ottawa foodies

I think Strawberry Girl mentioned she is interested in baking and I was eyeing some other bread or dessert type stuff..

Have discussed this briefly with Mary Kosta who is a Le Cordon Bleu London trained Chef de Cuisine et Patisserie. She mentioned some options and admitted I mentioned some of the things I liked..
* baking bread
* cake decorating using fondant and maybe how to make roses (or other flowers?)
* Making French tarts
Also open to other suggestions...

Let the discussion begin if any are interested..

I'm not interested in cake decorating, I would be interested in bread and other pastries. Depending upon what is made. I have some experience with french pastries already. I have been eyeing the bread workshop at Bread by Us, but haven't been able to fit it into my schedule.

this would be slightly shorter likely around 3 hrs I think and Bread by Us is a longer one at 4 hrs.. I had eyed the bread by us one too but schedule had not worked yet and I don't think they had any in the summer.

What other type of pastry are you interested in?

I'd be interested in French pastries or cake decorating. I've taken some bread classes before, so would be less interested in that.

We don't have enough for a private workshop which need a minimal guarantee of 12 people so maybe get Mary to schedule one for French tarts or something...

Croissants and viennoiseries would take up to 3 days to make. I was told by someone from Montreal that Premiere Moisson at University of Ottawa can special order the sheets used to make croissants and the other pastries like pain au chocolate, etc... That is what they use themselves.

Looking at some of the ones I might be interested in...

* French tarts
* Macaroons
* Eclairs and other choux pastries.

I recently found out that I got a great deal for the custom Greek hands on workshop at $45+HST since that is the standard hands on workshop price. Custom workshop need minimum of 12 people and is usually charged at $65+HST.

Are those price points okay with everyone? I know I paid $50+HST for Cordon Bleu demos and $170+HST or $192 for demo & practical...

Okay, had a little talk with Mary Kosta and we are trying to gauge interest to schedule something in Feb or March...

Vote (multiple vote okay) for
1) French Macaroons
2) French tarts
3) Choux pastry and Croquembouche..

Thanks,
Mary

I vote for 2 &3