My first “career” out off college was as a pastry chef in a cupcake shop in St Paul Minnesota. It had absolutely nothing to do with either of the degrees I had acquired in college but everything to do with following my bliss. I went to culinary school in Vermont then moved back to Minneapolis to start baking. That first summer in the kitchen was awesome. I didn’t mind the 4:30 am call time nor the 100 degree temps we hit during back off because I loved what I was doing and I loved who I was doing it with/for. This was at the very tip top beginning of the cupcake craze so people were still totally giddy to see the 24+ varieties of cupcakes we made – red velvet, smores, chai, lemon mousse, carrot, hummingbird (to name a few favs)- and didn’t scoff at the other goodies either. It’s a pretty sweet gig being a pastry chef, no one really gets upset when you give them sweet delicious noms.
As for the people I was working with, they were some of the coolest co-workers I’ve ever had. We’d roll in at call nod hello, start brewing the coffee, turn on the ovens and crank the tunes. Then we’d get about our work rolling croissants, making batter, baking bread … The soundtrack was either The Current (which has just started filling the gaps in Twin Cities music coverage ) or one of the mixes people would bring in; both introduced me to all kinds of new tunes- I distinctly remember the first time I heard Architecture In Helsinki their gleeful twee broke a particularly stressful morning and forever won my adoration. In those hours before the shop opened when we could crank the music and rock out while doing an extraordinary amount of work I would often get lost in whatever was playing. While I have since left baking professionally (for now) I still do a whole lot of it at home and the scene is pretty much the same: me + sugar + oven + blaring music = heaven. “When I grow up” I’d love to own my own bakery – and performance space, of course – and you know the sound system in that kitchen would be amazing. This playlist is just a little bit of the music I discovered that summer and a few others that I brought to the kitchen mix. Bon appetit.
Everybody’s Changing (Keane Cover) – Lily Allen
Move Your Feet – Junior Senior
Songbird – Eva Cassidy
Heart It Races (Architecture In Helsinki cover) – Dr Dog
First… And Then – Handsome Boy Modeling School
Chin Up, Cheer Up – Ryan Adams
Gravity Rides Everything (Modest Mouse Cover) – Lenka
All I Want Is More – Reel Big Fish
Sweet Pea (Amos Lee Cover) – Tom Meny
Seven Nation Army (White Stripes cover) – Alice Russell
