About Laura

Welcome and thanks for stopping by! 

 A little more than a year ago, I was living at home with my parents after graduating from college, cramming for the GRE, completing application essays, and preparing myself for starting nursing school this past fall.

In an attempt to find a more reliable part-time job, one evening I decided to browse Craigslist out of pure curiosity.  In fact, weeks prior I had been toying with the idea of applying for a local bakery position.  I told myself that I was merely fulfilling a long-held desire to work in the food industry before embarking on the long journey awaiting me in nursing.

I found a listing for a part-time baker and decorator for Sweetbites Desserts, a popular DC food truck, and immediately applied.  Two weeks later, I became the head baker and was soon whipping up and decorating between 20-50 dozen cupcakes a day.  It was definitely a learning experience and I definitely have a few burns and scars to prove it…

But for the first time ever, I was actually looking forward to work.  I loved working independently, being busy constantly, and finally putting my creativity and passion for food to use.  I distinctly remember telling a friend of mine within the first week or two on the job, “I would do this for free!”  Call me delusional, but that was my honest opinion.  Yes, I was clearly in the honeymoon period.  But I was excited to talk about work, significantly happier with life, and it just felt right.

I continued to work on applications and tell people about my nursing plans, but the rest of my time and energy was spent doing other things.  Ironically, all those things revolved around a common theme, whether it was working on this blog {which I started in August 2010}, coming up with new recipes or ideas for the bakery, cooking at home for family and friends, talking about food, or reading cookbooks.  Looking back, I’m pretty sure the universe was desperately trying to tell me to wake up and  smell the cocoa!

As Steve Jobs once said:

Finally, one night while out at dinner, everything began to click and I finally began listening to my gut.  I no longer wanted to become a nurse. Though not easy, I started the long process of telling all my family and friends about my huge change in plans.  It was overwhelming and nerve wracking at times—I shed lots of tears, but gave many more sighs of relief.

After much deliberation (a few set-backs) and careful consideration, I decided that what I really wanted to do was attend culinary school and pursue a career related, in some way or the other, to food.

While I may not know where I’ll be in one year, let alone five, what I do know is that, come January 3rd, 2012 you can find me in my chef’s whites at L’Academie de Cuisine…

Of course, every little detail, in addition to sharing my own favorite recipes and cooking adventures in my apartment kitchen, will be shared right here on this blog.

I hope you’ll join me for the ride!

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