And then a year later...

I'm back again!  Sporadic, I know.  It's been a crazy year, with the birth of my daughter and everything.  Here's a recap of what's been going on since her birth last year...

Towards the end of my maternity leave, I was faced with a difficult decision:  whether to stay at my current job at the five-star hotel as a part-time, or find a different part-time job.  I just knew that, come December, there is NO WAY for me to get away working part-time at the hotel.

As chef-de-partie, I was responsible for keeping all the pastries at La Bonne Vie stocked, as well as preparing all the pastries for the High Tea.  During the month of December, pastries (especially macarons) fly off the shelf.  Seriously.  On several occasions, after getting back to the kitchen from delivering the pastries and the macarons to the shop (takes about 10 minutes round rip), we would get a call from them, asking for more because they just sold out.  Sometimes it would be a single customer purchasing the entire show case.  On average, my shift lasted 10~12 hours, every single day.  That would mean that I would be away from my 6-month old baby for possibly 14 hours.
As much as I loved working at the hotel, this was NOT acceptable.

So I started searching fora part-time pastry chef positions.  Miraculously, I found one: a part-time pastry chef position that paid way more than the hotel!  I couldn't believe it at first... but I decided to give it a go.  After updating/revamping my resume (which hasn't been touched in the last three years), I submitted my application.  I got a call for an interview the very next day!  After the most fun interview I've ever had, they informed me that they will contact me later for the verdict.  That evening, they called and told me I got the job!

And that is how, with much reluctance, I resigned my position at the hotel.  It was an amazing three years, full of tears, frustrations, and hardships, as well as gaining valuable experience, knowledge, and friends.  On to new adventures!!

Pregnancy as a pastry chef recap II

So things got a bit crazy back in May.  The baby was supposed to be due June 11, but at the 36-week appointment with the doc, I was told that the baby was very small for her gestation age.  So small, in fact, that if not induced within the next week or so, could potentially result in stillbirth (...!!!).

Imagine our alarm upon being informed that the baby that we were expecting in three weeks turned out to be arriving in three days! My husband and I had to scramble to get some last minute shopping and prepping done for the baby, including calling my mother-in-law to tell her what's going on (she was planning on flying over when the baby arrives to help us out).

As for me, I had to rush to the HR at work to change the start/end dates on my application for maternity leave. After all that's done, I spent the weekend relaxing with my husband and his mother to prep my body for the labor. I checked in at the hospital Sunday evening May 22.  They started the induction process that night, which should result in the baby being delivered the next morning.

Well, few hours into it, around midnight, the contraction started.  And it hurt.  Like a horrible, horrible menstrual cramp.  I was planning on going au natural, no pain meds, vaginal childbirth, but the pain was so bad that I finally caved in asked for an epidural...and glad I did in the end.  I was fully dilated by 6 AM, at which I point I called my husband (who had gone home for the night) to come back to the hospital ASAP.

A few minutes later, I noticed that the line on the screen monitoring the baby's heart rate suddenly dipped. Immediately, I knew something was wrong, and my worry was confirmed when the nurses started scrambling around, asking where my doctor was (she was apparently still on her way); even with my epidural-fogged mind, I could still sense the panic in the room. That's when one of the nurses said, "We are taking you into the O.R."

...O.R...?  The... Operating...Room.?? 

I asked what was going on.  The nurses told me that the baby wasn't tolerating the contractions, which caused her heart rate to drop...which meant that they will have to get the baby out quickly, i.e. emergency C-section.   They rushed me to the OR, gave me anesthesia...and my mind quickly drifted off elsewhere.  All I remember was the overhead lights swirling into this marbled liquid silver that spanned my whole view...and someone caressing my head (it was my husband).  I couldn't see or feel what was going on down there, which was probably a good thing. Unfortunately, my husband arrived just in time to see me on the operating table with my blood all over the floor while the doctors quickly stapled up the gaping incision on my belly...and while other doctors frantically resuscitated the purple, limp baby.  She wasn't breathing at first, but after the resuscitation, she started breathing on her own and managed to avoid the NICU.

It was several hours later that I woke up and finally got to see my baby. Yeah, I ended up missing that skin-to-skin immediately after birth 😞  I also couldn't have her with me in my room, since she had to be monitored in the special care unit.  But what really broke my heart was when we had to leave her  at the hospital due to her prolonged jaundice when I got discharged.  To come home to an empty crib... the blankets spread out but no baby to swaddle... I can't even imagine what the parents of babies that died at the hospital have to go through.

