How to Survive Advanced Artisan Breads Class

1. Communicate. By this I mean to tell your group every little thing. Tell them what and when you are scaling, mixing, dividing, shaping, baking, doing dishes, what your thoughts are on everything, when you are confused, and even tell them when you have to use the restroom. Tell them so much that they should know you far too well by the end of the segment. 

Light Rye-Multigrain-Lean Dough

2. Check your work. This class comes with a lot of conversion work (repetitive math). If you just did about 4 formula conversions in a row, chances are you messed up on at least one, so re-check, because if you don't, class will not go as smoothly as you thought (you thought it would because you prepped the conversions ahead of time and felt prepared). Also, check that you did not skip a line when re-writing a recipe because it will throw the entirety of your weights off (even if they were converted correctly...silly me). Then, when you get to class, the checking does not end: check your team mate's work). Never stop checking.

3. Do not rely on a video that you 'thought' you caught on your phone for notes. Hold the camera steady while writing notes, and use the video as a back-up. I say this because sometimes after a new iphone update, your video camera changes format and when you thought you took a video just to view it later and realize you missed the entire demo, you will be a little disappointed.

Croissants (plain, cheese, chocolate)

4. Use common sense. You know more than you think. Do not second guess yourself. And if your romanian chef with a heavy accent asks you to do something that you do not understand after asking for the second time for clarification, just ask again, don't guess.

5. If you have time, try not to save the project for the last minute, staying up till midnight when you have to wake at 4am for work is never desired. 

Live Deco Dough

6. Smile. Laugh at yourself and your mistakes. Call them learning experiences, tell yourself that it will not happen again and move on. By the end of the class, I discovered that the class was a lot easier when I started smiling rather than carrying stress on my shoulders so heavily that I felt like it was going to be the end of the world if I didn't get something done exactly right. If you get everything done exactly right, then you shouldn't be in school. You go to school to learn, so learn (even if you learn the hard way, that's sometimes the best way).