A quick update, and about macaroons

It's been a long while since I update this blog, and friends have been asking, some wondering if I died, which is true in a certain sense, the death of my social life that is. Since I started work at G.S., my own personal time is reduced to sometime between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. where I should be already reaching the workplace. 2 hours do not buy you a lot of time, basic personal care and a quick breakfast/lunch, reading up friends' posts, and one's good to go. I try to pet the 3 cats at home a bit more. Weekends, until recently, are also spent working. This month, however, saw that I had 3 full weekends (Saturday and Sunday), which helped me catch up with friends, going abt routine of exercising, lunching, maybe making a meal, getting back into baking (more notes to follow on this), and catching movies. For friends whom I still haven't caught up with, I'm sorry, but I'll get to you very soon!

While I enjoy putting into practice what I've learnt at G.S, plus learning more along the way (when I started, I also realised how much more there was to learn, school was just the beginning), it does come to a point, in between hard pressed for time to finish up the long list of tasks for the day, and sometimes unfriendly (and unfair) remarks from superiors, and dreading the onslaught of orders flying in during service time

(which last until around midnite).... that I could easily and often forget why I am doing this, why I got into this in the first place. I've no answer. At least not yet. I'm still in the thick of things, and I can't see or think straight at this time. Just surviving day to day. God, sounds like AA, one day at a time! 8 have quit in 3 months, I can see on the faces of 2 or 3 more may wanna go too.

One thing's for sure, I will not be able to survive on the paycheck I'm receiving and I'm not in my 20's to slowly bang my way up.... the logical solution must be to learn as much and as quickly as I can and strike it out on my own. I guess that had been the plan all along. Someday I will feel ready. At least if I'm gonna slog it out so hard, I'd best be doing it for myself, and receiving the rewards for it. Right now, I'm looking at other avenues, G.S. may not let me do the fish or meat station (which means they will have to pull someone away from there, someone who's already experienced in their station), and I will be looking to be on the fish/meat line in the next place. I'm also checking out avenues of looking at the FnB industry from outside the kitchen, namely schools, groups working in direct relations with suppliers, media....nothing's firm yet.

So, back to baking. It's just simply how I can still get my hands on, and enjoy myself, without worrying too much on the time I take, or the results that come out. Of course, I want to have nice products at the end of the day, but if only 5 out of 50 comes out well (to my standards!), then at least I don't have to worry abt selling the rest, or hurriedly making more! It remains a therapeutic endeavor.

Here's a pic of one of the blackcurrant macaroons that I made over the weekend, filled with white chocolate/blackcurrant ganache.

I think making macaroons is a true test of a pâtissier. Being able to execute precise piping, control of temperature, mixing ganache, whipping and folding techniques, and working with different and diverse sets of mixtures. When well put together, small as it may be, it's an undeniable piece of art.

Thanks for reading.