Life's Too Short...

And I'm too busy!

I did find time Tuesday night with Tyler to test a few of our bread recipes!

We have our white bread, wheat bread, cinnamon sugar bread, chocolate bread, and we are still in the works with a few others! I'll have to take some pictures.

Launch day is T MINUS 34 days and counting and I am feeling strapped for time! Hopefully within the next couple weeks, I will have more to post including pictures! I am going to be doing some sampling with a bunch of honest pastry cooks, well hopefully honest!

So, instead of just keeping track of my NON-progress, I'm sure you guys want to know our story a bit.  I'll try and explain.

You've heard about Tyler's obsession with Peanut Butter and my degree in Baking and Pastry.  I work at Momofuku Milkbar at the moment. I also work at Sur la Table. I enjoy both jobs.  They're Grrreat! But I do not want to be a pastry cook forever, and I do not want to be a salesperson either (I'm REALLY not cut out for sales.... Um, yeah, they're all good brands... you should buy whichever one FEELS right to you.... that's not exactly what the boss wants to hear) but I do fair pretty well and a lot of customers like my non-pushy vibe and I do actually sell some things. Crazy.

But I guess in "adventuring" into the Peanut Butter and Jelly world, I am looking for something more. Something to fulfill what I want to do, rather than what someone ELSE wants me to do.  And hopefully it will turn a small profit.  I'm not going crazy here, but at least breaking even and supporting itself as a small (miniscule) business will satisfy me.  If no one likes it, well, it will just increase my odds for success in the next "adventure".

I have plenty of ideas all the time, but I am poor, there is NO getting around this fact, and I do not have any money for start up. Luckily, Tyler has some to help with the Peanut Butter Jelly, which is a low start up (luckily), but we are hoping that if it can stand on its own two, thin, peanut buttery legs, that maybe we will be able to invest in more of our ideas.  (We have a book. Literally... AND I could have kicked myself when the iPod came out. That was really hard on me... Baby Mama? Anyone? Anyone? fine.)

So, that's a bit of our story. Stay tuned for more!.... Oscars are on.....

Ok.... Let me just take my foot out of my mouth

So, I need to make a public apology.

Tyler's birthday is February 10th.  I even celebrated with him! I just do not remember these things correctly which makes me look really bad because he ALWAYS remembers my birthday/anniversary/any of the dates that men are meant to forget and women remember.  And I do not remember.

He saw the post and said... "Well, it's a good thing my mother isn't reading this yet!"... He would.

So, there is it. I apologize for mistyping your birthday date. My bad.  Let's move on...

On the Peanut butter and Jelly front I got some particularly exciting news tonight after I got home from work!

Brooklyn Flea Market (if you have never been you NEED TO GO) might be welcoming us and Momofuku Milk Bar (my employer) and actually giving us a booth! Oh, the responsibility!

So, I hope to see you all there.

New jelly in order... Kool-Aid Grape jelly and peanut butter sandwich. No word yet on whether or not we are allowed to call it Kool-Aid grape jelly. But are they really gonna track little ole' me down? Hope not.  It's pretty delicious!

So, starting in April (!!!) come on down and try our purple drink peanut butter sandwich at the Brooklyn Flea! (YES!)

Until next time...

Day Two

So, February 11th was Tyler's birthday so instead of focusing on
peanut butter and jelly, I made a giant chocolate chip cookie cake! It
was delicious!!

So, then I had a conversation about where we might set up this
summer... (it's pretty exciting! I think maybe you should remain in
suspense) and WHO we might be selling our products with! It's going to
be amazing. If it all works out that is.

Today however I am going to devote a bit of my time to figuring out
some of our bread recipes.  I know I would like a white bread, a
brioche maybe, a wheat, and hmm.... what else. Maybe something... A
doughnut perhaps? Would anyone be interested in that?! I certainly
hope so. So, I am going to be checking out some ideas for that today,
and hopefully putting something in the oven soon enough.

I have a few new ideas about jellies and jams. I know I want to do a
bunch of them myself so we will just have to wait and see.  I find
inspiration everywhere and I have a few GENIUS friends who are kind
enough to support me and help me think of even more clever things.

So, off I go today! Stay tuned...

Day One

So.  Here I am. Day one. New blog.

Let me just begin by saying I am not a "blogger".  I am not a part of
my own generation in the sense that I don't typically read every one's
Facebook posts and, for that matter, write any of my own.  I guess I
am an old soul at heart.  I am one of the few under 30 who are not
attached to their phone or computer's at the hip.  I actually did
without a cell phone for 6-8 months or so, and I have to tell you I
didn't really miss it one bit!

What am I doing here then you ask?

I feel the need to embrace parts of this Internet generation, as it is
my own, and also because I find that this might help my cause (if you
want to know what the heck I am talking about... please, read on).
And besides, let's face it, this Internet-driven, blogging,
Facebooking society just isn't going anywhere anytime soon. So, why
not try my hand at it.

My Cause (well, at least you didn't have to wait very long...)

This is Peanut Butter Jellified.  A vision of mine.

You see, I have this boyfriend, you'll get to know him well.  Tyler.
He eats peanut butter by the spoonful jarful and a peanut butter jelly
sandwich pretty much everyday. I grew up with peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, as did everyone I've ever known.  To me, well, it was
never really anything special.  By the time lunch rolled around the
white squishy bread was soggy with jelly and thick with peanut butter,
every bite clinging to the roof of my mouth so viciously I had to use
my finger to pry it off so I could chew and swallow.

So, then I met Tyler, and then I met Tyler's peanut butter and jelly
sandwich (which is now the third wheel in our relationship).

This peanut butter and jelly sandwich was different.  Other than the
fact that his peanut butter to jelly ratio is a little skewed for me
(the man despises sweets so just a tiny dab of jelly in the middle
will do for him), it was rather perfect. It reawakened (is that even a
word?) my soul to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

So, my vision, inspired by my love for my boyfriend's peanut butter
and jelly sandwich love... confusing?... is to create the most perfect
peanut butter and jelly sandwich(es) and share them with the world.

But, considering my love for taking food and mutating it into
something more, and with my diploma (which hopefully counts for
something) from The Culinary Institute of America, I wasn't satisfied
with a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I needed more.

Here is my more...  As you follow along... I will be experimenting and
hopefully trying to pawn off my creations on other people (read: sell
my food).  You will discover that I am about to take the peanut butter
and jelly sandwich that you loved (or hated) as a child and turn it on
it's head.  Oh yeah, while also having a full-time job, AND a
part-time job (to support HIS peanut butter and jelly sandwich habit,
ha).

Awesome.  Let's do this thing.