There are a lot of things we sacrifice to go on the Race. There’s no way of knowing just how much you’ll miss them if you even realize all of the things you’re letting go of. And while we understood we’ve agreed to deny ourselves these desires for a year, one can’t help but think about them longingly from time to time. For me one of the bigger things I’ve missed is cooking/ baking.
Every month I miss it a little more. Back home I used to have “baking days” where I literally spent all day in the kitchen. I would blare music and dance around the island while I concocted lots of sweet things (especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas). By the end of the day I’d have flour and powdered sugar all over my apron, my hands would be dyed with something red or blue, etc. and I probably would have eaten a cup’s worth of sugar between tasting everything. (A good chef tastes throughout the whole cooking process. :p )
On the Race I have been super blessed with being able to make pizza with my team and contacts in India as well as gingerbread cookies with my team in Laos. However, I’ve been a little starved of true culinary freedom. So last month when we met one of our contacts, Sherman, and he invited us to come over and cook sometime in his kitchen I was over the moon. He was immediately informed of my background and passion for food which resulted in us planning a couple more cooking nights. Then we met Ashley who welcomed me into her kitchen with free reign of everything including her giant bag of chocolate chips. (Which I shamelessly ate a couple handfuls of over the course of the evening.)
Last month we had:
~Italian Night
~ Sounthern Night with my Gma’s Chicken & Dumplins and chocolate chip cookies
~Carbonara and brownies (and lots of other stuff but really those were the stars 😉
~Pizza, pizza bites and chocolate chip cookies
~Breakfast for dinner (which was fancier than what you may be thinking- I got to make pumpkin pie French toast, poached eggs and caramelized onions for our garlic smashed potatoes among other things.)
I was a happy camper, that’s for sure.
So coming into this month I didn’t have any expectations for being able to cook. I figured my blessings meter was full in that department and I’d have to wait a few more months. I certainly couldn’t complain. I mean I’d be lying if I didn’t say cooking on the Race has reminded me of all the reasons why I originally wanted to be a Pastry Chef and has made me a bit lonely for the dreams I used to have. But I’m so glad to have been able to revisit those dreams and share this passion with my team.
So are you ready to hear why I’m all excited???
I get to cook again this month!!! Yep, I’m a little hyper about it.
This morning I was having a bit of an emotional day. It happens. *shrug* I sat down to do some laundry list tasks and couldn’t access the café’s wifi where we were having lunch (my laptop is extra bad at picking up wifi). Ash asked me something about if I was feeling better (cause I caught the flu this week- yay me! :/ ) and my response was indecipherable. I was starting to tear up and couldn’t get my thoughts together. She waited a minute and then asked if we could go for a walk.
I was then totally taken off guard when she led me across the street, into a bakery supply shop. It’s seriously the most legit set up of ingredients I’ve seen since leaving the States. My happy scale was way off the charts. They have butter, CREAM CHEESE, all different types of flour and sugar and extracts, molds for chocolate, pans and mixes for cakes, and lots of other great stuff that Asia doesn’t believe in making available for the most part. They even have Alum powder! (Which isn’t really even a thing for most chefs. It’s more for fancy chefs like on Iron Chef America and stuff.)
Ash decided to head back to the café and left me to my devises in the shop. I quickly noticed Maszlin who was tending to the store and was kindly not saying anything as I had been running around, touching everything and excitedly explaining why each ingredient was so awesome to Ash. She’s very sweet and recently moved here from Kuala Lumpur with her husband and adorable son to help the family with their businesses. She said that she didn’t know much about baking but was learning the trade. They’re planning on opening a bigger bake shop next door to the café in the next couple months.
I quickly told her that I have a background in baking and would be more than happy to teach her some of the basics. We both started getting excited. She’s going to provide the oven and ingredients (which I can’t afford anyway) and I’m going to show her as much of what I know as I can. We’re still ironing out when this’ll happen. (I only met her like an hour or 2 ago.) But Lord willing I’ll be coming over to her house once a week for the duration of our stay here.
What a way to start your second day in a town~
So I’m over the moon as you can see.
Watch out: I’m back in the kitchen.
ps: God loves me. 😉 And you too I suppose 😛
