I have a few mottos in my life:

• Onward & Upward
• Let’s do this
• Nailed it
• Let’s keep the mistakes on this side of the door
• There’s no crying in baking

Seems like a pretty simple way to live life, and for the most part, it works for me. It’s hard to get upset when surrounded by sugar, butter, and chocolate, right?

Unfortunately, the reality of this job is that sometimes mistakes happen that are seemingly out of our control, and sometimes…on very rare occassions, crying feels like the only option.

We’re making decorated heart cookies for Valentine’s Day this year, and keeping up with demand has pushed me and all of my mottos to the edge.  Decorated cookies take a very long to make, and there are a lot of steps that go into even the most simple designs. So, you can imagine the sheer, utter dismay I felt when I came into work this morning and saw this:

It was one of those moments that made me have very VERY low job satisfaction, which happens almost never.

Yes, mistakes happen, but REALLY???

So, what does a pastry chef do in this situation?

• Denial: Pretend it was intended to be that way & pack up a couple of bags to see how bad they really look.
• Accept Reality: There’s no way I could ever send these out to my customers. Stop packaging & start thinking.
• Re-Group: Contact my most amazing sales person, alert her about the issue, and let all of our customers know the cookies will arrive a day later than expected.
• Start over again: literally, start over.
• Re-Assess: Realize that the phrase ‘there is no crying in baking’ just might be a little unrealistic.
• Be Proactive: Avoid making the color purple for the rest of this holiday season.

I never thought I would have decorated misfits, but I do…lots of them. Any takers?

Sigh….onward & upward.

Sniff.