how i go....

Target Chocolate Bars

I suppose Target thinks it's getting a little fancy, introducing its own candy range, but in reality its just to try and compete with the mega giants like Woolworths who have their own store branding for just about every product.

These three bars have been sitting on a shelf in my cupboard for months, because no matter how often i thought about reviewing them, if something new or more exciting came into my possession, these seemed to be forgotten. I guess you could say i was a little hesitant about the quality of chocolate produced by what i would class a clothes store.

Whilst my initial fears about the bars were true in regards to the praline and cookies & cream bars, the caramel and toffee splits were quite bearable, infact almost good enough to warrant me trying them again. ALMOST. Unless they're on some ridiculous sale or your absolutely desperate, i'd say stick to your Mars and Cadbury favourites over these bars.

RATING: 6/10