You might think with the holidays approaching that I would attempt to remove as much stress from myself as possible. You would be foolish in thinking this. For many people this is the most stressful time of year. I personally am hoping to distribute my stress over several weeks rather than having one or two montrously stressful days that would undoubtedly transform me from mild-mannered pastry chef into mega-bitch on wheels.
It is my first Thanksgiving at my current place of employment and I'm told that Thanksgiving is the worst time of year for our bakery. So far this month we have lost two employees, lost one manager and gained a new one, and gained a cake decorator with no experience (and who is paralyzed by her fear of making an ugly cake). All of these things alone would make a typical day in the bakery into a nightmare.
Now compound these things into quintupled orders all due on one day.
I'm told that everyone who worked in the bakery (and most of the people who worked in the catering kitchen) last year worked 36 hours straight in order to fill all the orders on time.
Over the last two weeks my stress level has increased but I wouldn't say it has doubled quite yet.
Despite the increase in stress I have managed to agree to:
make 12 gingerbread houses for my daughter's Brownie troop to decorate at their next meeting.
I've taken a 150-piece pastry order.
I have yet to complete and mail my Blogging By Mail3 requirements which were due last weekend.
I also invited a friend to my home for Thanksgiving, which will require me to cook
rather than relying on MrG to bake a frozen pizza for dinner.
4 comments:
Well, you are one busy crazy person, but I can guarantee you will like the turkey better than the cooked frozen pizza, even if you, as I, don't like turkey.
Thank you for your "tips." I began this journey precisely because I am addicted to buttercream frosting, which is precisely why I've never made white cake or frosting, EVER, in all my 43 years. It is a bigger weakness than peanut butter.
(And if you think having to reuse the icing will keep me from licking my fingers—well, you really don't know me, of course.)
Thanks again, and I look forward to perusing your blog. (BTW, it's Rachel Ray's VOICE.)
Oh bakery Goddess! I bow to you. At my bakery I have been given the week off, because there just isn't any business this time of year! Arrrgh! I'd rather be busy. However, when you work somewhere that has only just begun, hopefully it will improve over the next year.
Dogfaceboy: I wish you the best of luck in your cake decorating trials. It gets easier, I promise.
And just to let you in on a little secret, I get air bubbles too, even after all this time. It's easiest to squirt a big pile back into the mixing bowl but even this doesn't eliminate bubbles completely from the pastry bag.
Chronicler: I'll trade you.
Karan: Oh for shame!
Actually, I probably would do that if I weren't already Ebidding on a set of gingerbread house cutters. By the time I pay for those, I could have afforded to buy the 'sets'.
crickey 12 ginger breadhouses? my mother and I tried to make one once-once-it ended up looking like something out of a dali panting a very surrealist christmas
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