For my next blog, I am taking a different approach to the restaurant theme that I have created. I am doing a bio on myself because I love to cook and bake! With the effects of Covid-19, I was running into some struggles receiving my interview questions back from restaurants. I realize they are busy, and I do not want to keep contacting them, so this is the route I decided to go – for that reason!

A little bit about myself: I grew up baking with my grandmother and my mother. Every birthday from a young age, we would spend a day baking. This included pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and just about every confection a young kid would want to get their hands on. My personal favorite to make are pies. With pies, you can put your own touch on the crust (lard and flour) and create some really cool patterns on the top – in addition to your choice of filling. I really treasured the time I was able to spend with my family members, gathered around the kitchen, making special treats for everyone to enjoy.

Through Covid-19, I am still working and going to school full-time, so baking has been on the back-burner in the meantime. I cannot wait to be done with school so I can get back to baking! Some of the creations that I have been able to work on lately are Swiss Rolls, Pâte à choux, Red Velvet Cake, and some cookies.

One of my favorite ways to get new ideas is to watch baking shows on Netflix. Some that I really enjoy getting inspiration from are Zumbo’s Just Desserts, The Great British Baking Show and of course: Nailed It! For those of you who have not seen the shows and enjoy baking and creating new things, I would highly recommend watching them. Zumbo’s Just Desserts is focused around technical confections, sugar work, chocolate work and making high class desserts. I took inspiration from the “Macaroon King” when I made chocolate bowls filled with mousse and topped with a blueberry macaroon earlier this year. The Great British Baking Show revolves mostly around biscuits, cakes, tarts, and breads. I enjoy the simplicity of this show. The funny thing about this show is its complete opposite nature from the American baking shows. In American shows, contestants joke about hoping the other contestants fail, so they will win. In the British version of baking shows, contestants can be seen actually helping their competitors! Talk about a wild “competition” haha! Finally, Nailed It is a show that is geared more towards bakers that think they are great – but are far from (I might fall into this category). They take ordinary bakers and put them on a baking competition show. They are asked to recreate baking masterpieces in a short amount of time – it usually does not end well for them. If you are an amateur baker thinking that you could easily do a baking show, I highly recommend this show to keep you humble.

In addition to baking, I love to make pasta too. I learned how to make pasta a few years ago, and I was initially surprised at how easy it actually was – pasta recipe. I purchased a pasta making machine off Facebook Marketplace for around $10 (they can also be found on many online shopping platforms). With only a few ingredients, it really doesn’t take much time at all to make! It is a great way to spend quality time with friends and learn a new skill. With the pasta, we would also make Alfredo sauce and our own pesto from scratch – and of course garlic bread. Knowing where your ingredients are coming from is a great way to keep track of what you are putting into your body – something that is important to me. I get many recipe ideas off Pinterest.

I hope you enjoyed my restaurant suggestions and personalization of my blog posts. I hope you learned a little bit about your blogger, and I hope you try some of the recipes I have listed! My goal is to keep baking from scratch alive! If you have any other questions or want a baking buddy when this quarantine thing is over, PLEASE reach out! I am always looking to try new things 😊