Change is what's up!

Hello Cyber Space,

As some as you might know by now, I quit my job at ICE last week after realizing that I needed to get back into the kitchen. I've definitely enjoyed my time at ICE and am so appreciative of all the flexibility they've given me since I started in November 2008. Originally my job at ICE started as a part-time gig that I maintained while finishing up my senior year at NYU and pastry school. When I finished my grueling yet rewarding at times externship at Daniel, I questioned my future in the kitchen. My experience there, literally scared me out of the kitchen, and it made me doubt my passion for pastry :(

I've been at ICE for the past 3.5 months working full-time, and this time away from the kitchen has really given me the chance to think about my future and what I want to do with my life. In December, I was given the opportunity to teach a class at NYU. I am still in touch with a professor of mine, who teaches 2 different cooking classes in my department. She helped me develop my skills before I went to pastry school and was part of the reason why I earned a scholarship towards pastry school. Her class was techniques based class, and in their last class they were focusing on cakes. I luckily had a few friends in the class who told me about it and I immediately got in touch with the professor to see if she would let me help her teach the class. All I expected to do was help, but she suggested that I fully take over and teach by myself! I spent about a week planning the class, enjoyed every second of that, and then when it came down to actually teaching, it was just incredible. When I was lecturing the class and doing hands-on demos, it just felt so unbelievably natural. I was in the kitchen, working with pastry, and passing on my knowledge of a subject that I am so adamantly passionate about. When the class finished, I was filled with such a high that I immediately knew what I needed to do. TEACH!

Well, I couldn’t just teach professionally because in the food industry you need a ton of experience to be able to teach. It doesn’t matter how much schooling you have – you literally have to walk the walk before you talk the talk. Since I am in charge of instructor licensing at ICE, I know that I need a minimum of 5 years experience working at restaurants or bakeries to teach at a culinary school. Even though I knew I needed experience to teach, I was still scared to go back into the kitchen. I do know now that not every kitchen is going to be like the one I experienced on my externship. It took me some time to figure that out and at least I had a job while I was figuring that out!

So where does this leave Cassie’s Cakery? For now I’ll be blogging about my job searching experience. I plan on going on a ton of trails in order to find the right place! Then I’ll blog about working as a pastry cook in the restaurant industry. Cassie’s Cakery, can still happen, and I hope it does happen, but I’ve got a ways to go! It feels so good knowing that I have a plan. Who knows, maybe I’ll be a pastry chef in a super swanky restaurant, and you’ll think to yourself, “I used to read her blog.”

Please stay tuned for more updates because change is what’s up!