Fun Strawberries

Joel and I had just bought some strawberries and we really wanted chocolate so I decided to make Chocolate covered strawberries. I got the recipe from the food network magazine. If you haven't seen this magazine it's a good magazine with some recipes from your favorite restaurants like Olive Gardens bread sticks or Aunti Annes pretzels.

Yes, we put it in the fryer

The finished product~

Garden

We've got peppers! Jalapeno peppers. I was so excited when I saw the first bloom on our little pepper plant. I've never tried to grow peppers before and I got these just for Joel cause he loves them so much. We got these and I thought I'd try a small tiny bit and when I did instantly my mouth started to burn. Oh WOW, are those things hot, ok to me at least. I needed a lot of water after that. Joel has enjoyed eating them in his sandwiches.

Our flower bed/veg. garden has really taken off this summer. My smaller plants that I have in there you can no longer see due to these beautiful flowers. I also have purple and yellow ones and they all reach almost to your shoulders.

First Day!

Thursday was my first official day at the bakery. I was up before 6:00am and started working at 7:00. My job was really in the bread section and it was to make scones. From 7:00am - 2:00pm I did nothing but make scones. I can practically make them in my sleep at this point and without looking at the recipe. I am under a lady who can pretty much do it all in my book. She runs the back extremely well. She does the bread section and the cake section. Starting on Tuesday we will both be working together strictly on cakes the other section for breads will be done by the new french pastry chef that has come in. I've enjoyed watching the things that he makes. Everything looks and smells heavenly. You're constantly hungry but there is no time to eat.

Thursday while making the chocolate chip scones I was told that I had done them incorrect. Instead of putting the chips in the dough like I thought I was supposed to put a certain amount in each weighed out section. Each mix is to be divided into several sections and weighed - oops! I nearly had heart failure but she said I was fine it would work ok.

Friday morning I came in and come to find out the manager liked how I mixed the chips in the dough and then had them sprinkled on top so from now on they'd make them that way - that made me feel good!!! Deep breath released :) What an extremely hot day. The hotter it is outside you can guarantee the kitchen will be about 5-10deg. hotter where we are. I find myself lingering in the walk in freezer just to cool off, oh how good it feels. I will be very excited when it starts to get cooler.

BAKERY!

It's ironic how things turn out in life. Here I had an amazing experience at the bakery & was told that I'd hear from them last Thursday if I got the job. Once Thursday passed I knew that the other girl had gotten it. Disappointed, Yeah- I had really wanted to work with cakes and other bakery items. I just assumed that wasnt the job for me and what in the world was I going to do??? I figured that I'd just sub this year and make cakes from the house. I went out with several friends today to that same bakery for lunch. They have really good food asside their pastrys. As we were getting ready to order my phone rang. Who was it but the head baker. I told her I was actually in the store, so we hung up and she came out and spoke with me. She said - "do you still want the job?" It's yours if you want it. I didnt know what to say I was so shocked! Apparently they hadnt had their meeting Thursday on who they were going to hire. They gave me Sat. off which is huge for Joel and I since we're usually on the go and I will only have to work 5 days a week. I'm so excited I can barely think straight!!!
I start a new and exciting venture with plenty of good stories I'm sure!

Fly fishing!

Joel and I decided to go fishing on the little river near the Cascades this past Saturday. We started around 8:00am and were only going to fish for a few hours. Little did we know how much fun we were going to have fishing. I needed a refresher course of fly fishing since I hadnt done any since we left Colorado. Joel made the first cast and to our shock a fish took the bait first time! Joel is holding the first fish of the day!

Here was my first fish of the morning.

Below is the Brookie trout that I caught and am claiming was the biggest catch of the day! This little guy was pretty fun to catch but I had a little trouble getting the hook out of his mouth so when I put him back in the river he sunk. Joel told me to grab him and hold him to help the water flow in his lungs. I went to grab him totally relying on the rock which turned on me and I went face first for the water. Thankfully my hand hit bottom before my head went in, the fish yes he did just fine!

Between the two of us we caught about 15 or so fish. It was a perfect day for fishing. And to think if I had gotten the job at the bakery I would have totally missed out on this great trip!

Our day ended with us getting Outback to go for lunch/dinner. We were having so much fun that we fished right through lunch and ended up leaving a lot later than we'd planned. It was definitely well worth it. We had a great time.

First Brook Trout!

Tuesday was my day to get up at 5:00am to get to the bakery in time so Joel planned a fishing trip with a guy that he'd met at Tech and they decided to meet at 6:45am. They went to a stream near the Cascades which was great for fly fishing. Joel ended up catching this little guy around 7:00am and the sun was barely up. He ended up catching 2 but hooking a lot more than that. Fly fishing is a little more challenging but we fell in love with it in Colorado. I cant wait to some fly fishing. The two of them had a great morning!


Nothing makes a better picture than a great catch of the day.

Day 2

The alarm went off this morning way too early and once I headed out of the house and realized the sun wasnt even out yet I knew it was wayyy too early. I arrived at the bakery at 6:00am and several people looked like they'd been there for a while. Today was my day on cakes. I was very excited little did I know how much more work it was going to be & once your feet are already tired from the day before it makes it so much harder to stay standing in one spot. I put on a nice fresh white apron only to become discolored by the many things that I had touched that day and what's the point of wearing an apron when you look down and your clothes under the apron has just as much on them??? Yes, I was filthy but it was so much fun! I made Germon chocolate cakes, yellow bundt cakes, chocolate cakes, yellow & marble cupcakes and a ton of assorted large muffins -you know the ones. When you look and see these gigantic oversized cupcakes that are stuffed with chocolate chips or fruit yep I got to make those. Ok I now have so much more appreciation for the person who makes those. I made 6 pans of 8 in each and it took me a while. The majority of the time I spent in the freezers looking for the special yummies that went inside. One of the ingredients I was told was in the outside walk in freezer, so off I went determined to find these apples out of the building and in this freezer that felt a lot colder than yesterday. I looked through every box and container and nothing, I was half frozen so I had to go back to the baker & tell her I couldnt find them oh they had been moved to the other freezer another baker said. Ha I was so cold!!! When those things were done I did a little cheer! Everything we made came out beautiful and the smell well it's a good thing I have a cold cause what I could smell was pretty wonderful.

Oh, did I mention that while I was on my way to baking Joel met up with a guy and went fly fishing. Yes, that was a little hard cause I wanted to go fishing with him just as much as I wanted to work in the bakery but I had to make a decision. He had a great time and I'll post his excersion later on when I get his pictures.

Day 1

Well today was the big day. Several weeks ago I had put in my application to a bakery less than 15min from our house for a bakers assistant. Honestly I had forgotten about it and last Thursday received a phone call requesting an interview. Even though I had just come down with a major cold I was eager to meet with them that afternoon. The interview went well and I agreed to come in Friday morning at 7:00 am to work and see if it was something I could do. Much to my disappointment I didnt last a half an hour due to my cold. I got very sick and asked if I could come back on Monday when I was feeling better.
Today was the big day. I made a lot of scones with all sorts of berries, made several types of bread dough and then helped the head Pastry Chef who is also the manager with some croissants. It was a long day but a lot of fun.
So I go back tomorrow morning but this time I'm to show up at 6:00am. Yes that was am I actually asked to make sure! I will be working stricktly with cakes since it is what I'm applying for. I'm very excited about that. I was told this afternoon that there is another girl that is doing the same thing I am on Wed. & Thurs. trial run. Either way it turns out I will be happy.