What you knead

Taking reservations.

Today is my day off and usually a time to play catch-up. Catch-up today is all about school, working on my externship journal, organizing photos and starting all the exit interviews. In the exit interview, the very first question is, “If you had to do it over, would you choose The Chef’s Academy?” This really got me thinking. If I had to do it all over again, would I? And let’s just for the sake of this blog forget about the Chef’s Academy. They are amazing, but I can save that topic for a different time, different blog. Enrolling in Pastry School was a huge leap of faith for me. I had a good job that paid me lots of money; security, vacations, retirement and all those things people look for in a job. The one drawback was, I didn’t love going to work every day. I didn’t like what I was doing. There was no passion or excitement. Sure I could have stayed there and sunk into a rut and slowly rotted away until retirement, but why? Life is too short, and we spend way too much time at “work” not to enjoy it. I am so very fortunate that I was able to make this career move. So I traded my suit for a chef’s jacket and never looked back. Now the days are long, the security and pay are at a minimum. Vacation? No way. Holidays are the busiest and weekends are what we live for. Life is so very different these days. So to answer the question would I do it all over again? In a heartbeat. I now understand when people say. “I can’t believe they pay me to do this”. I look forward to being in the kitchen. What I miss the second most being here in Denver is being in my kitchen at home, playing and making something for family and friends. Making desserts that make people smile and forget about life for a moment or even evoke a memory. Sculpting desserts into something more than sweets, but architecturally a thing of beauty. I know I am new to all of this and have so much more to learn, but I am so enjoying the ride and I know it will only get better. I have a passion and excitement for making desserts. I don’t work anymore, I play. So again, was it worth it? Come over and let me make you something, watch me in the kitchen, laughing, creating and enjoying, then I will let you draw your own conclusions.