An update from Susie

Bon soir everyone,

While I am a bit late with my news, I wanted to share with all of you that I am now working at Gracie's restaurant in downtown Providence. I had a trial day a couple of weeks ago which went well, after which I shadowed Cara, the current pastry person, for a day this past Thursday. Chef Joe Hafner and I talked further at that point and agreed on a 30 day trial period during which I would be shadowing Cara, learning the routine stuff as well as starting to add in some things of my own. I officially began work last Friday.

Shortly after Cara and I started our day on Saturday, she and Chef had a short meeting at which time she was told she will be moving to the fish station (about which she is ecstatic, by the way). That means that I will be thrown into the thick of things much sooner than I anticipated. It's a busy time right now with various holiday parties so there is a lot for me to keep track of. This week the plan is that Cara will get me up to speed and soon I'll be on my own. She will still be there of course to answer any questions, but since I'll generally be going in to work earlier than she will, I'll have to have a handle on the daily prepping and refurbishing of various dessert components.

I certainly hope to start adding some new things to the dessert menu, and, as a matter of fact, I went in today (the restaurant is usually closed on Mondays) for a few hours and made some dacquoise and some chocolate macarons which I plan to incorporate into some of the party "trios" for the week. It's all a bit overwhelming right now, but I'm keeping an open mind and am eager to see how the next month goes. Piano, piano.

We're starting to feel settled in our apartment and even have a small tree up and decorated for Christmas. It's also nice to be a short 30 minute drive from my brother Dick and his wife Dorothy's house in Douglas, MA. I'll have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, so we'll be able to spend some time with family for the holiday.

It's certainly a new and different phase and will be a learning experience for me, to be sure.

I wish all of you peace and happiness now and throughout the year.

Joyeux Noel and Buona Festa!

Susan