Birthday FUN Stuff

I just wanted to post a picture of the beautiful cake that my friends at PPD got for my birthday and, while I'm at it, a few of the fun gifts I got!! The cake was a chocolate praline from Financier (a GREAT bakery down by Wall Street - one of my 2 favorites). As you can see, we are working our way through it!! The next picture is of this snuggly, wonderful stuffed (but not too much) animal that my friend Gabriela got me. It's just the greatest thing to snuggle, except for Todd. It's unbelievably soft and (this is the best part) it is made with very little stuffing so that you can kind of just flop it around and wrap it around you. I slept in this morning (big time - see karaoke/dancing pictures from last night) and the elephant was a comfort. :) The next is of an old map Todd got for me (possibly dated 1890) - as many of you know, I LOVE MAPS! This one officially starts my collection. Next is the very OUTRAGEOUS cake server from Pylones that Todd also got me (he is a good husband) - not only is it a cake server (!!), but it's in the shape of a dog and it has DAISIES on it. My very own Daisy dog cake server. It works great (see picture #1). Last, the picture of the plates and glasses that my friend Ana got for me - how well do my new friends know me???

Graduation #2

I spent all of last weekend and most of this past week at this very computer, finishing my business plan and putting together my PowerPoint presentation. I made menus, design books, layout plans, etc. I took time out on Monday and Wednesday for the first 2 days of my externship at the restaurant. I spent all day (7-7) each day working and then came home to work on my school stuff. It came together very nicely and my business plan was presented on Thursday afternoon, with graduation that evening. It feels great to finally be DONE! Now, I just have to get through the next 6 weeks of my externship and I will be ready to enter the working world, get some experience and think more about opening my bakery/cafe. The plans look great! After graduation, Todd took me out to dinner for my birthday to a place called Picholine. The food and service were wonderful and my dinner date (TODD) was incredible. What a great husband I have! He woke me up on Thursday morning with birthday cake for breakfast (the way I like to start every birthday) and my wonderful friends at home arranged for ANOTHER cake that he picked up in the afternoon. I have 2 favorite bakeries in NYC and Todd's cake was from one of them and the other cake was from my other favorite. YUM! Gotta start a serious sugar detox tomorrow. :) I got some wonderful cards, messages and emails throughout the day. It really is the VERY BEST thing to have great friends and family. Please know as you are reading this that I think I am one of the luckiest people EVER to have you all in my life.

The first picture posted is of some of our class at graduation, the second is me with my graduation flower and (look closely) the FANTASTIC necklace Todd gave me for my birthday, Todd and Ron, our group at the bar and then Anastasia and I singing karaoke. Enjoy!

Guest Post from Todd: Heidi's Graduation from Pastry

This past Friday Heidi had her graduation from the pastry program. All of the seniors were introduced and awarded a chef's hat, a letter of recognition, and a book on cakes. The graduates will be "official" once they complete their externships. There's always one more hoop to jump through, isn't there?!



All of the seniors had their "Sugar Showpieces" on display. Heidi's Sugar Showpiece is pictured here. It is Heidi's interpretation of "Summer in New York" (the theme selected by the class), a 3-D image of the NY skyline and summer-themed bouncy things like fireworks, hot dogs, baseballs, flip-flops, and a bikini-top! Where's the bikini bottom?! It was very nicely done and a great execution of the theme. Way to go, Heidi! And I thought I was Heidi's "Sugar Showpiece." All of the students work was excellent. It was neat to see what everyone did for their final project. The visitors also had the chance to sample some of the class's handmade chocolates. I liked the green tea frogs! That was a real treat! And probably not all that bad for me.

Heidi, congratulations, on your graduation from the pastry program. We (me and your entire fan club) are so proud of you!

After graduation, Heidi and I had dinner with Gabriela and Josh at Tribeca Grill before retiring for the evening. We were all tired. I'm pretty sure that Heidi fell asleep on the subway with her head on my shoulder. She does that a lot and I like it. That is one of the things I will miss about our time in New York.

Happy 4th of July!

It was nice having the day off today, but I did spend most of it in front of the computer. Still working (HARD) on my business plan. I spent a lot of time on the menu and the design element, including a proposed layout (like a blueprint) and plan to put together a design portfolio with samples of furniture, paints, tiles, wood and decorative items that work well with my concept. I took a few hours break this afternoon to go into the city with Todd. We went down to Wall Street for another street fair. This one was pretty good! I tried to take Todd to Financier (one of my favorite bakeries), but they were closed (again)...We had dinner in and just went out to the waterfront to watch the fireworks display. It was a little rainy, but the SHOW WENT ON! Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Wrapping Up Classes (and Special PG-13 surprise)

Well, I am finishing my last week of pastry classes and working on my chocolate showpiece and business plan. The chocolate showpiece (remember the theme is "Summer in New York") is due on Thursday and will be presented at our graduation. I can celebrate on Friday night, but first thing Saturday morning I am going to need to be buckled down at the computer again, working on finishing up my business plan, which is due next Thursday. Graduation #2 (from Culinary Management) is that evening, which also happens to be..............my birthday! (I keep forgetting!) I am going to post a few more pictures of some of our chocolate truffles that we made. The first ones are called "Palette d'Oro" - rich, dark, chocolate ganache center, dipped in semi-sweet chocolate with a little gold leaf on top, the second picture is milk chocolate ones with almond filling, the third (the frogs) are matcha green tea filling. The fourth is chocolate dipped peanut clusters. The last picture below is from our sight-seeing on the Circle Line cruise. This was the "sight" directly in front of me!! CRACK KILLS! Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!