Hot Sugar.

Here are the "best girls in Chicago" that I was telling ya about...

I know I said I'd talk to you on Monday, but I lied.  Instead I tackled my pile of ironing the size of Mt. Everest.  Ok, can I just say I hate a newly washed pair of jeans.  Male readers you can just tune out for a sec.  You pull them out of your drawer forgetting that they have shrunk to an uncomfortable level.  Then, while trying to hurry out the door, you pull them on and... "ughhh I forgot I washed these!"  You squat, lunge, shimmy, and very slowly inch your way into those stubborn jeans.  It's like trying to shove a watermelon into a sandwich bag and its just upsetting.  












Well this week we are working with pulled sugar! It's a painful skill to learn, but I have absolutely loved working with it! Pulled sugar is amazingly forgiving.  It's too hard? No problemo, just heat it up.  It wont glue? Just melt the end over a flame.  The shape drooped? Just heat it under the lamp and reshape it.  Don't get me wrong though, I said forgiving, not easy.  The first time I pulled my sugar I guess I got overly zealous about it, because I pulled it when it was too hot and ruined it.  Also if you are too firm with it, it will shatterer into pieces.  

This is me casting my piece for the top layer of the cake!  Right after I poured this I torched an air bubble on the surface, also tarnishing the side of the disc.  Chef Scott passed by after and once again wanted to punch me in the face.  Those were brand new discs.  (Just for the record, Chef Scott would never actually punch me in the face.  Well, maybe if... yeah no... he would never) 

The worst thing about working with sugar is that it is HOT.  If you are a fan of pain, this is the thing for you.  We wear gloves, but it still feels like you are placing your hand on a hot stove just for fun.  My friend in the class pulled off her gloves and also pulled off three layers of skin from her thumb.  Today, the sugar melted right through my glove and seared my thumb.  I'm not one to use fowl language, but this stuff makes you want to scream the f-bomb at the top of your lungs.  You get in the zone after a while and that can be dangerous.  We are working with an open flame, and sometimes you get distracted and forget it's there.  "What's that smell?" Oh just my gloves burning, or my partners arm hair being singed off.  It's all for a good cause, and on Friday I'm going to show you a cake covered in sugar decorations.  Stay tuned. 

My first pulled sugar rose!

Tomorrow we will be forming more spheres, birds, twigs, and roses for our proficiency on Friday.  I'm making a boat load of pieces this time, I'm just gonna plan on an unlucky amount of them breaking.  Below is a picture of Chef Scott showing us bubble sugar, and blown sugar.  We used the blown sugar to form our birds and spheres.

I'm afraid I don't have any train stories for you today.  But I did stop at Five Guys on the way home for a cheeseburger.  Best decision I've made today.  If I get married I hope my husband will understand my random cravings for cheeseburgers.  By random, I mean constant.  It's funny I've never felt unsafe in Chicago, but when I walked out of there holding my Five Guys bag, I suddenly felt vulnerable.  Mugging people isn't my thing, but I would be tempted if they were holding a bag of Five Guys goodness.  Well my cheeseburger made it hope safely and then suddenly vanished.  I may be typing this entry with my jeans unbuttoned but I couldn't be happier about it.  Stretchy pants, here I come.