Day 28 Update

Monique Burr- the biggest event to date

April has been a crazy whirlwind of a month. Layla's birthday was followed by Easter, followed by a wedding cake, and finally, the culmination of it all, the Monique Burr event. Monique Burr is an organization that advocates for abandoned and abused children. Every year, Roy's heads up an event called A Night in the Village. The parking lot is transformed into a "village" with lights, fences, trees, tables, a stage, etc and the businesses in our plaza open their doors for special treats and shopping with all the ticket and sales proceeds going to the Monique Burr Foundation. In the past, there has been approximately five hundred attendees. This is the biggest event I have prepared for to date. The stress level at work has been through the roof this last month. Event after event, combined with management vacations and conferences left us all on edge and the usual back of the house spirit was definitely a little more tense. I've been feeling the pressure. We began preparing for the event a couple of months ago. We determined the dishes and I created a detailed timeline to make sure everything was prepared in time. It all went off without a hitch. I didn't feel much stress as far as the actual dishes were concerned. My stress was definitely more of a social thing. Roy Yamaguchi himself attends this event, as well as many of the Executive Chefs of the Roy's on the East Coast. Back of the house is not very big, and having an extra five Chefs plus food to serve 500 people only makes the space that much smaller. I'm used to having the back of the house/pastry area mostly to myself, and many (influential) people were in my personal space. I did my best to grin and bear it, but I definitely needed a couple of Ativan to make it through.

The day of the event, I was prepping and Roy Yamaguchi walks around the corner. I have gloves on my hands since I am preparing ready to eat food. I have to make a split second decision. Do I shake his hand wearing a glove, or do I take off the glove and shake his hand with a sweaty, just-ungloved-so-kind-of-powdery hand. I opted for the ungloved handshake and as he walked away after a quick head nod and "nice to meet you", quickly face palmed myself. I just shook Roy Yamaguchi's hand...and my hand was gross and sweaty and powdery. I quickly shook it off and realized that he has definitely been in this business long enough to understand, and was thankful I was wearing the glove to begin with. My favorite dish of the night was my Kaffir Lime Curd Tarts with a Ginger Meringue and my Signature Sugar Cookie base. The idea for this was my own, and I love how they turned out.

We also had Cannolis stuffed with a Haupia (traditional coconut pudding) cannoli filling. Some had a brunoise of pineapple folded in, and some had chocolate shavings folded it.

Natane was in charge of the Ice Cream for the Teeny Tiny Ice Cream Cones. She made pistachio and nutella ice creams, and a blueberry sorbet. She spent most of the night in the freezer scooping ice cream. THAT is dedication.

Our final dessert was a Yuzu Pound Cake with Mirin Macerated Strawberries and a Basil Whipped Cream. It was a new take on Strawberry Shortcake and went over very well.

Overall, the event couldn't have gone any smoother. I learned quite a bit and am proud of the success of the event. I'm extremely glad that it is over for the year, however. Now that I have done one of these events, I have a better idea going into the next one what to expect.

19 days into my 90 Day Challenge

Today is day 19 of my 90 Day Challenge. My brother is getting married in October and I found this amazing dress that I fell in love with and would be perfect for the occasion.

Marc said to go ahead and order it. I did, and ordered a size 10. It was the only size they had left. It came on day two of the challenge and I couldn't zip it. Not a single inch. I was disappointed, but hopeful because it gave me a more tangible goal than a number on a scale which can be deceiving. I tried it on a few times in the last 19 days and today...well... TODAY:

I'm so friggin' excited!! It wasn't very easy to zip, but if it didn't zip AT ALL 19 days ago, I know in a few more days it will zip right up without a struggle. I'm already down a pants size, too, and the scale showed a 5 lb loss on Tuesday. We will see what it says in two days on THIS Tuesday.

I've always been skeptical of this kind of product because I get REALLY crabby when my blood sugar gets low, I feel deprived of food, and/or am hungry. I haven't felt ANY of that with this!! It's been so amazing! These shakes taste SOOOOOO good (my favorite is the butterfinger- literally tastes like a butterfinger) and, being a pastry chef, it doesn't deprive me of "dessert" because it's like I'm drinking dessert two meals a day!

If you want more information, go watch this six minute video. It tells you way more about it than I ever could.

Wedding Cake

Last Wednesday, I was informed that I had a wedding cake to create for the 14th. The person they were communicating with was in Germany, and the only information I was getting was through the person who plans the parties for our restaurant. I secured some basic information, but it boiled down to them just trusting me to come up with something. They wanted a round, two tier with no separation, vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and fondant. Their colors are blues, but we didn't have a sample of WHICH blues. They are getting married on the beach, then coming the short distance to Roy's for their reception. I had a photo of the bride's bouquet.

I browsed online and in cake magazines. This is someone's wedding cake. I wanted it to be special and perfect for their big day. I found a cake that I gathered inspiration from, drew up a sketch, and went from there. The hardest part was that I had to rely on others to secure the cake base and flowers. It's hard to let that kind of responsibility go to others when the end result has your name on it. It all worked out, though!

