Fudge, The Intern (Part V): Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect

There’s only so much new stuff one can do in a bakery before it all becomes repetitive. Thus today wasn’t a day full of new lessons and surprises in baking, but a day of perfecting technique, a day of getting into the groove of things, and, of course, a day of sweets galore.

One thing I’m very proud of today?

That. My first cupcake approved by N for sale in the shop (although I was too proud of it to give away so I took it home for my mum…it didn’t quite survive the bike ride, though :/). I’ve finally (almost) got the technique down! I would say that is miles ahead of the first cupcake I frosted today…

Yeah. I’m proud to show that mess because the photo before it. At least the camera makes this cupcake look pretty.

Like I mentioned earlier, today was a day of getting into the groove of things. Cookies were mixed quicker, scooped easier; doughnut muffins were finished off with more finesse; samples and trimmings were sampled less and less frequently ( 😉 ).

I could really tell the difference of how I was baking last week versus my first day this week. Everything “flowed;” I was able to do more in less time and more efficiently. I was also given the reigns by N to really work how I (i.e. the bakery) needed, working to make I saw that we needed versus having N follow me step by step to tell me what I needed to do. That doesn’t mean that I asked a few questions along the line; I’m still learning here.

OH! Did you all know the Bourbon vanilla extract is actually called “Bourbon” because of the name of the islands off the coast of Madagascar, not because of the alcohol content in a jar of vanilla extract? Just a tidbit I learned that I thought I should share.

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HEY. I was excited when I heard it, and this is my blog. 😀

Anyways, at the end of the day, I felt fulfilled as all this work was starting to become second nature, even though I only have two more days of work at the bakery (:(). However, N and fellow baker “G,” the only other guy in the bakery, said they would love to have me work more at the bakery over the summer until I go to college! I think that would be a great experience…I’ll keep you all updated as we go on.

For now, I will leave you all with a little preview of what I’m blogging about tomorrow…

Writer’s Block? Not So Much (Ultimate Breakfast Muffins)

Everyone knows about writer’s block. Everyone has probably faced it some time or another. I don’t know if it has anything to do with being a senior nearing the end of my high school career, but that intangible blockade has been attempting to impede me quite a bit lately.

Whenever that happens, though, a quote from Kathleen Norris (an essayist and poet, I have discovered, though I know nothing about her past that) often comes to mind:

“All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it?”

I laugh a bit and suddenly I am able to move on and write more, whether it be a personal rendition of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land for my AP Literature course or, well, this blog post that I’m writing now.

Who knew muffins were also stackable? But I digress.

Does this have anything to do with food, though? Why, yes–this is a food blog after all, people! 😉

I think writer’s block–whether Kathleen Norris thinks it exists or not–manifests itself when the body is simply not prepared or in good shape. Lack of sleep, exhaustion, and hunger have hardly ever been good things to write on (except when I wrote that stream of consciousness piece about my hunger…but I digress). These muffins, however, can take care of that last variable for you.

These muffins are a 1-2-3 punch to stave off hunger! Ha! See what I did? There's 3 muffins lined up in the picture...oh, I'm just on a roll today.

Girlfriend loves the contrast of the soft, pillowy, almost savory muffin with the crunchy and sweet crumble on top. Eat one of these with some fruit or a smoothie, and your day is set! Don’t blame me if one isn’t enough to satisfy you, though. 🙂

My Love-Hate Relationship with Costco (Strawberry Banana Muffins)

I love Costco. My family loves Costco. Everyone and their mother loves Costco. I’m pretty sure my dog knows full well what Costco is and loves it.

Loving Costco means two things, though. First, my family buys a lot of produce in bulk for hardly any money. Second, a lot of that produce sadly ends up going down the disposal when it gets old and moldy after we have only had a chance to use half of it. I can’t tell you how much I hate when uneaten food goes down the sink or in trash; I always think of wasted food as lost opportunities to make a dish.

The Aftermath

I’ve developed ways of combating this waste, usually by freezing the fruit we buy and steaming the heck out of a pound of baby spinach on a weekly basis (what family of three needs a pound of spinach per week, especially when I’m usually the only one that uses?). However, I think I may have found my new favorite method for my mounds of fruits: bake with them!

It is not an infrequent sight to see bananas of varying shades of yellow-brown sitting on the countertop in the kitchen, but making bread out of these bananas has never really crossed my mind (I know, how could it not have crossed my mind beforehand?). What with the newly purchased…pound (again, a pound for a family of three?)…of strawberries from Costco, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to prevent those luscious berries and, well, those not-as-luscious-looking-but-still-delicious bananas from going down the black hole that is the kitchen sink.

Don’t judge a banana by its peel, people.

The Aftermath, Pt. 2

To all my high school readers: this takes almost no time to make! Sure, this will technically takes about an hour to make, but remember that most of that time is baking time. I whipped up the batter in about 5 or 10 minutes and stuck these puppies in the oven while I was studying for Chemistry (an apt combination, Chemistry and Cooking), took them out a little while later, and had tasty homemade muffins for the rest of the week! Cooking and baking aren’t daunting tasks, guys; great food is only a bit of time and effort away!