Dearest Readers, Collaborators of Life and Fellow Human Beings!

It has snowed.

Not too much, thank goodness. But enough.

Enough to let the silence be loud enough to notice.
Enough that the trees had a layer on their naked branches.
Enough to make snowballs.
Enough for my four delightful canines to run around in.

 My favourite part is the silence. How all of a sudden, the world stops a little bit. It's quiet. I can hear myself. It's delightful.

In Daydreams,
Her Grace

Dear Readers (far and wide, whomever you may be!),


Contemplating the life as a baker, Her Grace realises that most portrayals of the Baking Life in popular culture is rather inaccurate. Here are just a few realities to the unrealities:

Unreality: The baker looks well rested and rises every morning just before dawn to start the new day.
Reality: The baker is awake, usually after only a few hours of sleep, several hours before dawn to begin all prep work that needs to be done prior to baking, or, the prep work that the baker was too exhausted to do before he went to bed. Sometimes, he does everything before he gets to bed, causing a late bedtime anyway.
Unreality: The baker eats everything he bakes and doesn't get sick of his product.
Reality: The baker relishes in the thought of eating something other than what he is baking.
Unreality: The baker looks amazing every day as he/she bakes. (Kind of like Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in "Stranger Than Fiction")
Reality: Sometimes, yes. Usually, absolutely not.
Unreality: Baking is an easy, fun, satisfying career.
Reality: Baking is a hard-on-your-body, not-always-fun, satisfying-but-you-don't-always-feel-like-it lifestyle.

Sometimes, you get along with your product. Sometimes, you want to throw it all away and never have to look at another one ever again.
Usually, you enjoy eating the loaf of bread you just made. Usually, you will also be craving something not containing starch, carbohydrates, gluten or anything related to it.

So, before you might decide to become a baker, remember these things:

1. It's very hard on you physically; apart from having to lift 50lb bags of flour, sugar etc, you will be standing on your feet for very long periods of time. Your feet will be tired, your legs will be tired, your back will hurt.
2. You don't usually get much sleep; you must learn to adjust. Caffeine is also helpful.
3. If you are a hobby baker (which is lovely!); apprentice with a baker before you dive completely in by yourself. You want to see if you actually want to do it.
4. From all the pain, exhaustion and the seemingly endless list of things that need to be done, you are going to be grumpy. The other people around working with you are going to be grumpy. Tempers will flare and yelling matches will undoubtedly happen. Remember to keep your temper.
5. Bread particularly; It owns you. You are a slave to the bread dough. Everything revolves around its chemistry, your awake time, your sleep time... It take approximately 23 hours from start to finish for a good loaf of Italian bread.

The best things about being a bread baker:

1. The glee of meeting fellow foodies. When you love something, like bread, you want to share that love with everyone you meet. 
2. The sunrises. Truly. Even though you're exhausted and rather be in bed, sunrises are the worth it.
3. The smell of basic Italian bread. No matter how not hungry you are, that scent never stops smelling heavenly.
4. Watching people love your cookies.
5. The fact that it's not a career - it's a lifestyle. Everything you do revolves around the dough, the cookie schedule, the pies, the cakes... It's slower, because it has to be.
6. The fun of creating something new.

 So, to those who love to bake: Don't believe the picture when it comes to a baker in popular culture. Go out and meet bakers. They love what they do, but it isn't easy. Go out and eat!

Cheers!
Her Grace