melmck

I agree completely. Fricken crybabies! Oh there's a million people out there whose attitude is How dare you come to work sick, my life revolves around how dare you don't come to work unless bones are broken, blood is massively shed, etc....chianti, I'm afraid we are Old School. When I had food poisoning the other week, I still worked 6 hours a day before I broke down into a mass of quivering jello. I can get a lot done in between puking! (nice, I know) I still put out perfect product. only working six hours is calling in sick to me!!!

Valentine's was painful, physically. It was a great day for sales, I opened up on Monday, desserts only, and did a great business. Everything was particularly beautiful as I did a special menu which I posted a while back. And naturally, someone had to call in sick the 2 days before while I was slammed on the weekend, and trying to do this special menu. So, I worked and worked 19 hour days until it was done, I was a blithering idiot by VDay, could barely stand up and ring up sales on the register!! And the stuff was flying off the shelves, and I felt ill-prepared WHICH SUCKS I was rolling and baking heart shaped crap as fast as possible, and it was all dissaperaing. That does NOT suck. That thrilled me! Oh yeah and on top of special orders, there were 250 chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, all individually packaged, to go out as well. All this was done with me and 1 other person. My savory stuff is finally getting some attention- potato tortes, mini foccacia, quiches, bread puddings, and the lunch menu...good stuff.

well whudda ya know, Mel got her first sick days! Not fun however, due to food poisoning...no, not my own... it was actually impossible to work w/o barfing. Not cool. Monday I had a chocolate event for the Portland Culinary Alliance, featuring Dagoba organic chocolates. I was dreading it all day, I have been trying to get these dang Mondays off but so far it ain't been happening. Next week is Valentine.s But the event went smoothly, met lost of new faces and hopefully customers/supporters. And the items turned out well-- I was seriously struggling with the savory chocolate dish; I came up with seared beef tenderloin in chocolate sauce--(shallot garlic wine chipotle 74% choc, vinegar, s,p, )crumbled w/ cotija and pinenuts. It was actually quite good and I was pleased that everyone liked it. However if I am going to stay sane, I have to make the Monday thing happen. While I was sick, my minion had a taste of what it's like to be Mel. Poor dear, she was filled with murderous rage by the end of her day!!!

I wish I could boast a glam lifestyle! Maybe one day???? here's my Valentine's menu: Chocolate Chambord Pot du Crème bittersweet chocolate custard with raspberry liqueur and chantilly crème $4.75 each Chocolove heart shaped chocolate pavé with a crispy chocolate crust and extra-bittersweet glaze $5 small (1-2 ) $10 large (4-5) Raspberry and Passion Fruit Mousse Cake layers of genoise sponge cake, raspberry mousse, passion fruit mousse, and white chocolate petals $5 per slice $25 for a 6” square cake Pistachio Dacquoise pistachio meringue, bittersweet chocolate ganache, Morello cherry panna cotta $5 per slice $25 for a 6” round Fresh Citrus Tart blood orange & orange segments, and vanilla mascarpone in a butter tart crust $5 each $32 for a 9” tart

Hi all- what is being done out there in the world of savory chocolate items? I am doing a chocolate event, we are going to discuss/prepare savory chocolate dishes. Naturally I think of mole', and I put it in chili also, but that's as far as I've ever taken it. And after that my brain crashes, because everything else sounds too weird, unbalanced or a real stretch. So let's hear it from the masses!

Hello to all! Running a business when you have a migraine, BLOOOOWS!!! uuhhhck. Last night I seriously zested my knuckles in to the lemon teacakes. My husband said " Mel really puts herself in to her products!" blood, sweat, knuckles, whatever... I love my customers. There are so many cool people I have come to know in this area. Thanks 'citymama' for your support and for wearing the hat with the little bobbley-things all over it!!! My regular customers make my day. That and Maximus, my dog who misses me so much he goes into hyper-wag when I come home, and immediately wants to play toys. Or lately, 'potholder' I gave him a pot holder to shut him up from barking one day, and now it's like his baby! ridiculous. and Bramble just barks her big Newfy head off. I have been attemoting to take Mondays off, not very successful yet. Still work at least 3 hours. This Monday is a chocolate event with Dagoba, next week is Valentine's Day so I am going to open for that.

