What I'm reading

I felt bad that I hadn't yet read The Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. I've been hearing about this wonderful book since its winning the Man Booker in 2002, and Yann Martel is an author I deeply respect, notably for his incessant promotion of culture to our country's leaders in Ottawa. In 2007, following a prime ministerial snub of the Canada Council for the Arts, he started sending, every 2 weeks, a book to our Prime Minister Stephen Harper to show him that culture is important and vital. Harper has never, to my knowledge, acknowledged.
The book is inspiring, touching, intelligent, poetic, philosophical, amazing. My boyfriend was reading it in French (translated by Martel's parents) and I realized that we also owned the original English version.
Read this book and you'll be changed.

Meeting Rose !

Last week, I met Rose Levy Beranbaum. I always get nervous when meeting people who are important to me, and even more so when I stand out : out of the 40-something people present, I was one of maybe 5 men, and I was the tallest. I also tend to sweat a lot and babble which only adds to my awkwardness. And to top it all off, being a natural groupie, I came bearing gifts. My goals were to 1) not be disappointed in meeting a hero of mine ; 2) make it into Rose's blog and 3) not make a total fool out of myself. Done, done, and I think... done.

Here's a link to Rose's blog :

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2009/10/two_and_a_half_perfect_days_in_1.html#more

When I told her my name, she hesitated and then remembered me from having posted a comment on her blog concerning Nespresso coffee machines. I don't think she realized or remembered that I had previously posted several other times on several other topics, but who cares, right? I rang a bell ! She signed three books for me, one of which is for my sister in Switzerland. And we chatted for a while, actually. Almost 15 minutes, which seemed to annoy a lot of people.

All through her presentation I kept thinking at how funny and cool she really is. I had seen her on YouTube doing her demos and in interviews and always thought that she seemed shy and a little intimidated by the camera. But in person, and despite a crowd of almost fifty people, she joked a lot and seemed relaxed and totally at ease. Like the great teacher that she is. I didn't learn any new techniques or tips per se - I've read and seen almost everything from her - but I still consider that day as pivotal in my slow but sure journey to becoming professional baker.