Retired from food career

[retired baker]

Hi there,

Born and raised in UK moved to US as a teen.

retired 3 yrs ago, moved out of the rat race to northern maine. ( Island Falls).

I started as apprentice to Maurice Leduc who came over from Paris in the early 1960's.

I stuck with him for over 10 yrs then worked around. Hotels etc.

Opened a French bakery for 20 yrs, then went into catering and sold out in 2012.

Had a lot of fun working around different places for a few more yrs until giving up my spatula.

I had a great career, no regrets and hope anyone else can stick with it til it becomes fun.

My casual observation is Americans are known for inventiveness and ability to network , these forums show that (OK capt obvious).

Although moses used a tablet to contact the cloud 2K yrs ago so...nothings really new.

 

Still playing in the dough and choc at home, putting videos on youtube for my sister in AZ.

Wish I could get fresh cake yeast up here and veal bones too.

 

 

[Smithy]

Welcome! You're right that this is a good place for exchanging information and encouraging cooks, bakers, drinks mixers, the lot.

 

This statement puzzles me a bit:

3 minutes ago, retired baker said:

...hope anyone else can stick with it til it becomes fun.

 

Are you suggesting that you spent all that time and didn't enjoy it? Or am I misreading somehow?

 

Please tell us more about Island Falls, Maine. No cake yeast available up there? How big / small is the place?

 

What sort of meals do you like to cook for yourself?

[Okanagancook]

Ditto what @Smithysaid and maybe you could link us to one of your Utube videos if you feel the inclination.

[kayb]

Welcome! Maine's a place I'd love to visit sometime.

 

[Tri2Cook]

Howdy. I'm one lottery win away from being retired from a food career... so I'll probably never get to use the "retired cook" user name. 

[eugenep]

I do remember how David Lebovitz wanted to retire as he got older; he said couldn't stand all day in the kitchen- too tiring. 

 

So he reinvented himself as a book author and it worked out well for him. 

 

I love taking classes on Coursera. Classes are taught by real college professors and you will get a certificate on completion to help you get a job ideally. Courses can be free if you apply for financial aid. See https://www.coursera.org/

 

I always felt sad that I never finished Calculus III and wanted to learn about computer languages etc 

 

I get my certificates for fun as a hobby on the weekends - always learning exploring and developing (hopefully)

Edited January 7, 2020 by eugenep (log)

[retired baker]

It can be difficult early on trying to get established.

 

Island falls is 50 miles south of caribou, 600 people, lots of Amish (very nice people btw)

I live next to a farmer who is a bit of a foodie but cant cook to save his life, I don't have the heart to tell him.

I feed him most of what I make , he's interested so I direct him to my videos , just simple stuff. I get free eggs and veg in return.

 Theres only one store but sells everything from milk and grocery to welding rods and bullets , no gun permits required here.

Houses are very cheap, we paid less than 50K with an acre that borders 130 miles of wild northern forest that is impossible to penetrate.

 

Being culturally a Brit I don't live to eat, I eat to live.  But I have a technical appreciation for sauces and good food.

Most of what I cook goes to the farmers family.

Recently I gave them a country pork and veal pate, chicken marsala, beef bourguignon, Danish, Viennese whirls,

macarons til they were sick of them ,truffles , pain de mie, tomato tart , apple tart, etc.

Made him half a doz canoli, he said he's never had them before. Dipped the ends in choc and ground pistaccios.

 

Heres an apple tart and sticky buns filled with pastry cream made using brioche.

At the beginning is a photo of me at 17 yrs of age with Maurice in his patisserie and some various pics of the stuff I later sold in Boston.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Welcome, @retired baker!  Looking forward to your posts and I also,would love to see a link to your videos.