No I hadn't seen it, but I am sure there are many threads involving this topic. I have little time to even peruse forums other than pastry & baking as is. But I loved it, and the link to food routes.org. I am beginning to figure out a few things here-- where I live, in Portland, OR the beautiful Pacific Northwest, the whole local/seasonal/organic/bulk thing is simply a way of life for a majority. (Even Safeway, ALbertsons,Fred Meyer etc have 'Health food/organic" sections.) Then I go back east to visit the family, and go shopping, to see nothing OG unless it's a fancy-ass gourmet joint.Also, 4 mushrooms packaged on styrofoam with plastic wrap!! STYROFOAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!aaaaaccckkkkkk you're killin' me!!!!! why not just put the store right next to a landfill for convenience?? sheesh! you would think at least the manufacturers could use the cornstarch kind that melt in water....come on scientists, help us out!! anyway so I did some thinking, and if the concept of the importance of fresh/seasonal/local is new to you, chuck it in yer search engine and educate yourself. but then again, some people just don't care. that's the hard part. I have had this battle with my own family members, it is nothing new. I aim to educate them that potatoes do not come out of a box, peaches should not be hard as a baseball, nor melon, and tomatoes should not be pinkish-white. Fish should not be frozen, buy it fresh. Read the ingredients. Learn what all those looooong words are. crikey!

So I found this on a New Zealand website, sort of ironic. trying to get New Zealanders to buy their own stuff locally, """Buying local is an act of enlightened self-interest. How we spend our money, where we spend our money and what we buy with it are all decisions vital to the continued well being of our communities. Why buy local food: because this supports our growers and local economy; because fresh is best, and long distance transport increases time from farm to fork and reduces nutrient value; because fresh, locally grown produce hasn’t been fumigated with ozone-depleting methyl bromide on entry into New Zealand; because buying food produced in New Zealand instead of the ‘cheaper’ imported food reduces FOOD MILES, and hence the environmental cost of that food – the burning of fossil fuel and subsequent climate change effects and pollution makes garlic that travels 13,000 km from China very expensive ecologically; because many consumers don’t want local growers and industries undermined by ‘cheaper’ imported produce: the Chinese garlic has decimated our garlic growers; because of unnecessary biosecurity risks from, for example, importing fruit from fruit fly prone growing areas; because some countries use unacceptable animal practices from a welfare perspective, e.g. confining cattle to beef feedlots; because more pesticides are used on some exported products for quarantine reasons; because of concerns about microbiological contamination in countries about whose quality assurance systems consumers know nothing. """ that high speed world is also contributing to hello, The Ozone Layer!!! Lest we forget why-- we had an ice storm one day, and it was 65 degrees the next day??? I have been to farmer's markets in Raleigh (got butter/cheeses from an independent producer.yum!!)and many, many a roadside stand throughout the South where toothless old farmer's sell me the best things I've ever tasted.Come on acolytes of Alice Waters,, back me up here!!! I see both sides, as always. Just look at the tsunami disaster, and we realize the rest of the world needs to help others' with their basic livelihood. However we also need to support our local farmers, artisans and community. Balance would be the most fair compromise, and I suppose that is what I am trying to achieve. I started out in the bakery saying, "Oh yeah I want to do as much organic as possible, 100 % recycled paper everything." shhhheee--it that stuff is expensive! Now it's more like "give me the cheapest thing you got that wasn't actually touched by slaves"hmmmm slaves... that would help my labor problem! kidding.... Before I opened the bakery, I communicated with every major chocolate company to find out about their child labor policies/slavery/fair trade agreements. there are some things I will not skimp on, no way.I buy non-GMO products, non-irradiated, and I buy good flour. Bob's Red Mill, a local stoneground miller. Or Giusto's when I can't get Bob's. ahhhh ok here's where you will shout Hippocrite!!! damn you ! I have been getting amazing, and I mean amazing, butter from Chile through Peterson's. $1.80 a lb., versus $2.65 local. It's 82% butterfat, clarifies in an instant, and is maleable right from the hunk.(55#) My danish and croissant are tender/shatteringly crisp from it. and it's sooo yummy. I struggled with that one, butter from South America???how could I??? I watch the local prices to see, when will they drop back down??? helloooo?? they haven't!! damn Tillamook cows.... PS- I will always admit if I have been found to be talking out of my ass....

