My Last Post

ha ha ha... unlikely.
I mean my last post for 2014 and the first post of 2015...
Have been busy throughout the festive season starting way back in the early days of November when the building of the gingerbread house began. Christmas and festive production began though in August and so it made for a climactic 5 months to my first year back in hotels.
Following the gingerbread house, was gingerbread house making classes with some of the cutest children ever , the Peninsula Concert, Thanskgiving, Christmas and then New Years Eve rounded out the season.
For those who have not seen the New Years pictures already Ill add a few to this post.
And so what of lessons of the past year, what have a I learnt.
Well for one thing, Manila is an amazing city filled with amazing people, especially my team members who make every day a blessing to go to work and to hang out for the ten hours a day we spend together.
My second Chef Annalyn Solano taught me to chill out...Christmas will come but Christmas will go, so stop fretting over it... Lesson learnt and next Christmas will be stress free...I think !! ha ha
I've learnt that molds are great but if you don't have any, you have to think differently...2015 will be a surprise of amenities free of molds and more from free style chocolate work..bring on the old skills...
I've learnt that staff will leave no matter if you really want them to stay and that those in the shadows will surprise you with there talents and will rise to surprise you if you give them freedom to create.

So thats the last Ill mention 2014..
2015 is a year of possibilities, 365 of them actually..and included among those days are the fast to arrive Valentines, Easter, Chinese New Year, Easter, Mothers Day and Fathers Day and the arrival of the Pope, all within the first 6 months....what a great year of possibilities in pastry there are before us.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you always for reading the blog, it warms my heart to see so many of you from Russia, USA, China, India, Philippines, France and Australia reading the posts regularly.
And it was nice to see that the PROUD OF 2014 post reached stratospheric numbers within 72 hours and beat the numbers even for a post I had up since 2011...
With so much anger and terror out in the world, lets use our personal blogs for nothing but sweetness and sugary delights, and make the world a little sweeter word by word," JE SUIS SUCRE"
Stay safe and see you all again soon...

                              The Grand Lobby @ the Pensinsula Hotel Manila at midnight

Set up 

Proud of 2014

I have worked in the kitchen now since 1983, 31 years of standing on my feet leaves little wonder why the ankles need a weekly massage to keep working.
Over those 31 years, I have many moments that leave a memory, but I have to say, the twelve months that have just passed me by, are probably the proudest twelve months of cooking that I have ever had.
From guest chefs to new menus, to amenities and big events and tense moments, our team has done themselves extremely proud and proven that we are indeed a formidable Pastry department.
We are nowhere near perfect, but is any team ? We are a collaboration of passions, talents and enthusiasms that just click.
I adore our team. I get tired, our events get bigger and more demanding, my time becomes fractured in many directions and on certain days I just don't get the time in the kitchen I desire or need, other days I am stuck in the kitchen more than i can handle, yet the team is my energy, my humor and my saving grace.
Thank you to modern technology and smart phones it is easy to remember the year we have had together thanks to the thousands of photos we take along the way, something I have few off from the past.
It is great to look back at the events and the people, the challenges and the rewards and the accomplishments we have made along the way.
It has been a huge first year, we have seen out two Executive Chefs and two Chef De Cuisines of outlet restaurants, introduced new menus in the lobby restaurant and more importantly into the Banqueting and wedding department, we survived the Wedding Fair, the Peninsula Pink-tober month, Halloween, Easter, Mothers day and Fathers Day, both only a day long but which took nearly 400 amenities to the rooms with them. The French promotion celebrating the launch of the Peninsula Hotel's opening of it's Paris hotel, the Pen Concert and the arrival of the Board of Directors and within days of this post, Christmas and New Year.
Our Queen of Pastry for the Peninsula Boutique "Thei" has done us extremely proud with an amazing array of pastries being changed multiple times for our guests. We have worked side by side with famous Chefs, opened new menus in the NEW Old Manila restaurant and have worked with some major brands on their functions and events bring pride to us all again, made families happy with Debuts, graced the ceremonies of numerous weddings and fed throngs of happy corporate clients.
Satisfaction for me comes no closer than our chocolate room, where our room amenities are produced and although we lost a veteran of 25 years service, we are pleased that she has joined her family in the USA and will see out her days close to her children.
Lastly, as well as our AM Bakery team, our AM Pastry team, the PM pastry team and our Afternoon baker, we also have the Midnight Bakery shift which does the majority of the production for the Pen Boutique and our breads.Rarely seen this team does an amazing job throughout every single night as the others sleep. Our team is 24 strong made up of permanent and contractual staff, guilder by "on the job trainees" and stewarding. Everyone of them plays their vital role in our 24 hour operation spread between 3 kitchens, pastry, bakery and the chocolate room.
To see some of our achievements, look below at just a handful of our work pics.
Im proud of my team, Im proud of our work from 2014 and can not wait to see what more we achieve in 2015..

Some of our team, new and old who make the workload bare able.

Pastillage

Buffets

Afternoon teas

Banquet plating for the Pen Concert

VIP Amenities

Our banqueting Champion Lawrence Mendoza

PECAN PIE

AMENITIES

PINK-tober

French Afternoon tea

Pink-tober afternoon tea

Pink-tober at the Pen Boutique

Old manila Desserts

Halloween pastillage

Halloween Room Amenitites

Holding up the Buffet tables is Chef Ed Madela, the man who keeps me sane and grounded. Every kitchen needs an Exec Sous Chef this good. My hat goes off to this hard working team builder.