After a lot of phototherapy (the "tanning bed") she finally got over her jaundice and slowly but surely, started gaining weight and strength.

We were off to a rocky start, but she is now a healthy, happy baby!

Pregnancy as a pastry chef recap I

I made a mention of my pregnancy very, very briefly back in December, and haven't really had the time (or the energy) to recap anything about it.

But I gotta tell ya...being pregnant and working in the kitchen kinda sucks, not to mention dangerous, for the following reasons:

• The kitchen workers are required to wear non-slip shoes for a reason (perpetually wet floor of the dish pit, occasional oil spills, and walk-in freezer floor that has turned into an ice rink, etc.); my doctor was telling me to exercise extra caution not to fall, and here I was, surrounded by potential slip/fall hazard everywhere.

• The fatigue during the first few months sapped energy and strength from my limbs, which made it more difficult than usual to fold macaron batter, chocolate mousse, and basically anything that requires hand mixing.  A small batch wouldn't have been a problem, but we go through the products so fast I usually end up needing to make triple batches.  Which can be a massive amount, weighing...oh goodness, I don't know...anywhere from 7 to 20-lbs, maybe??

• A few months into the pregnancy, my doctor also cautioned me against lifting anything heavier than 25-lbs.  Ha.  All our flours and sugars come in these industrial-sized 50-lbs bags that I was able to lift without any problem pre-pregnancy.  I had to constantly ask for help lifting heavy things;  and--I love my co-workers--pretty much everyone was super supportive and more than willing to help.  As a matter of fact, they flipped if they saw me carrying anything that looked remotely heavy (like a big empty box).  But...ahem...I would often ignore doctor's orders.  I just felt bad;  I didn't want to interrupt them when they were busy with a task, just to carry a bag of flour.  So I ended up carrying more heavy loads than I probably should have.  There was this one time I lifted a 60-QT mixer bowl from the floor to the table--and ten minutes later, I started feeling some really bad pain in my lower abdomen, sort of like a horrible menstrual cramp, which was definitely NOT a good sign.  I had to sit down for 15 minutes before it finally went away.  I would've gone to the hospital had it continued longer.

• ...And anyone who has ever worked in the culinary field knows that this is no desk job.  You are on your feet pretty much the entire shift--the shift that can last anywhere from the regular 8 hours to 12 hours depending on the season.  I was 3 months pregnant during the month of December.  Yeah, the busiest month of the year and I was 3 months pregnant.  Luckily, my nausea happened at night and not in the morning, but the fatigue, pregnancy brain fog, and swollen legs made working a lot more hellish.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, my ankles looked like a mild case of elephantiasis, and the tops of my feet felt...jiggly, from the excess fluid that accumulated, both from the pregnancy and being on my feet constantly.  Pressure socks helped only a little bit.

But possibly the worst part about being a pregnant pastry chef?  Carpal tunnel. OMG.

As a pastry chef, you will be doing a LOT of pipe work (i.e. piping frosting, macarons, etc.), which involves repeatedly squeezing your hands, over and over and over and over....  Since the macarons were in high demand, I was making at least a double batch every single day.  A single batch makes about 284 shells, which translates to 284 hand squeeze per batch. In other words, I was squeezing my hands 568 times a day, everyday...and that's JUST with the macarons, not including all the cakes I decorated and chocolate mousse cups I prepared.  The extra body fluid that accumulated from pregnancy aggravated the stress on my wrist, and during the last two months of pregnancy, I would wake up everyday with my wrist in excruciating pain.  Thankfully, it went away after a month devoid of any piping.  Yes, I took full advantage of my 12-week maternity leave when I had my baby, to rest my body well-worn from work and unexpected C-section.  More on that later.

So if you're a pastry chef and found out you're pregnant...first of all, a big congratulations!  Second, you may be pleasantly surprised by how supportive your coworkers are, so don't be afraid to ask for help, especially with heavy lifting.  You will need the help of your team more than ever. Third, try not to do heavy pipework too often.  Every now and then is OK;  and even if you do end up getting carpal tunnel, rest assured, it's probably nothing permanent.

Being pregnant and working in the culinary is quite challenging...but in the end, it's all worth it. 😃

More of the Summer's Bounty

After processing the massive amount of apricots that I got from my neighbor's tree, my attention turned to the other summer produce--white peaches.

They were being sold for $0.50 a pound at Sprouts (one of my fav grocery stores) which was a great deal.  The growing/harvest season for white peaches are apparently pretty narrow compared to yellow peaches, so I couldn't resist buying some after seeing these guys on sale.

