My New Chapter For 2014

Anyone who cooks and shops knows this is the uniform of Williams Sonoma.

 The Christmas season is that one time of year when you just don't want any curve balls.  Many of us have so much on our plate that we tend to get through the parties, the shopping, the work schedules and the day to day with our head down.  Often, it seems, I look up, and the New Year is here.  This Christmas season, a curve ball came.  It hit me square in the chest.

My Williams Sonoma family and I were told that our store would be closing.  The close out sale starts next week.  Breathe.

This was not some job for me.  This is my second family.  We are a cast of characters that have been together for over 16 years, this is my 17th Christmas with WS.  Hopefully some of us will be placed at the local outlet.  For some, this will be the end.  That's when my chest hurts.  I don't want to leave. To put this in perspective: When I started, Christina was in Pre-School, today she is halfway through Junior year of COLLEGE.  See what I mean.  Breathe.

I made these for a corporate visit last year.

I have really only ever had 3 jobs since I graduated from college.  Proctor and Gamble, Bristol Meyers, and this.  My selling, stocking, display building, truck unloading, cooking class instructor, job.  It has defined me for so many years.  People stop me in the supermarket, in line to vote, and at other stores, "Aren't you the gal from Williams Sonoma?"  People ask me for dinner ideas, how to cook things and bridal registry tips.  I have had customers come in looking for Pernigotti Cocoa and Neilsen Massey vanilla because "the blog" said it would be the best for her cookies.  She was referring to my blog!  I have helped the same old gals with their Christmas shopping and their packages for years.  I have waited on Steve Harvey, Ginnifer Goodwin, Steven Segal, Loren Roberts and countless local chefs.  I remember when Justin Timberlake and then girlfriend Brittany Spears shopped our plaza, although they were obviously not into cooking (they skipped our store).  And of course I met the man, Chuck Williams, whose dream I worked in.

Grande Cuisine.  Most people don't know what this symbol means.

I don't know what will happen.  We go day to day.  But when I was all teary talking to Christina, she said, "Mom, look at it as a new chapter".  She's right.  (Hopefully not a whole new book!)  But it is a new chapter.  It's going to hurt long after the doors are locked and a new business opens there, but it also feels okay, sort of.  It feels great to know I have worked side by side with so many amazing people.  I have learned so much about business, cooking, retail, and people along the way.  I learned people will surprise you everyday if you open your heart.  I have been hurt too, that goes hand in hand.  The unhappy customers (one made me cry), the thief, the snotty brides (few and far between, but my land, mean!).  But when you hold a job, any job, heck, even a marriage for 16+ years, there is something you just can't walk away from.  And that is the imprint of all those years and all those people.  I am a better person because of every single day I worked there.  My new chapter is unnamed as of yet.  But it's mine, and I will do my best to make is as good as the last, long one.

Cookies For My Favorite Store!

So if you have read more than one post here, you know I work at the greatest kitchen store of all time.  Williams Sonoma.  My 15th year....wow.  I always smile when I think about Christina, just a little toddler when I started there and now starting her second year of college.  Glad I don't age like that!

We had some special visitors coming to the store and I offered to make a plate of cookies.  I think they turned out pretty good, and sort of sum up the WS life.  The ubiquitous Kitchen Aid Mixer, the aprons, the classic spatula, whisk and knife, all things I have sold countless times.  I do love my job!

Message In a Cookie

One of my "jobs" at my job was to make some gingerbread men for a visual that is in the window. I used the Message in a Cookie cookie cutters and have to say...I loved them. I was a true skeptic when these came in, but now I see the possibilities. I admit however, they are a pain to clean, lots of tiny little letters. Let me explain.