I made my husband go to the farmer's market on Saturdays to load up on a week's worth of stuff at a time,for the bakery. Remember the very beginning of this story, how I expressed that we do it all from scratch, as much as is humanly possible...we are so depressed November-May when the market is closed...sigh, grocery stores.... here's the good news!! Portland is soon to have a new, year round permanent market just like Pike Place Market in Seattle. It will be in Old Town off Ankeny Square and is the brainchild of my former boss, Ron Paul, who got out of this crazy biz and is now in the crazy biz...of politics, working for the city commissioner. I hope I can get space in there to hawk my goods, and become a part of it. That would make me soooo happy as I have always loved the vibe of Pike Place. Crisps, cobblers, dumplings, all that jazz, I love it. That's what I make (made, when I was there..)at home. "What eez thees shit??" yeah, Ted I've heard it plenty. Don't forget the sneer upon delivery! I loved looking at my Mom's old cookbooks when I was bratty little kid, seeing recipes/dinner menus from Martha Washington passed down through generations. ya know, thinking of Mom in this thread, and going back to the beginning of the story-- it must have all started with her. Mom goes to Georgia and the Carolinas to get her peaches, upstate New York for strawberries, Montana for Flathead cherries, comes to see me for berries and hazelnuts...Michigan for blueberries, and so on...I guess, ha ha, the fruit didn't fall far from the proverbial tree...

it's fun to discuss, right??? and cool to hear other people's point of view on such topics. I didn't mean to insult, Neil. The quality is visible. Glad to hear you are can-free.But I have indeed experienced blah bleecchh stuff that was out of season ANYWHERE in the world, just for the sake of having it. I would luuuuuv to come to Vegas and experience in person!! It looks awesome. If a preserved product is 100% insanely good, then I am all for it. Regional specialties from around the world, love it! Yeah, I pit my own cherries- well I have the dishwashers do it;blanch, peel my own stone fruits. Berries, right off the vines! OK I am a spoiled brat to have it all right here apples pears nuts berries wild mushrooms salmon venison lamb ummmmm good stuff. I am from the midwest also, and even then I only eat corn and tomatoes in peak season. My mom and I go to the Amish country, which is close, and load up on good stuff. Yeah, I have tried IQF, canned, convenience, you name it. So I am not poo-poohing what I haven't tried. That would be silly. I am a big one on doing side-by-side comparisons. Ask anyone who has ever worked with me! We taste, chew,discuss. And after all as I said before it is just my opinion. I love Boiron fruit purees, I buy the tropical ones, but I do my own berry thing when it's in season and load up for the coming months. Here is an intersting point--- last time I was in Hawaii, at a very fine restaurant, the meal was superb, but when I looked at the dessert menu I couldn't believe it-- heavy bread pudding, cheesecake, and chocolate mousse tortes. No papaya mango passionfruit pineapple macadamia nut guava etc. !!!!! whaaaaa??? Now that just made no sense to me at all.

I watched The Restaurant, once. I laughed my ass off the whole time! I'm not sure why- too surreal, too close to home, thank God I am not being filmed??? I have had only 2 minor temper tantrums, and that is after serious provocation. I haven't even had a good cry since opening. (British blood, stiff upper lip, etc.) I maintain my composure, which is why I was always a good line cook. Never let 'em see you sweat. Especially when you are the only woman on the line, and if they do see you sweat, well that means you are premenstrual!!! and once they know your weak spots, forget it. OK now for the next interesting topic that's been on my mind. I had some guys come in who have worked at NYC's most famous/reputable patisserie, bring me some things to sample. peach and pistachio something-or-other. My first thought is, 'where the hell did they get peaches?' ooooohhhhh yyeeaaahhhh, they used that canned shit. Sure it looked pretty but I didn't taste one gram of peach in there. Some really mushy fruit-type substance, but nary a peach. Next I look at the thread on Jean-Phillpipe Maury's new joint with the lovely pics, and I see strawberries and raspberries and ask the question again, 'where the hell did they get those berries?' aaahhh yesssss South America. My whole life in reading about the French way of life,cooking,eating, it all sounds like it is based on cooking with what is available at the market. go with your little basket each day and load up. And yet in all of these glossy photos from the patisseries, seasons do not seem to apply. I have had several customers come in and say, 'can I get a cherry pie?' to which I say'No, they aren't in season'. blank stares, because that shit comes from a can, right???? then I must explain that fruit doesn't come from cans, it is grown on trees, bushes,vines etc...and when the sun is shining brightly we get to eat them. The quince education is case in point, and this is where Alice Waters would be proud. Educate your customers/staff/family/friends. Then I suggest something else, not no way buddy you can't get a cherry pie so you're screwed, but try this lovely quince & apple galette instead. A huge can of worms indeed-- after all I can't get bananas, citrus, and pineapple grown locally, and apricots are the only fruit that seem to take well to the can. I am very spoiled to live and cook in the Pacific Northwest. We've got it all. In their own short seasons. But there is some part of me that just says no to tender fragile little raspberries from thousands of miles away, just for the sake of raspberries. I pay more attention to the news now, when I see hurricanes in Florida, I say aww crap now orange prices are going to double. When you try to explain this to customers, that you must raise prices, it's hard for them to swallow. Pecan crop also damaged during storms? $$$ now I think of the tsunami in SE Asia, and I think of the coffee crops. We are used to having everything nownownow at the tips of our fingers. These fingers are eagerly awaiting citrus then rhubarb then strawberries.... oh yum the grapefruits are here!!! Maybe I am full of it on this topic, or hippocrytical on where to draw the line on imported produce.and after all it is just my opinion. I have purveyors trying to sell me 'convenience' products all the time. and as a business owner now, I look at it and say , OK that would save labor indeed, but it tastes absolutley NOTHING like what it is supposed to. and that is where I draw the line.

