The NY Times Food Section has an article today focusing on the Ferry Building’s Farmer’s Market.
The article focuses mainly on the quandry of a farmer’s market that teaches and supports sustainable agriculture while also serving as a tourist attraction.
It also mentions the Alemany Farmer’s market, which up until I read the article, I had never heard of. Any one with any thoughts on that?
Ok… it went great. Not perfect, but just great.
I actually managed to finish ahead of schedule which gaveme lots of time to double and triple check. My man with a van arrived and we got everything loaded up. He had his mother in the front seat and I handed her a croqumbouche, climbed in next to her with the bride and groom cake and the other croquembouche. Little by little we made it there, me grinding my teeth with every steep hill and bump in the road. We arrived and I was off like I’d been shot out of cannon.
The chef who was catering dinner was already in full swing in the kitchen and I staked out a corner for myself and got busy. I iced the chocolate and carrots cakes and decided to waiting till the last minute to do the lemon cakes since the whipped cream icing had already proved to be fickle despite the addition of a healthy dose of gelatin. I did the last bit of decoration on the bride and groom cake and threw… um…gently placed it back in the fridge. I went out breifly to watch the ceremony, standing in the back in my chef’s jacket with a giant glob of chocolate on it. Then it was back to the kitchen to do the fruit platter.
And then there was nothing else to do. I was in the way of dinner production so I shucked off my chef’s jacket and went out and talked with Nick, Yuri and Matt and a drive by check in with the happy couple. Then it was back to the kitchen to be ready to start slamming out the rest of the buffet. As soon as they were done, I went back into production mode and had the buffet set up in a little under 20 minutes.
From there it was just a waiting game. Presented the bride and groom cake to approval of the bride. Then it was back into the kitchen to clean up.
I called a cab, which never came. One of the bridemaids offered me a ride (Shannon I think was her name) which just was exactly what I needed. They droped me off and I was in bed 15 minutes after that.
I slept instantly for about an hour and a half. The Roomie came home and we chated a bit but I was not coherent. I stretched out in front of the tv and the Roomie took pity on me and put a dvd in for me. I watched that and a littlemore tv before just shuffling off to bed. I splet soundly
Well…. mostly….
Anxiety dreams are par for the course with me,
In my dream, the bride’s dress had turned into a giant mound of ganache, and as we stressed about how to lower her into it, I kept trying to mold it back into a dress shape and thinking to myself “It looks like dog shit!”
Now I’m scrubbing (AND I DO MEAN SCRUBBING) down the kitchen. Wheee. I haven’t done a hell of a lot today and have been putting that off (blogging included) but I think I don’t have a lot of choice anymore.
Done.
Or at least as far as I can go until I get there and assemble it all.
I’m exhausted but satisfied. The croquembouches are smaller than I expected. I had originally planned on using a frame to create height but opted instead for the traditional method. I had problems with the lavendar creme so I had to fortify it with gelatin, and I’m getting nervous about all of it being jostled around on the drive over.
This gig is really important for me for three reasons.
1) Its for my friends janehex and her Ninja, brianchurch. One of the reasons I like doing this kind of thing, is making food for friends. Granted, a wedding ratches up the stakes considerably, but I still enjoy that aspect.
2) If people see what I can do, they will hire me. Business cards packed and ready to go.
3) The woman who is providing dinner is also a personal chef and she said that she may throw some work my way. I want to walk in there and do an amazing job to impress her as much as anyone else.
At this point though, I need to keep moving or I’m going to shut down. I need to pack my suit because on top of everything else, I’m attending the wedding too. I’d say I need a cocktail but I’m sure I’d keel over if I had one.
Camera battery charging and post it note to remind me to take it.
Pics to come.
– Up till 1am after cooking and baking since 9:30am
– Slept till 5.30
-Corquembouches assembled.
– Bride and groom cake assembled.
– Showered and shaved.
– Mini cakes packed.
– 3 cups of coffee consumed and I’m jittery.
– STILL NOT DONE
– Lemon tarts made despite a near nervous breakdown when the first batch disintegrated upon removal from the molds. Recipe and cooking and cooking procedure adjusted and all is well.
– 30 miniature carrots cakes made. Matching marmelade cream cheese frosting made.
– 28 miniature choclate cakes made. Cherry ganache made.
– 28 lemon cakes made. Corresponding lavendar creme whipped and in the fridge waiting to be put into a piping bag.
– Bride and groom cake baked.
– 55 strawberries dipped.
STILL TO DO:
– Fill profiteroles with pastry creme
– Assemble 2 corqumebouche
– Cut fruit for fruit platter
– Assemble bride & groom cake.
– Get all this crap out of my house and to the wedding in one peice.
-Get a couple of hours of sleep at some point.
-Look into cheap labor for next time.
– Spent over $200 on equipment
– Lost my keys. Guy at the office had borrowed them this morning and then forgot to give them back. Ran back to financial district to ge them,
– Picked up kitchen aid mixer thats on loan for the whole thing.
-Lugged it home.
– Made 1.5 cups lemon zest
– Juiced 15 lemons.
– made 5 quarts of pastry cream
– Made 2 quarts lemon sabayon.
– Not done yet.