XXXX = WORK

...for the moment.

Since work occupies [much, much] more of my time than eating or drinking out lately, I figure I might as well post about what's going on there, which is somewhat relevant to this rather arbitrary dumping ground for food-related material I've created here. Do I or do I not dictate what is relevant in my arbitrary dumping ground? I do!*

*I do have photos for eating-out posts lined up, but those are not what I am most interested in right now.

So for the sake of keeping this [questionably] creative outlet alive, I present to you my first two 'blackboard' dessert specials:

1. Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding w/Brandied Pears, Candied Walnuts | Bailey's Ice Cream

[Apologies for the disorienting angle.]
And

2. Lavender Apple Upside Down Cake, Apricot Compote | Greek Yogurt Sorbet

Please forgive the terribleness of the pictures, taken with my cell phone[s]. As you can tell, I upgraded my cell phone between the first and the second. I had originally only taken these pictures for posterity, and to send to my dad. But now I proffer them to you, the ostensible viewing public, for lack of better/actual content. Enjoy!

I am quite happy with how both of them turned out. The plating of the first was not of my conception, and is not really my style, but I had no idea what I was doing, and my dessert itself--while delicious--pretty much visually amounted to a lumpy brown pile, and it needed to look nicer if we were going to sell it.
The second is currently on our menu, and will remain for the rest of the week. I love this cake, and have a new found love for lavender, towards which I had had some ambivalence before deciding to experiment with it here. And greek yogurt sorbet [we made ours in-house] is farking delicious, and should be sold by the gallon at bodegas everywhere.

I have to say, I am really thrilled about having the opportunity to dream up my own specials and actually have them sold to the public. It's really an awesome feeling, actualizing and executing a vision, and sharing it with people. I missed this feeling from art school, and it's very exciting to be able to experience it again, at my job no less! (Especially after having only been a pastry cook for just under 3 months now.)

And now, much like while I was in art school, I cannot sleep for all of the ideas buzzing and bouncing around in my skull. I've found that my most fruitful and imaginitive mental moments are those just between sleeping and wakefulness, in both directions. I predict more restive nights and cottony-eyed sunrises in my future. It's kind of nice.

More to come.