I’d like to preface this entry by letting you know I am currently in the buzz of a sugar coma – I’ve just had my second helping of a home made chocolate brownie Sunday. My face is flushed, my head is spinning, my teeth might be falling out of my head, and I’ve had to undo the top button of my jeans because I can’t breathe! The only part of me that’s happy right now is my inner 3 year old: she is bouncing off the walls shouting, “yeepee!”
Anyway, one of the unfortunate (or fortunate) things about becoming a pastry chef is that you really should taste everything you make. This is only unfortunate if you are addicted to sugar. I happen to be addicted to sugar. Hence, “tasting” my pastries is a problem for me. You see, I do not simply taste my pastries. Oh no, my friends. Do you remember that episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ethel are supposed to wrap chocolates coming down a conveyor belt, but the conveyor belt starts going so fast that they start having to shove chocolates into their shirts, hats and mouths? Hold that image in your mind. Now insert my face. Today, we made choux pastries stuffed with Chantilly cream (whipping cream whipped with sugar and vanilla), and topped with icing sugar and chocolate. I “tasted” one. One turned into 6 in a matter of minutes. I had chantilly cream all over my face, a threatening tummy ache, and yet I still wanted more! The irony is that I shoved them down my face so fast that I didn’t even really taste them! Oh dear – perhaps I should rethink this profession? Perhaps a gig as a professional pie eater would be better suited to me, because after today, you would have thought that is what I was in training for! As if that wasn’t enough, why, pray tell, did I come home and make myself 2 homemade ice cream brownie Sundays in a row?
Um…
Rather than beat myself up over the ridiculous amount of sugar I’ve consumed today, I choose to see it as this: awesome. Why? Because choosing to see it any other way will not change the fact that I did it, so I may as well choose to see it in a positive light!
On that note, I watched an amazing video on Ted Talks tonight called The 3 A’s of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. A native of Toronto, he is the author of a blog called 1000 Awesome Things, a blog that lists life’s small and universal pleasures in an effort to remind us how much good we are surrounded by. The 3 A’s are Attitude, Awareness, and Authenticity. Watch it and be reminded of the things you already know about how amazing your life is, and that the power is within you to choose the positive thoughts and things that enrich your life and move it forward.
In my sugar induced coma, something Neil said really resonated with me. He said that he loves watching 3 year olds interact with their environments because they see the world for the first time, and are awed by it. He said that in order to have a sense of awareness, all we need to do is to embrace our inner 3 year old. If I may add to that, never lose your childish enthusiasm, and things will go your way!
The best things in life aren’t things. They’re living, they’re breathing, they’re laughing (thank you, Micheal Franti). They’re shoving your face with chantilly filled pastries, eating warm brownie Sundays, and laughing until you pee a little 🙂
All my love,
The Lobster
xoxo
