Prologue: The holiday baking bonanza
This marks my first year of a massive holiday baking spree – and I’m making it a point to continue this event every year for as long as my hands will let me.
It’s a tradition I’m starting for selfish reasons. I really miss culinary school. As hard as it was, I miss the adrenaline rush of working under a time constraint in a professional kitchen, standing elbow-to-elbow with my peers as we sweat all over everything, both literally and figuratively.
Those long days of cooking under stress satisfied something in me that I can’t seem to put into words, and now, without them, it seems there’s a void in my life. Though it would be pretty cool to actually work in a restaurant or bakery professionally, I’d miss writing too much. And those long hours can be soul-draining. (My hat is off to any cook, baker or chef who can withstand them, day in, day out.)
Enter the holiday baking spree, my solution to fill this void. It’s not the same as working in a professional kitchen, but there are certain pleasures to this scenario as well. For one, it’s my kitchen. And I call all of the shots.
The whole experience will be chronicled in a series of daily posts. Come back tomorrow for Day 1 of the baking saga. Onward!
– Cynthia Furey