The Christmas cutters are essentially 3 cookie cutters, an ornament, a gingerbread boy and a snowflake. Good size cookies are made from these. You could easily use them as a basic cutter, but they have a couple of "rails" in the center of the cutter that you can slide words and letters onto. The holiday box came with Merry, Christmas, Seasons, Greetings, Happy, Holidays, and From. There is also a huge assortment of extra letters so you can spell out any message that will fit onto the two rails. You will want your cookie dough well chilled. And I rolled it out a chunk at a time. You carefully push the plunger of the cutter and slide your words and letters onto the rails. There is a video on the Williams Sonoma site that shows how. (How do I get THAT job?) Next, the cutter with the letters in place needs to be well floured, I tapped the plunger that controls the letters a number of times into flour and then cut the cookie dough. Once the cutter is positioned on the dough, you push the plunger to stamp the letters/words into the dough. Admittedly, many of my cookies stuck and had to be re-rolled. I like the effect of the full stamp into the dough although the O's were pushed completely through the dough. It isn't a perfect world here, but it works. I think it would be an epic fail with any dough that contained margarine or shortening, puffiness is not your friend. I had a dish towel laid out on the counter and slid the letters and words on and off over the towel. That way no little letters bounced off the counter to the floor, all the flour and dough scraps stayed put and when I finished, I put them all back into the mesh bag they came in and swished it in hot, soapy water, let it soak for about 20 minutes and they were pretty clean. You may have an E or F that holds onto some dough, but once it dries it will easily fall off. Careful not to let the letters fall into the sink, they are small enough to suck right down the drain! They say they are dishwasher safe in the mesh bag, but seriously? What is it with the dang dishwasher? I put plates, glasses and silverware in it. Period. No knives, no appliance parts, no gadgets...did you know that the detergent in there is almost all bleach? With the hot water and the steam and the sheer force of the jets of water...Yikes! Honest, washing by hand is not that awful, you'll be amazed how much longer things last.The box shows cookies with the dough tinted, which I have done, there is a chunk of green chilling now. Of course to keep the integrity of the words, these cookies won't take the full royal icing treatment, which is better particularly for gingerbread. I love that you could make any message in the dough. I of course bought the holiday set, and put the Basic set on my Christmas list. There is a heart, a star and a scalloped rectangle. Perfect for so many cookies. I love that I could put my Sweetie Petitti signature in every batch I make! As usual, I buy all my own stuff, there is no paid advertisement here, I just happen to love these little cookie cutters. I will update with pictures of the new sugar ones ASAP. So, get in there and bake!

It Started With A Spoon

The year must have been 1997, it was Thanksgiving time. I had just started at Williams Sonoma (I am still employed there, but do not blog for them or endorse them for $, yada, yada, yada) and my sweet little family would come and see me at work. Even then the store always had samples. In the fall, one of the most popular items is Pumpkin Butter. One day we had made it into a pie and Christina, who would have been 4 years old, loved that pumpkin pie baked in a graham crust. That pie was all she talked about so I knew I would have to make one. After Thanksgiving dinner, we are relaxing at the table, wearing our crowns from the Poppers, and I start bringing in dessert. Christina jumps down from the table and disappears. When she comes back to the table, she jumps back up in her booster seat with the little white sample spoon from Williams Sonoma. She had saved that spoon and felt that was the only way to eat the pie. I later discovered a stash of those sample spoons that she would use for her sample and then take home. I convinced her they needed to be washed and assured her that I wouldn't throw them away. So began the obsession with little plastic utensils.

A few years later the entire family, and I mean 23 of us, went to Italy. As we went from ruin to ruin, city to city, Grandpa would get all the grandkids lined up for gelato every day, I usually snuck into that line, hazelnut for me, please. Little did we know that little Miss Christina had convinced some of her cousins to hand over the spoons. When we returned home from Italy I found the stash. And, admittedly, they are so colorful. When I returned to Spain and Italy in the past few years, I always save the colorful little spoons. The funny thing is she uses them! When we have a dessert, she will pull out a little gelato spoon. What an idea, I have adopted it myself. Little bites, slow eating, you really savor every bite!