I had so much FUN doing this cake. It went smoothly, I had good quality fondant to work with which makes things so much easier, and I had space to work. I can't wait until the next one!

Chocolate Painting

Marc and I ADORE TacoLu- a local eatery in Jax Beach that seriously has the best tacos around!!! My favorite is the avocado taco, I think. We go there fairly regularly, so when I heard that the owner, Don, was in with his family to celebrate his birthday at Roy's, I knew something special needed to be done. The signature artwork around TacoLu is the day of the dead skull. I saw a piece of artwork hanging there that I really loved, so I snapped a pic of it on my phone the last time we were there.

I pulled it up and did a loose interpretation of it on his birthday plate in chocolate. I wasn't able to get any pictures, but he did and posted them all on Facebook!

I was so glad he did! This is just one more reason I love my job and makes it get more amazing every day!

Rango Cake

A friend from school and work approached me about making a cake for his daughter's fourth birthday. The theme was Rango, which I had never seen before. When I went to research the movie, I was a little surprised at the main character.

My friend said that it could be simple, with Rango piped in buttercream. "It's for a FOUR year old. I'm sure whatever you do will be fine." I thought and thought about how I was going to pull this character off until I had a lightbulb moment! I wish I had taken pictures ALL the way through the process. I have a few more but I can't get them off my phone at the moment.

I decided to pipe a circle out of royal icing, flood it, and let it dry. Then I piped and flooded the outline of Rango. Next came the eyes, and then his lizard-y texture. I piped tons of small dots to give him his bumpyness. Then I piped the details on his outfit and his hat. Once all this was dry, I began painting. I had several colors of luster dust and a shimmery silver that I was able to mix with some of the plain colors to give his skin a slightly shiny finish. I was able to blend colors easily with the luster dust. I was able to produce shading for his hat and neck. It was SO MUCH FUN! Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy making cakes. Then I slid the circle onto a giant spatula and onto the cake.

Here is the recipient blowing out her candles.

90 Day Challenge

Since I began culinary school in January 2010, I have gained about 15 lbs. I've been meaning for a long time to write a post about the struggle of staying healthy in the culinary industry, especially as a pastry chef, but didn't really know where to start or what to say. I think I will start at the beginning.

I've always "struggled" with my weight. People from the outside might have thought that was silly. I thinned out in high school, I realize looking back, but I didn't really feel like I "fit in" with all the stereotypes. The social pressures are very real. I was 5' 10" and always felt giant next to the tiny girls running around my school. I wanted so badly to exercise, but didn't have guidance. I wanted to run, but the only place I was allowed to go was the very hilly driveway. I didn't have to motivation to suck it up and run this. I wanted to join the swim team, but the pool was at a different location and it was too far to drive with my parents' busy working schedules and my autistic brother.

After graduation, I got my driver's license and that summer I walked in my best friend's neighborhood every night. It was a mile around and we would walk it 2-3 times every single night when I got off work. I lost quite a bit of weight and I literally wasn't trying. I got down to 155 lbs, the smallest I think I've ever been, and a size 8. Over time I gained the weight back and then some.

When I got pregnant with my first daughter, I weight 165-170. I gained FIFTY POUNDS throughout my pregnancy, scarfing down ice cream and any other treats I could get my hands on. I was also extremely anxious since I had miscarried previously, and basically just sat around doing nothing.

I lost a little after I had Harmony, but weighed around 205 when I got pregnant with my second daughter, Layla.

I refused to gain fifty pounds this time around, and ended up losing 13 from morning sickness during my first trimester. Overall, I only gained 26 pounds throughout the pregnancy.

After I had Layla, I started jogging at the 6 week mark. At first I couldn't even do two "poles" on the baseball field. My husband motivated me to keep going, and after running at least five days a week, eating healthy, and breastfeeding for several months, I got down to 160 lbs!!! I felt fantastic. I looked fantastic.

Then I started culinary school. Life got busy. I managed to maintain running at least 3x a week all the way until the last two quarters. I started working. I stopped working out pretty much all together. I was tasting all the pastries at work. I was tasting rich foods at school. I was sliding backwards.

I am now four months post graduation. I am up to 180 lbs. I am a size 10/12. Something has to change. I know several friends who have participated in the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge. They lost weight and have kept it off. I am giving it a shot. I am on day 4. I am replacing two meals a day with the Visalus Shake Mix that tastes like cake mix. On days I work, I am having a shake for breakfast and dinner because I hardly ever have time to eat those meals anyways. Marc and I have lunch together- usually grilled chicken and veggies. I've had an apple pie shake, strawberry pineapple, strawberry cheesecake, and peanut butter cup. They are delicious and I can't wait to try more. In between each meal you are SUPPOSED TO SNACK on healthy things- like strawberries, pineapple, nuts, lowfat yogurt, etc. This helps ALOT.

I'm interested to see how it works without exercise, so this first week I am not exercising. I will start jogging again in week 2. I am so embarrassed to post my before pictures, but I feel it is a necessary evil. I need the motivation. I will be taking 30, 60, and 90 day photos, as well. My 90 day goal is 15 lbs. I feel comfortable at 165 and after that, we will see how I am feeling. I will be keeping you posted!