The day I quit the computer industry was the day I was set free from the pressures and utter chaos of it. Liberating? Yes. Satisfying? Most definitely.

Four solid months of complete slackerdom. It was always designed that way (well six weeks of it, at least) so I had no reservations about it. Then, like Don Vito Corleone himself was speaking, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. So back to the industry I go.

Funny thing is...through all of the hand wringing and guilt for leaving what I knew for 20 years and then returning to the heart of the beast, I have no regrets. Even more so, since I have actually been baking my happy ass *off* (keeping my sour starters healthy, making bread nearly every week...and always thinking of the next modifications I can make to my bread recipe arsenal) plus cooking and discovering new food joints and restaurants, I have rarely felt the need to write about such things anymore.

And yeah, about the writing thing...maybe it was just showing off when I couldn't achieve my dreams. Or showing off just because I wanted, needed and craved the attention about thinking that I knew more about food than everyone else. I am the first to admit that such arrogance lives right inside of me and actually feeds me from time to time. Well, maybe a little bit more than that.

But the humbling aspects of meeting and working with food industry people that really DO know more than you, have more experience than you, and actually have DONE MORE than you puts this arrogant little boy into his proper place. The arrogance is still extant but the quest to learn is much, much stronger and associating with and, more importantly, working with experienced folks is the order of the day, even if I can only do that occasionally because of the new path I have chosen.

Will I ever have my wholesale bakery operation (as I cryptically alluded to back in July)?
I will.

Will I make kick ass bread and other bakery goods?
Always.

Everything is just on a different timeline now...one that is bounded by nothing except my desire to succeed, no matter what job I do.

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(photo by wm. christman)

Indeed. Right now.

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(photo by wm. christman)

10 quarts, no waiting.  Well, as much "no waiting" as bread will allow. Stay tuned for more additions to the new "lab".

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(logo courtesy of Sandy's Chocolate Laboratory and Sandesh Reddy)

When I tell people I'm going to India, everyone says "ooh, how neat, you'll get to eat a bunch of great Indian food!". Well, not to burst anyone's bubble, to me India (actually the city of Chennai or Madras to the Brits) ain't all that. To spare you the excruciating details, let's just say this city is not one of my favorite places to go for a variety of reasons. Food-wise, however, there is some outstanding Indian food here but 2 or 3 days of two meals a day consisting of nothing but curries and dosas and tandoories gets tedious real fast.

On my first night here (which includes 24 hours of travel time, going to bed at 6 am, plus all that jet lag), my co-worker and I (full disclosure: the co-worker in this case, is my manager Irina, who is quite cool all around, pretty fun to travel with, and wee a bit of a chocoholic) were expecting an evening of fine supping at one of the restaurants we went to on the last trip.  But what her friend Kaushal found for us was anything but ordinary for Chennai.  And from the moment I saw Sandy's Chocolate Laboratory and Delicatessen, I knew it would be like Alice falling down the rabbit hole...

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A good day down the tubes... (photo by wm. christman)

I like coffee houses with attitude. I especially like those that reflect that attitude through the clever design to their menus and interiors, and how they handle and treat their customers. Usually, those type of places have folks running them that are very knowledgeable but not arrogantly so. And because these places usually have a rabid interest in serving kick-ass (delicious) coffee beverages, their coffee and roasting skills also reflect the care and attitude.

However, attitude alone is not substitute for good service. And attitude for the sake of having one or trying to prove that you are somehow "hipper" than everyone else by being arrogant, treating your new customers like shit, and generally acting like idiots because you "know better" is even worse. Enter San Jose's Barefoot Coffee Roasters.

Barefoot Coffee Roasters have been around for several years and have become one of the better independent coffee roasters in the Bay Area. I drink their coffee through three or four different, and not affiliated, coffee houses. Their coffee has been consistently good so I have no particular beef with that. In fact, I support businesses like this but find myself less inclined to do so after the treatment I received this morning at their store on Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose.

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I'm not a fan of chain restaurants, in either diner or fast food varieties, so maybe this is just me pissing in the wind. HOWEVER.....

Of all the dumbshit food combos that have blanketed the news lately (A KFC Double Down, anyone? Your delicious heart attack is just moments away!), this one struck some sort of nerve enough to wonder if the aim of all of this is to try and turn us all into (even more) dumb beasts.

What I'm referring to is IHOP's new "Pancake Stackers" that are "delightfully layered with creamy cheesecake..." Yeesh. Why? Aren't pancakes with some maple syrup and a side of bacon or sausage ENOUGH anymore?

Apparently not because IHOP's press release states that they'e topped [their pancakes with] "with one of America's favorite flavors -- cheesecake". Jesus, what's next? A deep fried, beer'n'salt battered slab of back bacon to go with IHOP's take on what makes America's taste buds tick?

Let's take a look at the IHOP scoreboard: Taste Buds 1 , Still Beating Heart 0. Way to go IHOP!

(Thanks to slashfood for the article link for this post.)

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(photo by wm. christman)

12 pounds of pork belly means it's bacon curing time!

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