Posted by Susan L on December 04, 1997 at 21:55:45:
In Reply to: Re: And then the pot called the kettle black ... posted by Gerard on December 03, 1997 at 23:31:12:
: This site is for pro's and this is how we talk among ourselves on occasion, I'd like to think this is a place we pros can let our hair down and speak freely. I bake 7 days a week for a living and I think I'm in thr right place saying what I think about the phoneys in the food biz. What do you do ?
Confusing things? Well, yes and no. Please see my reply to cuacomo if you'd like to know what was going on from my end. Very sorry to have interrupted your conversation. No question that you're in the right place to hold forth about all the phoneys in the food biz. And other bakers tell me that they work hardest during the holidays, their busiest time of year. Yours, too?
But Gerard -- can't you call the Evil Ones something else? *I'm* a writer. (Not a food writer or even a cookbook writer, thank heavens, or it sounds like I'd be answering to you personally for the fall of Western civilization.) A technical writer employed by a metallurgy research facility. I translate reports from the mother tongue of engineers, design screens for databases, that sort of thing. A card-carrying member of the Great Migrant Technoid Class.
So what am I doing here? Well, I do bake, what with furnaces and ovens not really being all that different. Worked my way through school by way of food service (camp kitchens, college cafeterias, dinner theatres), so I know my way around a mop and a dishwasher and a paring knife. (grin) My sister is a registered dietician who worked her way up through various hospital dietary depts to one of those cushy corporate jobs that takes her all over the place, but that's her story, not mine.
And the real point is this: I'm a sick puppy. Allergic to all sorts of chemicals, especially food additives (like artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, MSG). Not complaining, mind you, since life was hell before I found out what was wrong. But it's been a long time since my options included picking up dinner at a deli or going to an unfamiliar restaurant or popping into a neighborhood bakery. So our food is prepared by my husband who cooks and me who bakes. He's great, a natural. Me, I have to work at it. But I love fine food, so I'm just going to have to spend the rest of my life learning how to prepare it.
No, not interested in going into the business. Just not sturdy enough. But very interested in being the best baker that I can be and in learning from the best teachers that I can find (which includes gleaning bits of wisdom from your postings, Gerard). Can you respect that, if not me? You wouldn't cast me out into that cold, cruel world of Martha Stewart clones ... would you?