How was YOUR day?

[Teri Everitt]

It's a tiring time of year to be pastry bitch! It's crazy busy at work, cranky co-workers, rude customers......phone ringing off the hook, people calling up and not getting the concept that Christmas ordering was cut off Monday at closing time and that they will have to come in and choose from what's in the front case since they didn't bother to order their buche de noel earlier and NO we won't put one aside for them.............

Oh, and the day started off with the building next door being evacuated because of a "suspicious" package. We just kept on working with the street closed off by the police and all the workers from the evacuated building in the bakery and bistro for lunch, coffee, croissants etc.

Enough about me..........how was YOUR day?

[Teri Everitt]

Wow......I wasn't actually hoping anyone had a worse day than me, really. Feel free to share even if you don't work in a restaurant/hotel/bakery etc. Lots of businesses are crazy this time of year.

It was really more absurd than bad, and we were all laughing about it........even the bomb scare thing (although it was nervous laughter).

Best part of yesterday: One of my co-workers got tired of the radio station on in the front which was playing the Gypsy Kings seemingly forever....so he changed the station and the radio was just randomly playing Christmas in New York by the Pogues.

Worst part of yesterday: Having the front staff ask me if there are brazil nuts in the fruit cakes (there are) and hearing the customer say "Oh, well they look lovely...I'll just buy one and see if I have a reaction."

I didn't realize these nut allergy people liked to live on the edge like that!

[pastrymama]

Thanks for the laugh about the nut allergy people. I work in a private golf club, the members are all extremely rich. The one day of the year that we are closed is Christmas Day. They are now complaining that they pay over $280,000 dollars to join and why isn't the club open on Christmas. Don't they think we would like to be with our families. We work so hard to accomodate all their weird requests every other day. I don't understand why they are grateful for all they have and have a little heart towards others.

[Teri Everitt]

Thanks for the laugh about the nut allergy people.  I work in a private golf club, the members are all extremely rich.  The one day of the year that we are closed is Christmas Day.  They are now complaining that they pay over $280,000 dollars to join and why isn't the club open on Christmas.  Don't they think we would like to be with our families.  We work so hard to accomodate all their weird requests every other day.  I don't understand why they are grateful for all they have and have a little heart towards others.

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I work for a small business and we are closed for Christmas AND Boxing Day and my boss is very family friendly. I also don't get too many weird requests most of the time, but this is only my second year there, before that I worked the previous Christmas at a hotel (crippling volume to deal with but NO contact with customers) and in wholesale supplying restaurants for the 3 years before that (NO contact with the public at all).

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of paying $280,000 for anything.........or even HAVING $280,000! Hope you had a good Christmas Pastrymama! I knew there had to be other people around here with frazzed nerves and sore feet!

[jsolomon]

I burnt two pans of potato-bread cinnamon rolls destined for my families Christmas dinner. GRRRRR! I must now start secretly plotting the demise of the Caloric brand oven.

[rooftop1000]

My first year not working in food service....aaaahhhh

tracey

[petite tête de chou]

Is Christmas the most difficult season for folks in the pastry and baking service? I'm kinda guessing that it is but I would think that Easter and Valentines day would have their fair share of stress, too.

[srhcb]

I baked some pumpkin/chocolate chip and pumpkin/raisen-nut mini-loaves.

That was about the only part of my day that went right!

SB (dealing with GF's daughters dog "going to sleep", and moving parents into assisted living facility)(oh, and selling a restaurant for a friend who owes me a lot of money.)

[Curlz]

I'm definitely not a baker, but for the holidays, I always feel like I should, so I do, and then I'm wishing I had made containers of soup or whole chickens for everyone instead. I'm in awe of what you all do! My worst/best was telling my family about the 'eh' cookies that I had made (and brought) and having my bro bite in to one and saying "Um, Ev? I think you undersold these! They're delicious!" THAT put a smile on my face!

But don't get me started on having to shop for and drag the contents of dinner for 9 to their place and having to do all of the work in their cramped, hot, under- NO, make that p*ss-POORLY stocked kitchen (that includes utensils and ingredients). GRRR.

[FlourPower]

Is Christmas the most difficult season for folks in the pastry and baking service? I'm kinda guessing that it is but I would think that Easter and Valentines day would have their fair share of stress, too.

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Definitely Christmas. People are usually pretty nice around Thanksgiving but by Christmas a small but very vocal percentage turn into raving assholes in need of a twenty minute beating with a tire iron.

