No Adventure This Week...

Yes, it’s true – I was not able to make it to visit the puffery this time. Why not? Well, incase you’re not an advocate reader of my blogs and didn’t know that Thursday night was the opening night of my school’s production of “Suessical the Musical”.

As the Sour Kangaroo, this was my first and last leading role in my high school career. This also was one the best times of my life. Through this production I became closer to people I never talked to before, gained friends as well as confidence. While talking with my co-stars Kyle Thompson and Luis Polanco, who both played the Cat in the Hat, we came to the conclusion that theatre is totally different than being a part of a sport’s team. In sports you kind of have to compete to get the top spot whereas with theatre everybody is one big family, supporting each other through the good and bad times. This, of course, helps in the long run – especially when it comes down to the wire and you are all stressed trying to prepare for the premiere of the show. I must say, if it wasn’t for the cast and crew of Suessical having my back the way they did, I probably wouldn’t have been able to go through the show. I recommend to all the underclassmen to get involved in theatre at least one time in their lives to understand where I’m coming from. Who knows? It could possibly change your perspective on life, on people, everything like it did for me.

Talk with Trip #3 *

As of late I can’t speak to my mentor, Mrs.Trip, because our schedules are so busy. Mrs.Trip is not only my mentor but my school’s theatre director. So her time is mostly being consumed with our upcoming production of “Suessical the Musical”. As I mentioned earlier I am the Sour Kangaroo in the musical therefore, I don’t have that much time to spare myself! I can reassure you all that when the production is done and over with, we’ll have more meaningful talks.

Suessical the Musical (Choice*)

On Thursday, March 10, 2011 I will make my big acting debut as the Sour Kangaroo in my school’s “Suessical the Musical”.  Acting and dancing are just some of my many admirations. What I admire about acting is that it allows you to act outside of yourself. You can always go above and beyond when you’re on the stage. 

When I first started my role as the Sour Kangaroo, I was shy and held back a lot. If it wasn’t for the constant support of my fellow cast I probably wouldn’t be able to be where I am today. I am now confident in my character and can finally exude the diva that is necessary for the role. My only regret is that I waited my last two years of high school to get involved in theatre. However, I am forever grateful for all the life lessons I’ve learned through acting.   

Adventure to the Puffery #4 *

In my previous posts I complained about yearning to get my hands dirty and from my last visit all that comes to mind is the old saying, “be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.” Last Friday I walked into the Puffery thinking I would start making puffs and cream just as I did the previous visit but boy, was I in for a surprise. Instead I spent my time folding and placing stickers on boxes. I was also told to go into the back room and make sure the ribbons spools were accurately ordered. I must admit that this was one of the most boring experiences I have encountered in my young life.

Even though I was bored half to death I was still able to obtain some business knowledge. You want to make smart business decisions that are cost effective.  When running a business you must stay within your budget. You cannot afford silly mistakes such as missing ribbon spools. If the color isn’t popular you shouldn’t buy a huge quantity because that could possibly waste your money. 

Overall, my trip was boring but it was still effective. I realize it takes much more the then the baking aspect in running a bakery – you have to also be a business person. Unfortunately, this Friday I will not visit my sponsor. Instead I’ll be busy preparing for my school’s upcoming musical “Suessical the Musical!” in which I star as the Sour Kangaroo. Until my next adventure…! Peace. Love & Bake :)

Talk With Trip #2*

In our last chat, Mrs.Trip & I spoke on how unhappy I was at my previous sponsor visits. I was unhappy with the fact I wasn't as "hands-on" as I liked and Mrs.Trip and I spoke on it, she spoke to my sponsor and... LOOK AT ME NOW!  I'm helping out and enjoying every minute of it. 

Adventure To The Puffery #3

It happened - the time has finally arrived! As we all know, from my previous posts, I’ve been anxious to get my hands dirty and participate with making the actual puffs. This go-round I was able to just that and boy, was it an experience!  We started off with putting the dough on the trays; you could tell the difference of the puffs that were created by me (the deformed puffs) and the puffs that were created by the “experts”.

The girls all laughed at my attempts while reminiscing on their first times making the puffs. Once I seen the disasters I was creating, I kind of shied away from finishing the batch.Even though the girls encouraged me to continue, I didn't want to mess up anything. After all, this is somebody's business!

I also helped make the pistachio filling for the puffs. That wasn’t as bad but I was so nervous to splatter all over the place. One of the employees explained how on one of her first days she splattered the boss!  I can only imagine what a seen that turned out to be.  

Overall, this was my favorite visit. I’m glad that things finally turned around and now I’m able to be more “hands-on”.  I’m looking forward to my next visit. Until my next adventure…..!

Be Stress-free ; Find Your Serenity (Choice*)

There are many ways to relieve stress and find your inner peace. I like to think that some people resort to, what I consider to be, the “old-fashioned” way of relieving stress. What’s the old-fashioned way you ask? Well, that could vary anything from crocheting to cleaning or taking long nature walks alone. It seems to me that over time people have turned to technology as a way to relieve stress. Instead of stressed fingers crocheting they are now texting away.  The tranquilizing journals have turned into traumatizing blogs that causes more trouble then their worth. Case and point the teacher that considered herself venting on a blog but wound up in trouble because of her harsh words on how she described her students’ animalistic behavior. If she would have resorted to the old-fashioned journal then her thoughts would have never been revealed for the world to see and her career wouldn’t be at stake.

I consider my various way of relieving stress to be old-fashioned while still keeping up with the times. When I have some thing(s) on my mind I like to get out all my baking ingredients and get to work, while other times a nice book will ease my mind just find. Like most people, I like to listen to music to lift my mood. Then there are times when I can just sit in a quiet room by myself and not do anything but think. Everybody has their own way to relieve stress. What’s your’s?

A Cake Recipe Makes A Comeback ! (Connection*)

As we all know recipes are what make up food taste a certain way. It’s what helps us distinguish a chocolate brownie from a “blondie” brownie. There are often times where people come up with their own recipes which make the dish “theirs”, separating their product from someone else’s. This is shown in the article Recipe Redux: Evelyn Sharpe’s French Chocolate Cake, 1969. Apparently there is a recipe for French chocolate cake that doesn’t require any flour! This is a revolution all in itself because usually bakers use flour as in an ingredient  in baking cakes.  

 Amanda Hesser, the writer of the article, explains how she began writing the column five years ago. As time progressed she came across various recipes that transformed over the years. The best example of this is the French chocolate cake.existing recipes to make them my own.