Chef Life.

"So you want to be a chef?" A stern man once said to me as he looked down at the tiny slip of the girl I was at sixteen. We were out the back of one of the most well known restaurants in the coastal town I grew up in and it was my first day as a 'trainee chef'. The chef looked at me patronisingly and I had the feeling he thought I would never make it.

Seven years later and I find myself so deeply entangled in this world of cooking and loving it so dearly. At five a.m I wake up most days before the sun. I have this wonderful morning ritual where I have worked out the perfect timing of poaching eggs by how long it takes for me to apply foundation and dry my hair. I make a large pot of coffee and head back to bed to feast on toast, spinach and eggs while I read foodie blog posts and the news. I know all of my friends will still be tucked up in bed unaware that 5am is a time that actually exists for being awake. On weekends they may be nursing hangovers from adventures out to the city or dinner parties in their little homes. I however will be running out the door with a big woollen coat wrapped around me for protection from the icy Melbourne wind and still thinking fondly of how warm bed felt.

This is the life of a pastry chef......busy, tiring and busy. Did I mention its busy? Half way through the day today the head pastry chef I work with turned to me and said "You know Cherry, being a chef is such a stressful job." This was coming from someone with thirty years experience. So it's safe to say I don't think it every really gets easy. It is however lovely.

There is something so satisfying about making something with your hands, and of earning a living from doing something creative.

Here are some pictures of some deserts I've been working on lately. Hope you enjoy a little peek into my kitchen/life.