First of all, I want to say that I named this blog long before that NBC show came out. (Although I have to admit I do love that show.) I'm just saying...they copied me.
I'm looking up white cake recipes on the internet and half of them call for boxed cake. I will never understand modern America. The thing I love about baking is that you can create something all your own. Sure, cake is cake but not all cake can have the subtle sweetness of almond extract or the twang of a nutmeg aftertaste. And some cake can be dry. When you really think about it, boxed cake is just another way to conform. And it's not even a delicious way to conform.
Although, sometimes, even when you do have tried and true recipes that are fabulously yours and yours alone, you can forget about the altitude difference between Washington and Montana and come to the party with an uncooked dessert. It doesn't make for a good first impression. People judge preparers of botched food.
Speaking of conforming, I've recently started a new job at Starbucks. Hee haw, I'm a coffee sellout and I've lost all of my coffee morals. Not so! I maintain that Starbucks has a nasty habit of burning some-to-most of their coffees but I have the delight of working in a store with a Clover machine (basically a reverse french press that brews one cup at a time.) The main significance of that is that we get all the reserve coffees that most stores don't get. It helps that I live in the place where Starbucks was invented and work in the 3rd store ever that the company opened. But some of the reserve coffees are good. I know, I know, it's hard to believe but the more I'm learning the more appreciative I am of the company and the work they're doing. I secretly hope to one day travel to visit some of the coffee plantations. (In my mind on this fabulous work trip I go to South America but I'm not going to be picky.)
Point being, Starbucks is actually quite conscious of sustainable growth and ethical sourcing. And they invented the Flavor Lock Seal! (That little hole on all coffee bags that lets you smell how great the coffee is? Yeah, it's to release gasses to keep coffee fresh while traveling. Who knew?) I realize that this is just who I am, jumping all in to whatever I'm doing and getting all gung ho to please my bosses, but I can appreciate the effort of a company that is actually doing good things as opposed to a company that says they're doing good things while really just using cheap child labor in Cambodia. Generosity of the human spirit that goes worldwide instead of focusing on what's right in front of them, i.e. what their customers can see.
I can also appreciate good management. And how a company really values all of their employees even if they did just start a month ago. To not be scared during corporate visits and maybe seeing the CEO downtown in the morning. Because when you live in Seattle, you can see CEO's of major national companies and maybe even attend the same wedding in Canada and also dances in your wedding circle. No big.
Life is good in Seattle. It's 70 degrees and I'm looking out my balcony onto the tree-filled neighborhood below and can just see a glimpse of the sun setting on Lake Washington. I look to my right and see downtown Bellevue which I am pretty sure was designed in a way that when light hits it it takes your breath away.
I never did bake that cake. I really should just stick to my cookbooks.
No comments:
Post a Comment