I bought just 2 pounds--we were running out of room in our freezer, so I didn't want a whole lot of fruit that I had to process.  At home, I halved and pitted them, then poached them in sugar syrup with Amaretto til they were just tender.  Poaching preserves them and enhances their flavor.

Now what to do with these (other than eating them straight out of the jar)?  Probably a dessert that will highlight the white peach's rather delicate flavor.  A pie or a tart would be perfect for that!
I decided to make a frangipane tart;  there is a 1-lb slab of almond paste sitting in my freezer that I've been wanting to use for something, but haven't had the chance to.

After making a tart dough and lining tartlet pans with it, I let it chill in the fridge while I prepped the frangipane.  It sounds like a fancy French word, but it's super simple to make:

Almond Paste	8 oz
Sugar	1 oz
Butter, softened	3.5 oz
Eggs	2
Vanilla extract	½ tablespoon
Flour	0.75 oz

1.  In a bowl of a stand mixer (hand held mixer will work also) blend almond paste with the sugar on low speed til creamy.

2.  Gradually add the softened butter in small amounts at a time, to prevent lumps.

3.  Add eggs one at a time, and mix on medium speed til fluffy.

4.  Mix in the vanilla and the flour.

It should have the consistency of a very smooth, soft pudding.

I piped an even layer of the frangipane into the tart shells.  After cutting up the fruit--they can be cut any way as desired--I laid them carefully on the frangipane.

The fruits don't need to be pushed in.  The filling will puff up around them, making them sink a bit.
Bake them at 375F for about 20~25 minutes...

...until they are a lovely golden hue.  Once cooled, they were brushed with a bit of the apricot syrup to keep them moist, and also shine and color.

A simple dusting of powder sugar gives them an elegant look.  The fruity tang of the apricot and the peaches are enhanced with the creamy, almond-y frangipane, which matches beautifully with the buttery tart crust.

Summer's Bounty

Geez, I can't believe summer is half over.  Heck, the year is half over!

I must say that this is my favorite season;  I love the variety and the abundance of fresh produce, the hallmark of summer.

The abundance and availability of crops differ each year.  For example, corn may be plentiful in one year and be scarce (i.e. due to a drought) the next.  This summer, it was apparently a superb year for the apricot crop.

Now, for the past several years, I remember the apricot tree in my parent's yard producing only a mere handful--if even that--of fruit every year.  It would flower magnificently, its robust blossoms turning the branches into white pom pom chains. But alas, right after the bloom, something would always happen to thwart the pretty flowers from ever developing into golden fruits.  Sometimes it would be a violent wind storm that stripped the flowers off the branches before the bees got the chance to pollinate them.  Sometimes it would be an unexpected blizzard that froze the delicate blooms off.  And other times, the blossoms would develop into fruits, but again, a strong wind or a hail storm caused many of them to drop before they're ripe, littering the ground.

But this year, the apricot tree everywhere has succeeded in producing a good crop.  So much, so that several of my neighbors are asking people to please take the fruits that their trees produced--for free, because there's just so much of it.  Wow, I think it's been like, a decade since I've seen such good harvest!

One of my neighbor has an apricot tree, its branches heavy with fruit.  Not only that, the driveway was covered with the fruits that had fallen;  a pretty sad sight to behold.  Day after day, I passed his house during my morning walks, expecting him to at least clean up the driveway.  But it seemed as though he had no intention of picking the fruits whatsoever.  On a few occasions, I summed up the courage to knock on his door (I've never met this guy btw) and ask if I could pick some, but he was never home.  Finally, after a few days during my walk, I was just about to meander over to his door when he, by sheer coincidence, drove up and parked in the garage.  I went up to him to ask for his permission to pick the apricots.  His response?

"YEEEESSS!  Please take as many as you want!"

...Hell yes.

So I stuffed the plastic bags I had with the fruits as much as I can carry.

When I got home, I weighed my stash...

Wow...5.9 kilos.  That's about 13 lbs of apricot right here, which is heavier than my 2-month old baby (she's about 8 lbs). 

Now what's a pastry chef to do with all these apricots??  Well, we have quite a few options here.

First up, jam/preserves and compote.

I ended up with five jars of jam and three quarts of compote, two of which I froze and the one of which I used to make this lovely coffee cake...

Studded with apricot compote, drizzled with amaretto sugar glaze.  I served these for after worship treats at my church.