Another thing that adds to the stress is people's inability to plan. Despite the fact that 90% of the population has cell phones strapped to their hip they're unable to call ahead and order. And when it comes to baking you can't just whip out an extra cake or make it "special" without some notice. Baking takes time. People leave a lot of things for the last minute at Christmas.

Valentine's Day and Easter can be stressful but people aren't near as mean as they are when it's close to Christmas.

I think part of it is all the emphasis that's put on making Christmas perfect. So even if Uncle Charlie shows up drunk, grandpa's belligerant and the kids are screaming and yelling, "at least the turkey was moist/cake was good/there was plenty of food." Nostalgia is really just a longing for a time that never existed, and few holidays are more nostalgic than Christmas.

[Teri Everitt]

Is Christmas the most difficult season for folks in the pastry and baking service? I'm kinda guessing that it is but I would think that Easter and Valentines day would have their fair share of stress, too.

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I think for cooks, Mother's Day has to be the most hellish shift of the year. For retail bakeries, the week preceding Christmas seems to be worst, but Valentine's Day is also not much fun if it happens to coincide with Winterlude here.

Edited December 27, 2005 by Teri Everitt (log)

[mckayinutah]

I've probably got everybody beat.

On Tuesday, while sitting around waiting for some chocolate cream cakes to set up before cutting for a party of 200 ( a total of 13 cakes - party starts at 3:00 in one of our banquet rooms that you need to drive to), the Banquet chef comes running into my office ( at 11:00 AM ) yelling, " There's something wrong with your cakes, they taste really salty!" What? So I go to taste the cream on the cakes and you guess it, salty.

Someone had put salt in my sugar bin! So now I have these chocolate cakes that need to be redone, and did I mention, a party that required 4 of the same cakes that were cut and ready to go already, also need to be redone ( Party starts at 12:15!)

Luckily I had 4 chocolate cakes baked and I quickly filled and decorated them

( and then put in the freezer to set up as quickly as possible ), but now needed to make 13 more chocolate cakes, bake ( which takes 45 minutes ) cool in the freezer, cut, assemble ,and set up enough to cut by 2:30 ( banquet chef needs to have food at functions 1/2 hour before party starts at the latest. ) Well, I "rigged it" as a chef I used to work for would say, and got them cut and ready at 2:30 on the dot.

Did I also mention that the ganache I use to make my chocolate cream had salt in it? Also had to remake 6- 10" white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes that my pastry cook had made, salt in them as well.

This happened on Tuesday and I still do not know how this happened. Needless to say I now taste the sugar in the bin EVERY SINGLE TIME I need some.

Jason

P.S. My staff of 3 was already gone for the day so I had to redo everything by myself.

[Teri Everitt]

I've probably got everybody beat.

On Tuesday, while sitting around waiting for some chocolate cream cakes to set up before cutting for a party of 200 ( a total of 13 cakes - party starts at 3:00 in one of our banquet rooms that you need to drive to), the Banquet chef comes running into my office ( at 11:00 AM ) yelling, " There's something wrong with your cakes, they taste really salty!" What? So I go to taste the cream on the cakes and you guess it, salty. 

Someone had put salt in my sugar bin! So now I have these chocolate cakes that need to be redone, and did I mention, a party that required 4 of the same cakes that were cut and ready to go already, also need to be redone ( Party starts at 12:15!)

Luckily I had 4 chocolate cakes baked and I quickly filled and decorated them

( and then put in the freezer to set up as quickly as possible ), but now needed to make 13 more chocolate cakes, bake ( which takes 45 minutes ) cool in the freezer, cut, assemble ,and set up enough to cut by 2:30 ( banquet chef needs to have food at functions 1/2 hour before party starts at the latest. ) Well, I "rigged it" as a chef I used to work for would say, and got them cut and ready at 2:30 on the dot.

Did I also mention that the ganache I use to make my chocolate cream had salt in it? Also had to remake 6- 10" white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes that my pastry cook had made, salt in them as well.

This happened on Tuesday and I still do not know how this happened. Needless to say I now taste the sugar in the bin EVERY SINGLE TIME I need some.

Jason

P.S.  My staff of 3 was already gone for the day so I had to redo everything by myself.

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I am completely at a loss for words............what a horrible experience for you. Makes me feel a little guilty for having all of next week off. Hope that NEVER happens to you again.

We had a co-op student named Bruno who did the same thing with the jaconde cake and some orange curd. I came in and the jaconde was really thin and firm and just looked "wrong" so I tasted it, then I had to go and taste everything made that day, just in case. The orange curd was grainy (large quantities of salt don't dissolve the way sugar does) but I had to taste it anyway just to be sure........one of the most disgusting things I have ever had in my mouth

So you had a very BRUNO experience .......

