Ok, sorry for the silence. A month ago, I quickly went from stay-at-home mom to employed mom to working 2 different jobs to total burn out. I'm just recovering from the total burn out, hence my return to the blogosphere. Here's the story, and it's a long one, to make up for lost time. In February I started combing craigslist obsessively for baking jobs. We were finally getting into our SoCal groove which meant it was definitely time for me to go back to work. I think I'd sent my resume to at least a dozen job posts and received zero response when my neighbor mentioned that she needed help at her bakery to fill vegan orders from Disney studios. We went crazy developing vegan recipes and ramping up to fill production orders for up to 400 cupcakes at a time. Then everything came to an abrupt halt when we found out that Disney was switching catering vendors. Ugh. BIG bummer. Then literally the next day I get a call from someone responding to my resume. I'd sent it out to so many that I couldn't remember who this guy or the job was. Anyway, the interviews went well and I started working at the Brite Spot in Echo Park as a pastry cook at the beginning of April. Brite Spot is a good ol' diner. They've got a menu filled with the greasy classics that they serve in big portions and serve into the middle of the night. Their desserts are big too. The red velvet cupcakes pictured above are easily the size of my head and weigh a couple pounds each. And yes, those are gum balls and gummy candies embedded in the buttercream. It's kind of a hipster hang out. Did I mention that I saw Christina Ricci eating there? Apparently she's a regular. Not sure if she's had any of my desserts though. Anyway, nice people and nice vibe, but not exactly my type of food.
Whenever Darby, the BS pastry chef and my boss, was in the kitchen with me, we'd get to talking about Food. You know, the type of stuff made with seasonal ingredients, that feels good going down and still feels good afterwards. During one of these conversations, he mentioned his friend's bakery in Pasadena called Little Flower Candy Co. This friend, Christine, has been a pastry chef in LA for years and worked with the likes of Nancy Silverton (of La Brea and Mozza fame). I took the kids there on a whim one Friday and fell in love with the place, especially after I tried their arugula and white anchovy pizza. I got talking to Christine, who needed an AM baker. I felt guilty about it (had only been working at BS for a couple weeks), but couldn't resist applying for the job. Within a week, I was working at LF, and also at BS because I felt so bad about it all. For a couple weeks, my workday started at 5:00 am at Little Flower to around 10:30. Then off to BS from 11:00 to 3:30. Then off to pick up the kids from preschool and cook dinner. Then I caught Levi's cold which turned into the worst sinus infection I've had in years. I still had to work in spite of it, but at least managed to formally quit BS and get a sustainable schedule at LF. Knock on wood. I still get up at the crack of dawn, but at least it's not 4 days in a row anymore. Christine is a foodie, which is why I like working in her kitchen, but she can also be very intense and overwhelming. I just have to remember that I'm doing this for fun. Baking is fun, as long as I don't get caught up in the little stuff of workplace politics, etc.
Quiche, LF style. My type of pie.
