It took me long enough, but here it is! Introducing, the re-worked Pastry Chef Online!
Friends, here it is. All the sweating, the work, the blisters-on-my-fingers. All of the Amazing Linda’s work–long hours, making nice on the crazy woman (that would be Me), the pulling-out-of-hair. As an aside, yesterday I offered to have made the Best Wig Ever for the Amazing Linda. She chose hot pink. Um, back to the announcement. At long last, I present to you the New and Improved, Stronger/Faster/Better, Easily Navigable Pastry Chef Online!……………………..chirp, chirp………………………………..cricket, cricket……………………..Oh, what? Some of you didn’t even know that there was an Old and Unimproved, Weaker/Slower/Worse, Unnavigable Pastry Chef Online? Well, there was, and it’s prolly just as well that you didn’t know about it, because it was All That Stuff.
Now, it’s lovely. The Amazing Linda, from Linda Braun Graphic and Web Design, worked with crazy me for Ever So Long to pull this together. She designed the keen logo and the look of the site. I said something vague about having the site look like a ’57 Cadillac or something. I’m sure she Rolled Her Eyes heavenward, but apparently she understood, because I love it! Please do go over and take a little tour. I’m not big on recipes, as you know, but there are plenty there to get you started. You’ll find discussions of mixing methods and ingredient function and a great segment called Restaurant Style in the Intermediate/Advanced section. Plus, there’s a section called Baking Essentials with my recommendations for cook books, gadgets, appliances and ingredients. There’s also a Special Section called “Don’t Waste Your Money.”
PCO, like PMAT, is a work in progress, so I’ll often be adding pages–more recipes, more discussions, more categories (like maybe laminated doughs, to start), more recommendations. Tell me what you’re interested in, and I’ll add it to the site. As long as it has to do with Pastry Stuff. Just so we’re clear, I’m not going to add a page about how to shape a surfboard or how to install a doggie door. I’m just not.
Now, in Honor and Celebration of the relaunch of Pastry Chef Online, I’m giving away a copy of the keen cook book, Starting from Scratch, of which I am a co-author. The book is currently all wrapped up in plastic and cardboard, but the lucky winner need but Say the Word, and I’ll wrest it from its wrappings and write a Suitable Inscription on the inside cover. Here’s all you have to do: Leave some feedback about the New and Improved Pastry Chef Online–what you like, what you don’t like, what you wish you could see. Plus, come up with a title for my first cook book. No, I haven’t written it yet, but a title is a good place to start. The Beloved will pick what he considers to be The Best Title from all the entries, and that person will win the book! No, it’s not an objective, random-number-generator way to choose a winner, but it’s my blog. So there.
If you’d like more than one chance to win, just make separate additional comments, each with some feedback on the site and a Proposed Book Title. I’ll let The Beloved look at all the entries Sans Identifying Names, etc, and he’ll choose his favorite. He probably won’t accept bribes, but do what you can.
Oh, you can enter between now and my birthday, November 23. Enter as many times as you like. Tell your family and friends. Alert the media.
Huge thank yous to all of you for hanging out at PMAT. I hope you find PCO as comfortable a hang-out. If you want, I also have a forum that you can get to from the website, in the sidebar over there, and also from right here.
To recap: New site=Yay! Giveaway=Starting from Scratch–signed, if you’d like. Win by submitting a comment with feedback on the new site and a title for my first cook book. Enter=Often. Deadline=November 23. I’ll announce the Incredibly Lucky Winner on November 24.
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