Getting Started

The intention of this blog is to broadcast my passion for cooking but also (most of all), my passion for baking. Everyone has a dream job, of course there are the select few who actually get to work that dream job (me shaking fist), but for those who merely fantasize... this blog is for you... it's also for those who just plain and simply like to fantasize about great food.

I often like to ask people pesky "would you rather" and "what's your favorite..." questions. For example my favorite question: "Lets say that with any career you pursue, you are given whatever pay and benefits you desire... considering this, what would your occupation be?" - I love this question because not only does it always seem to turn my respondent's eyes to a glimmer as they reminisce a fantasy, but it really lets you find out what that particular person's passions are. So anyway, back to me shaking my fist at those who live and work in their fantasy career...

I am academically focused in the health and environmental studies field. My fantasies however, are focused on someday operating a bakery. Also being passionate about gardening and the tranquility it ensues, my fantasy bakery is very much like an enchanted garden where there is a small water flow trickling through the casual dining area, with wildflowers and ferns creeping out of a mulched area here and there. The magical garden's (aka my bakery's) casual dining area is made of a smooth cobble-stone clearing where casual mosaic patio chairs and tables are waiting. The focus of this bakery is to provide the local community with fresh, made-from-scratch food, fair-trade coffee, and a relaxing natural environment... or as I have been calling it, a magical garden. In addition, the majority of workers here would be high school and college students; each of whom would be required to go through a real application and interview process since I strongly feel that many students are thrown into the real life interviewing process with little to no knowledge of what to expect and how to act. Lastly, I would ask the students working with me to learn and understand how to balance the business's finances. So there you have it- my glimmer and passion- my fantasy. A little bit of local, a little bit community, a bit more magic garden, and a lot of just plain indulgent sweetness (and yes, even healthy alternatives to go with those indulgences; after all, I am health focused).

So with such a vivid fantasy, how can I do anything but start to put it to life? Yes, I have indeed formed an advertising pamphlet, even business cards, for my "bakery". What I am truly excited for however, is designing the menu. Not only is this exciting because I like playing with my designing program, but also because the menu seems to set the mood for a place... and the menu, is where this blog comes into play. The menu must consist of only tried and true homemade recipes; I will not allow any sort of processed, pre-prepared, boxed or frozen "food" even into my kitchen. Of course I have some recipes which, thanks to my mom and grandmothers, I've grown up with, and other recipes which I have concocted myself... these will all undoubtedly be signature recipes on the menu.

But then there are the other recipes; those which I have wanted to try but have not gotten around to, those which require ingredients or utensils I do not (yet) own, and then there are those recipes which reside in the back of my mind, waiting for me to try them.... those recipes that are so tedious, daunting, and just plain scary that I just keep finding better things to do. This blog is to be a trial and error diary through my quest for the the perfected magical list that will someday define the mood of my fantastical bakery.