Holy crap!!! 20,000 folks reading about me is so funny. Who knew??? Man, if I could write everything that's going on it would be even more interesting-- sex, drugs, passion, betrayal, restraining orders, weird interpersonal relationships, etc...also there's a guy who comes in who sits down and plays guitar. Never asked if he could, just plays, and jerks his guitar neck at the ladies. There's the guy in rainbow suspenders who comes in and loads the 'sample' platters down his gullet! The whold damn thing! The junkie who tells my counter staff that he has an 'account 'with me and he doesn't have to pay! I am never, ever bored.

you had me at duck fat. however I think because it congeals and doesn't remain fluid like oils, it might have a greasy mouthfeel after bread cools. croutons are baked super crisp so it's not really an issue. just my opinion.

cool I will check it out Brian. Pregel is DISGUSTING!!! tastes completely synthetic and is neon green, ooh doesn't that sound good?

I did, their website has too many bugs to communicate with them! (In Italy)

my distributor stopped carrying MEC3 pistachio paste. It is technically a gelato base, but I use it in many pistachio things.It is perfect mixed w/ fondant for my pistachio eclairs. I haven't found anything close to it, either it's neon green, dirt brown or tastes synthetic. The MEC3 is yummy. SO!! I need to find some and fast. Anyone know who is carrying it? links? help

"You need to find a Husband and friends like me and you, open a business together. That way you'll see them too much and complain you never get time alone, HA." yep, yep, and yep.....there's Being together and there's being Together... I'd like to be together with my couch, bed and TV alot more. Re-establish our relationship.

cg and I are clearly on the same page. now for my next can of worms...how does working like a freak of nature affect your marriage/partnership??? an issue I am struggling with currently. I have no time now for anyone, anything except bakery related biz. Haven't seen my friends for a year unless they come in. when I see my family, they too have to come in, I am a zombie. bluuhbluhbluh is about all I can express. I had another customer come in who has been reading this here blog, and she was very cool and we had a good chat. I said that sometimes I feel like I may be coming off as negative. I am a very optimistic person, but when you are whupped it is hard at times. She said she appreciated my raw style of expression, and I said , that's the whole point. There's no sheen of Apricot Glaze on this baby!!! I am wrting it like it is. I sure hope as we progress that I will be saying, we had to pry the cash register open with a crowbar, because it was too stuffed with 20's!!! Spent the majority of my week on the floor trying to relight pilot lights in my water heaters. They both died. $1500 later...better than $1900, anyway!. Now I can spend time doing what I need to do. Did I mention the ice storm, and replacing freezer door hinges for $350? or one employee in the hospital with heart problems, and another who busted her shoulder falling in the ice storm??? Fuckin' A.

this is why I buy lottery tickets!!!! I really do deserve to be rich. Damn you, Jean-Phillipe Maury!!!!

super cool. thanks for posting the pix. all I can say is, must be one hell of a mise en place!!! I hope it all sells out everyday and you don't have to deal too much with leftover/day old. The Rose Macaron would be my first pick to taste. I also wish I had millions of $$$ in financial backing!! The only fountains I have are from leaky, rotting plumbing . which will cost $1900 to fix. You are lucky to be in your situation. It is rare!!! Have fun with it !

HA HA HA HA!!! Isn't it ironic? I can always count on EG for a laugh!

Dear God why didn't I state the obvious choices before??? "The Dutch Oven" "The Fudge Packery"

January blooooows. It is painful and I am kicking everyone off the clock early. Saturday is still strong. All you dieters and pre-tax money savers, you'll be back by Valentine's Day!!!! bwahh ha ha you will be mine....

Stew Pedassle's Creamery Phat Harry's Nuggets

here's my bakery slant (things I thought of before opening) Eat Me Bite Me with a 2nd location, Lick Me!!!