If I could implement one norm of the kitchen into everyday life, it would be the practice of loudly saying “Behind!” when you’re in such a position–usually when walking by–and sometimes elaborating with “Sharp behind” and “Hot behind.” Sure, it’s abrupt, but man, is it effective. No one has to do anything in particular, except be aware and not step backwards.

Fellow supermarket shoppers, considered yourselves warned.

You can now purchase my handmade candy bars and marshmallows at http://www.bonbonbar.com/
For those west coast people who love Maury Rubin’s City Bakery in New York City, you may be interested to know that the long-promised Los Angeles branch at the Brentwood Country Mart has FINALLY opened.

I’m off to Los Angeles for the weekend, and anyone who reads this on Saturday morning can be certain that at that very moment I’ll be basking in the glow of a cold hot chocolate, a pretzel croissant, and anything else I can get into my giddy little hands.

Full photos and descriptions to come.

We continued our baking techniques class this week by continuing to have two days for each topic.

At the end of each class, we choose the best examples what we made for evaluation by the chef. So, we go to our products–in this case, rolls–and look for ONE good one. This has been difficult the last couple of days. It’s amazing how many things can go wrong with a baked good. And how each roll can be afflicted in a unique way.

Rolls are tricky beasts. There are just so many of them to roll out from so much dough that you have to get through, and you just want to get them all done–because 1. you don’t want the dough to dry out,2. you want them to get out in time for lunch (to serve, but also so you don’t want to have to go checking ovens and rotating trays when you should be sitting and eating), 3. your hand gets tired, and 4. you don’t really like rolls in the first place. I prefer the crustier, looser crumb large loaves; and a bit of the communal feeling of sharing the daily bread.Anyway, we were able to scavenge exactly one passable roll of each kind we were supposed to make.

Clockwise, there’s the brioche, the knot roll, the cloverleaf roll, and the parkerhouse roll. The chef liked the marbled brioche look, which probably happened b/c some egg wash dried out before baking. Our other brioche, though, were either decapitated while baking or otherwise deformed, so we chose this one for its shape. (more…)

So, I’ve been rather open about where I’ve been in the area and what I’ve seen, but I’ve kept a little secret: a few weeks ago, I drove around downtown Napa–literally, it’s mostly a “U”– with the intention of blogging about it… and went straight back home. There were some cute shops that I may wander into when I want to buy yarn or beaded goods, but nothing that I could see that was enough to justify looking for a parking space and attempting to parallel park. Most importantly, no pastry shops that I could find. I felt let down.

I usually jump onto Hwy 29 from my apt, and dowtown is a few minutes in the other direction, so I hadn’t gone back since.

But yesterday, a classmate told me about a certain Sweetie Pies bakeshop in downtown Napa. Reeeaaallly?

So, I went today. It turns out that Napa has a sort of Napa River District that is on the outer southeast tip of downtown. It’s quite pretty, and not only was I inspired to park, but I was also inspired to take pictures…. Of obvious signage…..

I don’t know how long this district extends, but this area was comprised of one large brick building called the Hatt Building, which was built in 1893 by a Captain Hatt. It houses such places as Sweetie Pies, a Vintage Sweet Shop, a restaurant called Celadon that I’ve heard praised, Napa General Store with fancy food gear and a cafe, and Angele’s, which has this snazzy setup.

I expected good things when I saw Sweetie Pies’ storefront

Unique signs denote unique bakers.

Inside, they had a large glass display of cakes–including a lot of cheesecakes–with cookies on top, and around the corner of the counter, they had more breakfast pastry sort of items. The eating area had a clean country cafe sort of feel–woodsy and homey.

My favorite acquisition was the Breakfast Cookie. Packed full of carrot, raisins, coconut, and perhaps orange zest, it was refreshing and satisfying moist and flavorful. The occasional edge was also slightly caramelized and extra chewy. The sweetened coconut was a clever icing all on its own. I can see myself craving this cookie.

Next, the nonfat oatmeal bar was also triumphant. More flavorful than the name suggests, it had plump dried fruits interspersed throughout the layers of oats and a brown sugar-y batter. The sprinkling of coarse sugar on top slyly contributes crunchy sweet bites.

I had high hopes for the Oreo Cookie, but it just didn’t work out between us. I did get to the shop at about 5:00, so maybe its slight lack of freshness is understandable…. but it was also just a bit bland and the filling was a little too liquidy, too. It did make me crave white choc chips in the oatmeal bar, though.

I was excited by the Mud Pie Cheesecake, too, but it was too buttery for me. I like cheesecake that separates in ridged sorts of chunks and tastes like cheese, but this was one very smooth and dense without much cheese flavor. I liked the chocolate ganache layer on top and the oreo crust on the bottom, but the two layers of cheesecake in the middle were a shame.

There were so many things to choose from at Sweetie Pies that I’m looking forward to going back and nabbing more Breakfast Cookies and some new discoveries. I could have easily ordered 10 other things that looked good on this visit.

And a bonus was spotting another destination on way home home through downtown Napa: Annette’s Chocolate and Ice Cream Factory.

Good thing I live so close.

So, baking isn’t all sugar and butter all the time. It’s something of a contact sport, as all the ingredients that have passed my way can attest. In fact, I haven’t felt so much like a sports team member since high school field hockey.

Part of that is the fun of the camaraderie with the people I’m working with as we dart around the kitchen, and the comparing how other people are doing against how you’re doing, and the vague feeling of winning when something works out well, as well as the feeling of defeat when it doesn’t.

Another part of the sports analogy is physical. When we’re not standing, we’re walking quickly. We try not to get burned, splattered on, or careened into. We try not to hunch over the bench (as the work table is called).

When I first started the program about a month ago, my knees started to hurt. Sharp pains near the bottom of the kneecap. Standing hurts, but I prefer that to walking and tackling stairs.

I’ve had problems with my knees in the past (10 yrs ago), so I knew that my legs are probably weak and my knee caps are askew. My shoes always get worn out on the outside heel. I wanted to try to fix this and make sure it wasn’t something more serious, so I saw a doctor. He said that I have patella tendonitis, which is caused by standing all day. Shocking. He also lightly mocked how weak my legs are, and sent me off to physical therapy.

I went for the first time today, and will have 2-3 visits for 3 weeks. I’m starting off with light exercises and stretches. It turns out that my feet are a little flat and my hip muscles are also weak, causing my femur to roll in a little when I walk, instead of going slightly out to support my body. I’ll continue the exercises on my own after 3 weeks.

So, I just wanted to share this as a part of the culinary school/baking experience for me. And at least my orthopedist who specializes in sports understood why I saw him… and didn’t mock me for that.