Lena?- worked there for 18 yrs, pretty good English, does most everything- gum paste flowers, cutting, filling, freezing & organizing cakes in the walk in, making fillings, par stock of cakes, pretty much any & everything.
I worked with Mai and Melanie, we filled cakes with mousse and did crumb cakes. Melanie went over more things with me and showed me around some more. I think I will like her. After I tailed her for a while, she passed me on to Amal S. (well I thought someone said it was Amal S, but it was really Lena I think her name is).
Left around 3:30.
Cut chocolate cakes, Tirimisu, fillings, cutting, frosting, cover sides with cappuccino, to freezer
Got there at around 9:20 or so, went to the door and saw that the bakery doesn't open until 10 (10-7). Kristin asked about a back door, I drove around but it looked like it was only for deliveries. Kristin convinced me I should stay and wait, that's what I did for like 15 minutes maybe. Then I see this guy walking towards the Celica, I figure it must be Sam, it is and he tells me about the back door, gives me a tour and introduces me to everyone. It will take me a long time to remember all of their names, especially since they're all pretty unusual, most of the staff is Arabic/Iranian. The dishwasher, Erica, is Hispanic, I'll have to brush up on my Spanish and maybe we can have short conversations. :) I don't think I will ever learn Arabic though, it seems really difficult! I do have 3 months though :P Haha!
DAY 2: Went in at 7, only a few ladies were there. I started out working with Stephen, he made a cake that Sam had requested, without eggs, so I watched him make it because it was too simple for 2 people to make. He's pretty cool, very relaxed and he knows what he's doing, he's going on 50, has been working at Sweet Dreams for 30 years I believe he said. He also works at Costco in the bakery, is married. He makes all the cake batters, makes sure the par stock of the baked cakes is maintained, and bakes everything. He is also a prankster, and likes to mess with the ladies, particularly Wafa.
Amal Fruit was anxious to steal me away, particularly after she decided that I looked like Danielle, her son's ex-girlfriend of 5 years. She then called me Danielle on and off for the rest of the day, at one point took my picture to show whoever that I looked like her (in which case they said I was better lol), fed me a strawberry with whipped cream for the Oreo cakes we were making. Oh, she made me try stuff from the counter, a Chocolate Raspberry Mousse bite, and a cream puff. She always calls me cute, but really she is the cute one, and funny too! I think I have a new favorite! Lol! I had lunch with the ladies, let's see, Amal Fruit, Wafa, Salmina, and Amal S. It was really good, I don't know if they made it or had bought it yesterday, but it was delicious!! There was chicken, rice with vegetables, french fries (tribute to America?), traditional bread-perhaps naan. They mostly spoke in Arabic, but Wafa & Salmina asked about my heritage, I did my best to tell them. Wafa asked if this was my first time around Chaldeans, at first I thought she asked if I lived with my guardians lol, but then she repeated and I told her it was. Anyhow, Amal and I actually got a lot done today! First we un-molded and cut chocolate cakes, both 9" and 6". Then we filled them with whipped cream (a mix of dairy and non-dairy whip), covered them with crushed Oreos, layered them on top of each other, frosted them in more cream mix, then covered the sides with chocolate shavings and sent them off for later. Oh, the tops have to be "labeled" with Oreo crumbs since the Black Forest and Cookie Dough cakes have the same frosting and shavings. We did that with 20, 6" and either 10 or 20, 9". After that we made a 10" Berry Delight cake- yellow cake, 2.5 scoops of white chocolate mousse, cut strawberries, blueberries and then whipped cream frosting. We cleaned up, then she left- it must have been around 2:30-3. Sam had me watch (the real) Amal S., she was making a huge batch of white chocolate mousse. She had one large mixer full of non-dairy whip, another full of whipped cream, and another somewhat smaller mixer that she was cooling melted white chocolate in. She blended the two whips together for a few seconds, then added the white chocolate with the paddle attachment. (It was really pretty boring and awkward to watch, she doesn't speak very much English and we didn't really say anything. I really just felt like I was in the way.) After she had distributed the mousse into tubs, labeled them, and organized them in the walk-in, Sam called me over. He had been melting white chocolate earlier- while the chocolate for mousse was cooling, and was carrying a long, plexi-glass like "board". At first I thought he wanted me to clean it or something along those lines. But instead he put it over Amal's (metal) work station and poured the white chocolate in a long stream across it. He cooled and smoothed it using an offset and a spackle/scraper, then did something I'd never seen done before. (Though that doesn't take much! Lol!) He scraped off strips, but had his thumb on the left side of the scraper- held at a low angle, and quickly scraped the chocolate up onto the spackle. The result was a white chocolate fan shaped piece, he put it on a 9" circle, then repeated the process, making a kind of rose like flower. The center of the flower was made of a rolled strip of chocolate (but is added last to save storage space), and the result was abstract and beautiful! Plus, it was made out of white chocolate! That was my last lesson, or show and tell if you will, for the day. It was really awesome and a great way to end the day! Sam said I could stay longer and watch Chad and Kathie work, they were doing some decorative work, but I couldn't because my stomach was killing me, my throat was sore, and I was really tired. I said goodbye, then successfully got to Chrissy's without getting lost and there weren't even any crazy drivers! :) I'm feeling pretty confident about driving, which is really nice! My parallel parking still needs some work though, good thing I only park on the street outside my house! :P Anyhow, I left Sweet Dreams incredibly happy and the sun was shining, the temps around 50! I don't know what else I could ask for, really!
Oh, and Sam told me how he was trying to rent a condo before, and the first two times he called to ask about it he accidentally said "condom" instead and he said the guy immediately hung up on him. The third time he called I think the guy realized he had gotten the words mixed up and actually talked to him.
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