My mom is a gourmet cook. She taught me french-style cooking, how to make sushi, not to mention her amazing Truffles, English Toffee and to-die-for Creme De Cacoa Tort.
It has always been my dream to have my own bakery and inn some day. In fact, I found my dream location in Maine a few years back... the current owners don't know it yet, but someday, I will occupy that dream location as the home of my own bakery!
Currently, I bake for my coworkers on a regular basis. They are my willing guinea pigs on whom I test my recipes. My goal was to start selling my items at the local farmers market here in Westminster, MD spring of 2018. However, in the spring of 2016 I was offered an opportunity I could not allow to pass - I began working at a local deli on the weekends, where I created and taught some of my proprietary recipes for their cooking classes.
While public speaking is not my forte, it has been a great learning experience. Normally, when I cook and bake items, I end up making up the recipe as I go along, but a general list of ingredients with no amounts doesn't exactly translate well into a cooking class, so I had to start documenting my methods. Doing this has expanded my repertoire, both with repeatable dishes, and by allowing me to fine-tune my recipes into a better product. It also pushed me to figure out how I could take traditionally complex dishes, and break them down into an easier and more forgiving process. This helps to ensure that isn't as sensitive to errors or mistakes, without compromising the flavor and texture profiles attributed to the dishes. This effort was to allow people that are new to the culinary world to experience higher levels of success with a dessert like Chocolate Mousse, where knowing how to temper an egg, and achieve perfectly peaked egg whites can make or break the dessert. I have also experimented with determining how dishes can be rescued from commonly made mistakes, as well as testing different ingredient substitutes in order to help inexperienced cooks gain the confidence and skills necessary to create the dishes they desire.
This leads me to the plans I have for 2017 - 2018. Because I do not have a brick-and-mortar location with a commercial kitchen, I am currently unable to sell food items. However, in the coming months I will be introducing some new opportunities in the form of cooking classes and recipes available in an online forum, through the partnership and support of a few local companies. More information on this will be coming early-2018.
In the mean time, I will continue to develop new and exciting recipes in preparation for the launch of my cooking school. Please stay tuned for more updates to be shared in the coming months!
