the Baker's Dozen

While looking (online) through the Ferry Building Cookbook (or the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Cookbook as it is officially called) I found out about this. The Bakers' Dozen baking support group has branches in SF, NYC and...Utah. Maybe one day Boston will officially be happening enough for such things. Maybe I can start Bakers Dozen New England, or something...or I coudl just join BDE and hang out with Colette Peters and Nick Malgieri.

in the meantime it'll join the list of reasons to return to SF (guess I've finally been bitten), which include:

Chez Panisse
Cocolat/hands-on baking class with fucking Alice Medrich (if she still does them)
Scharfen Berger
Slanted Door
the Ferry building
Frog Hollow
Frisson
J
Mumm
Rued's tasting room
snooty Cyrus cocktails
the twins
Cafe Fiori
Coi
La Mediteranee bien sur
Anchor Steam
Lagunitas
the Exploratorium roof cam, and
the Munucipal Pier, which feature in stories of mine...
the As new stadium
as always the best beach ever in Santa Cruz
as always my West Coast friends

Reasons to go to New York, onyl for a visit: Prune and Gramercy Tavern, going to eat at Babbo now that I've dreamt about it, snagging some Northern Spies at the Greenmarket, the planned CIA dinner excursion with Jes, oh yes, the Kiki Smith show.

Reasons to stay in Boston: I ridicuously have not gone to Sam Adams or Harpoon, I have not eaten all of Maura Kilpatrick's divine creations at Oleana, Oleana's informative open kitchen, I suppose I should check out Clio's Rick Billinger, then there's that chocolate brunch.

I've been avoiding my blog and I think it's because I've grown dissatisfied with my job. Slaving away for $11/hour is well and good when you are learning, but I'm not sure what else I will learn in my position. Sure, every time we do a menu change there are new treats to master--and maybe the fall menu was easy and the new menu will be more challenging--but I don't think the desserts are exceptional and when I ask a question about why we're doing something a certain way my boss gets very defensive, when all I'm asking for (and in a nice way) is information. Maybe my boss in intimidated by me...I think he wants to get into food writing and I'm a writer, I have my masters, I'm his age, and I'm a chef too. But I have an interview Thursday at the fancy, boutiquey, $15-an-hour-paying Spire restaurant in the nine zero hotel, so I feel a little better. Whether or not I'm interested in that position I think it's nice to see what other people are doing and get a reality check on how my job compares to others in the field. The pastry chef asked me if I knew how to make ice cream. Um, yes. And I hope that doesn't mean I'd primarily be spinning ice cream, but maybe it does, but for fifteen an hour I might be chill with that. I really would like to work for a woman.