Pastry Afternoon
A friend arrives with pastry and news; plus, my plans for January.
A belated Happy New Year to all!
Henry James wrote that the words “summer afternoon”1 were the two most beautiful in the English language.
I’d like to add “pastry afternoon” to the list, along with “winter afternoon” for those of us who love both pastry and winter.
This past Saturday I had just such an afternoon, complete with cold weather, many cups of hot tea and hours of conversation with my friend
— and she brought with her a box of the most gorgeous pastries from Chef Dan Koester (aka Bad Butter) of The Cafe at the Emily Hotel here in Chicago. It was a delicious pastry winter afternoon.
The occasion? Maddie is visiting with friends and family in Chicago (she currently lives in Washington State) before leaving for Paris at the end of January to begin a professional pastry program. I’m so looking forward to Maddie’s postcards from Paris in her newsletter
(formerly On the Cusp) when her wonderful adventure begins.If you’d like to hear how this opportunity unfolded, I’ve linked to her latest post below. Bon Voyage, Maddie! 💫
About Those Pastries
First of all, if you’re visiting Chicago or if you live here, place an order at The Cafe at the Emily Hotel immediately for the “Weekly Saturday Drop” of pastry by Chef Dan Koester. You will not be disappointed.
The selection Maddie brought over included:
Caramel Donut
Chocolate Cherry Pain Suisse
Cinnamon Knot
Malted Chocolate Cruffin
The sound of the laminated pastry crackling and then splintering when you cut into it was ASMR at its finest — and every one was absolutely delicious.
If you’d like to read more about making laminated dough, I’ve attached an article here: Laminated Dough
January
Some news: I’ve been working on a book proposal and am taking this month to really make headway on it, so I’ll be back February 1. Wish me luck!
From Last Year
This post from last May was the most read post of 2024 — in fact, it’s the most read post of any of the close to 200 posts I’ve written here on Substack since 2021, so I thought I’d share it with you again:
Manhattan, When I Was Young
In a passage from Mary Cantwell’s memoir, Manhattan, When I Was Young, the author describes experiencing a moment of awakening in the 1950s while shopping at an A&P on 23rd Street.
Have a great month and I’ll see you in February! Jolene
Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. — Henry James
Jolene, meeting you in person (finally!) was the highlight of my weekend travels. I’m going to treasure our in-person time together until we meet again!
Can’t wait to hear how your book proposal work unfolds…I’m SO excited for your memoir to exist for all of us to devour. 🥰
Good luck with your book proposal. January is a good month to focus on a project. See you in February, Jolene, and happy new year!