I have added to the little collection with some colorful appetizer forks, and a pink multi use utensil from Eddie Bauer. It is a spoon on one end with a fork with a serrated edge on the other. She was pretty excited when she found it in her Christmas stocking, but it is closer to real size utensils, and she doesn't seem to use it near as much as the little gelato spoons. So as I cleaned out the utensil drawer, polished the serving pieces and purged what I didn't need, I came across an abundance of spoons. It is a great reminder to slow down a little, remember the great places I have visited on this planet of ours, and enjoy the simple pleasure of a scoop of frozen confection. I imagine many years from now when she gets married, I will have to pass off the collection, but I will always save a few to remind me of the special Thanksgiving Day and the little white spoon that started it all.

My sweeties, Christina was 4 and Nick was 7.

Retail Therapy

Recession. It's an ugly word. The news stations have recession logos they paste at the bottom of the screen when they run their doom and gloom stories on the economy. Everyday, it's the economic update, more casualties, more downturn, no relief in sight. Geez, it's like the weeks following 9-11, you know its happening, you know it's bad, but somewhere on this huge earth there is good news. There are companies thriving and consumers spending their hard earned money.
I work retail. I've been at the same high end store for 11 years. I may as well say it, I've said it before, Williams Sonoma. OOHHHH, I can hear you, "that place is expensive", "you must be in a world of hurt", "your sales must be in the dumps". Let me start by saying I am not any sort of spokesperson for Williams Sonoma. I am on the lowest rung of the employees of this great company. I work in the trenches. I greet the people who walk in, offer samples, sell them what they need, thank them graciously, and on occasion work behind the scenes unloading the daily truck. I have a degree in film, not economics. But here is my take. There isn't a recession. There's a slowdown. There's a scare. People want to spend their money. They want to give gifts and have parties, they want to cook up a storm. They are shopping. They're buying $100 knives and peppermint bark. They want Christmas towels and gingerbread bundt. They are hunting out that perfect gadget for their favorite cook. Granted, they are worried, and pensive, but they are shopping. Thoughtfully shopping.
Is it so bad that people are planning purchases, thinking about what Grandma would really like instead of just picking up some stuff? Could the benefit of all this be that for the first time in a long time people are thinking before they spend?
Do you remember how many gifts you got for Christmas? I don't, but I remember that they were well thought out. Gifts any kid would love (at least in 1974). Now it seems more about quantity. Crap. We are inundated by the bargains. Is there a bargain at the dollar store? What can you possibly buy for a dollar that isn't disposable or that someone would want? I recently went and bought a huge aluminum roaster to use as a litter box for Grandma's visiting kitty and a nail file. I wouldn't bother with anything else there. It's a question of quality more than anything else. I saw wax paper there, I use a lot this time of year. But at the grocery it was only .89 cents. Candy, same price or cheaper at Walgreen's, and probably a better turnover. But we are wowed by that one dollar price. Forget that you'll have to buy another and another and another. Like the pan for a litter box. I probably could have bought a litter box at Target for $5. Line it, pitch the poo, stash the box until kitty's next visit. It's a mindset.
So away with the recession and in with thoughtful spending. Out with huge retailers whose products are low priced and lower quality and in with retailers who support products made in the US. Have you seen or felt the difference between a maple spoon from Vermont and a wooden spoon from China? There is a price difference, but a bigger quality difference. Your kids will fight over that maple spoon in 20 years. How about a set of 4 dish towels at $16 vs. a set of dish towels for $6. Wash 'em, dry dishes with them, bleach them if you must. Next year you'll have to buy 4 more if you chose the cheaper version.
So get out there and shop! If you have a job and are not one of those crazy people with an enormous amount of credit card debt then go forth and spend. But spend thoughtfully. Buy right the first time. Buy things you enjoy, that stimulate the American economy. Shop where people are friendly, helpful and attentive. If a sales clerk treats you like your money is no good, move on. It's time for retailers to be more gracious to the customer. It's time for the customer to be more thoughtful when they choose where to spend their money. Turn off the news and stimulate the economy yourself!