For the compote, you would want to use a fairly firm fruit that's not too ripe.  Otherwise they won't be able to tolerate the hot sugar syrup and potentially disintegrate during the cooking process.  The ripe ones are perfect for purees and just eating it straight.  Most of the fruit I picked were pretty ripe, so I ended up pureeing and freezing a lot of them, flattened in freezer bags.  I didn't add any sugar to the purees, since I plan on feeding them to the baby once she get started on solid foods in a few months.

...And the last thing I made with the apricots?  Sorbet, of course.  To my knowledge, there is no manufacturer that sells apricot sorbet, which means that the only way to have it, is to make it.

There are definitely ups and downs, but I plan on making the most out of my maternity leave!

New Pastries at La Bonne Vie: Royaltines & Big Macs

One criteria for being a good manager/supervisor is his/her proficiency in the field.  

A good supervisor should be able to give technical guidance, as well as train employees in new skills and expand their knowledge.  Having a supervisor/boss who has several decades of training and experience in the field makes the job exponentially more enjoyable and worthwhile.  I definitely learn something new everyday (pretty much).

One of the pastries that my boss showed me how to make is Royaltine.  Simply put, it's a pastry that has crispy feuilletine in some form or another as one of its components.

Dark Royaltine: crispy praline feuilletine bottom with chocolate cremeux top layer.  Finished with mascarpone cream.  There's also the White Royaltine, where white chocolate mousse is used instead of the cremeux.  It's a very decadent dessert.

  

La Bonne Vie pastry lineup (from the back): Brest, Dark Royaltine, Caramel Mousse Bars, and Flourless Chocolate Pave.

The Chocolate Pave is also one of the pastries my boss introduced to the menu as a gluten-free option.  Flourless chocolate cake is layered with chocolate mousse for a not-too-sweet but decadent dessert.

Ispahan Macaron: Lychee ganache, raspberry confit, and fresh raspberries in macaron shells.  I refer to these types of pastries as "Big Macs" because...well, the main component is a pair of large (about 3" in diameter) macaron shells.  My boss tends to do "copycat" items from various pastry chefs in France.  This particular one is by Chef Pierre Herme.

Spring-Fling Macs: My own creation.  Lemon curd, blueberry confit, fresh blackberries.  The shells were leftovers from a banquet tasting.  We like to use random extra pastry components, which cuts down waste and allows us to experiment.

New Pastries at La Bonne Vie: Tarts

I love tarts.  To be exact, I love making tarts/tartlets.  Just throwing that out there.

Not gonna lie, I've never liked pies as much as I do tarts, both in making them and eating them.

There's just something about tarts that I adore.  Maybe it's their sophisticated, sharp lines.  Maybe it's the vastness of their possible designs, shapes, and flavor combos that are limited only by one's imagination.  Or maybe it's just because they're so darn cute and pretty.

So not surprisingly, when Chef told me to come up with new pastries for La Bonne Vie, I ended up making tarts.

There are a few more, but these are our most popular ones so far.

Nutella Pyramid: Nutella mousse with salted caramel cremeux insert, on chocolate tart shell filled with crispy praline feuilletine.  This is actually a tart version of the Whiskey Hazelnut Dome I made in school and for my Chef de Partie tasting.  Nutella fans, rejoice.

Blueberry Tart: Tart shell filled with vanilla pastry cream, topped with generous mound of blueberries. Finishing with apricot glaze and edible blue luster powder gave it a metallic sheen, making them look like a mound of black pearls.  So pretty!

Hazelnut-Raspberry Tart: Chocolate tart shell filled with Nutella cream, topped with fresh raspberries and hazelnuts.  I thought that the Nutella and raspberries seem like an odd pairing;  until I worked the crepe station at a banquet one day.  While there, I've noticed that more than half the guests asked to have their crepes filled with Nutella and raspberries, a combination which I found weird.  Turns out that it's actually quite tasty.

Tiramisu Tart (on the left): This is our most popular tart.  Tiramisu mousse (mascarpone mousse spiked with Kahlua and rum), with a thin sponge soaked in coffee syrup inside, on tart shell filled with chocolate cremeux.  One of the sales girls commented that this one is her favorite, because she LOVES anything coffee.

Culinary field is an extremely demanding career, both physically and mentally.  The hours are mercilessly long, all of which, for the most part, is spent standing up, while doing rigorous tasks that can potentially cause joint damage.  We are under the constant scrutiny of health inspectors, food critics, and guests/customers, who are more than happy to criticize the smallest mistakes or flaws in our product.  But it's positive comments like these that gives those working in the culinary the strength to keep going, that make working in such conditions worth it.