[judiu]

I've probably got everybody beat.

On Tuesday, while sitting around waiting for some chocolate cream cakes to set up before cutting for a party of 200 ( a total of 13 cakes - party starts at 3:00 in one of our banquet rooms that you need to drive to), the Banquet chef comes running into my office ( at 11:00 AM ) yelling, " There's something wrong with your cakes, they taste really salty!" What? So I go to taste the cream on the cakes and you guess it, salty. 

Someone had put salt in my sugar bin! So now I have these chocolate cakes that need to be redone, and did I mention, a party that required 4 of the same cakes that were cut and ready to go already, also need to be redone ( Party starts at 12:15!)

Luckily I had 4 chocolate cakes baked and I quickly filled and decorated them

( and then put in the freezer to set up as quickly as possible ), but now needed to make 13 more chocolate cakes, bake ( which takes 45 minutes ) cool in the freezer, cut, assemble ,and set up enough to cut by 2:30 ( banquet chef needs to have food at functions 1/2 hour before party starts at the latest. ) Well, I "rigged it" as a chef I used to work for would say, and got them cut and ready at 2:30 on the dot.

Did I also mention that the ganache I use to make my chocolate cream had salt in it? Also had to remake 6- 10" white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes that my pastry cook had made, salt in them as well.

This happened on Tuesday and I still do not know how this happened. Needless to say I now taste the sugar in the bin EVERY SINGLE TIME I need some.

Jason

P.S.  My staff of 3 was already gone for the day so I had to redo everything by myself.

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OH. MY. GAWD! You have my deepest sympathy! I hope your bins are well labeled

and that this disaster will NEVER repeat itself.

[mckayinutah]

I've probably got everybody beat.

On Tuesday, while sitting around waiting for some chocolate cream cakes to set up before cutting for a party of 200 ( a total of 13 cakes - party starts at 3:00 in one of our banquet rooms that you need to drive to), the Banquet chef comes running into my office ( at 11:00 AM ) yelling, " There's something wrong with your cakes, they taste really salty!" What? So I go to taste the cream on the cakes and you guess it, salty. 

Someone had put salt in my sugar bin! So now I have these chocolate cakes that need to be redone, and did I mention, a party that required 4 of the same cakes that were cut and ready to go already, also need to be redone ( Party starts at 12:15!)

Luckily I had 4 chocolate cakes baked and I quickly filled and decorated them

( and then put in the freezer to set up as quickly as possible ), but now needed to make 13 more chocolate cakes, bake ( which takes 45 minutes ) cool in the freezer, cut, assemble ,and set up enough to cut by 2:30 ( banquet chef needs to have food at functions 1/2 hour before party starts at the latest. ) Well, I "rigged it" as a chef I used to work for would say, and got them cut and ready at 2:30 on the dot.

Did I also mention that the ganache I use to make my chocolate cream had salt in it? Also had to remake 6- 10" white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes that my pastry cook had made, salt in them as well.

This happened on Tuesday and I still do not know how this happened. Needless to say I now taste the sugar in the bin EVERY SINGLE TIME I need some.

Jason

P.S.  My staff of 3 was already gone for the day so I had to redo everything by myself.

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OH. MY. GAWD! You have my deepest sympathy! I hope your bins are well labeled

and that this disaster will NEVER repeat itself.

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Thank you for your sympathy

The only guess I have that someone saw the salt in a container lying near my other bins and figured it was sugar and dumped it in the bin. My granulated sugar comes in in 50# bags and we only use kosher salt in the kitchen, which comes in 3# boxes. We think somehow some table salt( which is used in the restaurant and comes in larger bags) found its way into the hands of one of the linecooks or dishwashers ( who are not very profecient in reading English ) and since they are used to seeing the coarser kosher salt, figured it was sugar.

Well, lessoned learned, and no bad comments on the other cakes I had to make so quickly ( they weren't set up as much as I would like, but you do what you have to to make things work.)

Jason

[kitchenmage]

We think somehow some table salt( which is used in the restaurant and comes in larger bags) found its way into the hands of one of the linecooks or dishwashers ( who are not very profecient in reading English ) and since they are used to seeing the coarser kosher salt, figured it was sugar.

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Might be time for a label that just says SALT with the "no" symbol (circle-slash) on it.

...and why doesn't that circle-slash have a short name?