Mistakes

I make a lot of them. Just ask Kevin. However, I learn from every one. Yesterday was a perfect example.

I was making Russian Tea Cakes (in Louisiana, we called them Mexican Wedding Cookies, but since we can see Russia from here…). The recipe called for three cups of chopped nuts. I got out the bag of sliced almonds and started chopping them, handful by handful, on the bakery bench with a Sudoku knife. Three cups is a lot of nuts to chop. Finally, as I was chopping the last of them, Kevin walked in and said, over his shoulder, “I would have used the Cuisinart.”

Sigh. Duh! I’m used to making family recipes that call for a one cup chopped nuts and I have always chopped them by hand because it’s not enough to dirty up my food processor. However, three cups would have been a breeze in the food processor.

An hour later, the Tea Cakes were out of the oven and ready to roll in powdered sugar. I got a small bowl, just like I do at home, and began to painstakingly roll each one in the powdered sugar. Kevin walked into the bakery and laughed out loud this time, wishing he had a camera.

“Kathy! Get a big bowl and fill it with powdered sugar and dump all of the cookies in there at once to toss them.”

Sigh. Duh!

He tells me he’s going to break me of all of my homecooking habits, my Suzie Homemake habits, my Marth Stewart habits. I’m used to cooking for 2-10, not 40-100. There’s a big difference and a huge learning curve!

My muffins aren’t high enough. My lattes don’t have enough foam. I forgot the shredded cheese in the spinach pinwheels. My cookies aren’t flat enough. The baker’s knife is missing. I didn’t get the menus printed out for the front of the house early enough. I filled the soup bowl too full. My Lemon Cream Cheese Bars didn’t set well in the middle because the pan is too big. My Oatmeal Cookies are burned. The smoothie was supposed to be Peach, not Raspberry. The schedules aren’t made. We’re out of biscuits. I sprinkled yeast instead of Cinnamon Sugar on the Danish. I was supposed to order Take-Out Menus two days ago.

Overwhelmed? Yes. Mistakes? Yes.

Determined? Absolutely!

As a side note, you should know that Kevin and Donna Maltz are the wonderful folks from whom I'm buying the restaurant. They’ve owned it for 30 years and Kevin is spending this summer mentoring/training me on how to run the business. Thank goodness for their unending patience and belief in me!