Catching Up

Bella visits Dr. Joe for her allergies.

   My adoring fans, both of them, have asked me why I haven't written in so long, and I will tell you that it's quite simple.  It's just about all I can do to write my weekly installment for Loomy Tunes!  I've even missed a few of them this summer and fall.  But here it is November, the month we kept promising ourselves when we would take vacation and just breathe.  Vacation is not yet on the horizon, but I do feel a little opening up of space and a little tension has left my shoulders.
  Just yesterday, I realized that I finally have--or will soon have-- enough staff to take the time to do nicer desserts.  Saturday morning, I opened an email that said a guest told a hostess that the desserts had not been "up to Blackberry standards."  It was eight hours before I could determine the cause of the unhappiness, and spent that time beating myself up internally.  Turns out it was frozen apples in the center of their fried pies, and if I was hard on myself, it was nothing compared to poor Jessica, who spent the following 24 hours agonizing over what I would do to her as a consequence.  I simply told her that it was a mistake to learn from and go forward.  There are far too many things she does well to let this one stumble make her fall down.
  But I've also made myself a promise to bring the level of my desserts up another notch.  Witness the sweets assortment I made for a group last night:

They could be so much better, so much more refined.  I've been following David Lebovitz's blog, Life in Paris at www.davidlebovitz.com, and have been so inspired by his photos and travels and writing.  He has a new app, even, for the pastry shops in Paris.  Every pastry in each row in Paris pastry shops are symmetrical, perfect and beautiful. That's what I want for my desserts.  I want guests' jaws to drop.  I want my desserts to be the best ____________ they've ever seen or tasted.
  A new p.m. pastry cook starts Thursday, and another starts the Monday after Thanksgiving, one who has experience in chocolate making, which will help me enormously.  I always mean to take photos of my chocolate work, but always have finger encased in chocolate when the urge strikes!  Not something I want to inflict on my iphone!  But I will be more vigilant, bring my camera to work more often and keep you updated on my journey!