a new life goal.

you know, in addition to the owning my own bakery thing... it has become imperative that i be a contestant on american gladiators. yes, it is my dream. as a wee lulu, i watched the brawny gladiators wrestle, joust, hang on, and pretty much beat down all those overly permed, too tan contestants. i often watched american gladiators while wearing my sheera mask and breastplate and clutching my long, plastic sheera sword. i was a tiny gladiator with no one to fight. no siblings. no battle-minded friends. so, i lived vicariously through the contestants on tv.
years passed, but my memories of american gladiators remained warm. you'd be surprised how many ways american gladiators can fit into day-to-day conversation. by bringing up the classic tv show with strangers, i forged friendships i might otherwise have missed. american gladiators has a cult following that crosses gender, class, and racial lines - it is the great unifier.
and now, thanks to a months long writers' strike, american gladiators has returned. i have not missed one episode, and i'm finally old enough to compete! unfortunately, i have missed the casting for season 2 (it ended yesterday). i'm not that upset, though, because now i have longer to bulk up. you're going to see me in spandex, mark my words.

a sad day for lulu.

no one died or anything, don't get worked up. you don't know me, so i'll tell you a little something. i very rarely form emotional attachments to objects. i'm fine keeping the memories of things rather than the things themselves. i'm a constant purger, getting rid of items i decide are unnecessary, never mourning their loss. that being said, there are certain things in my possession that are so special they survive the purges and live on as tangible links to my past. one such item was the pyrex 16oz measuring cup i have used since childhood. i remember pouring milk (i didn't always bake vegan), oil, and everything else to the exact measurement called for and pouring it into my big bowls of ingredients. i used this measuring cup when i had to stand on tippy toes to reach the counter. i used it in my experimental baking high school years. i even stole it from the cabinet and took it to college with me - it was the only kitchen related item i packed. it graduated agnes scott with me and went on to my first apartment. i have used it in every vegan item i have ever made.
my current apartment does not have a dishwasher (gasp!), so i hand wash all my dishes. there on the drying rack sat my measuring cup, almost dry. i was washing and arranging things on the rack when, without warning, the cup slipped from its post and fell to floor where it broke into a bajilliondy pieces. i stared at the floor in disbelief. my heart broken, i grabbed the broom and dust bin, scooped up the remains of a childhood friend, and placed them all in the recycling bin. i was surprised by how upset i got about the whole situation. i mean, it is just a measuring cup. but then again, my pyrex buddy has been baking by my side since i was tiny. there is neither a person nor another piece of kitchen equipment that can say that.
my only hope is that through recycling my sweet measuring cup, she can be reborn as someone else's measuring cup, or mixing bowl, or mason jar.

in honor of my 16oz pyrex measuring cup (date unknown - feb. 11, 2008).

omg, croissants.

well.... i thought i was going to try to make vegan croissants. i started by looking at non-vegan croissant recipes. the shortest prep time was 6 hours; the longest was 9. i have neither 6 nor 9 hours to make a croissant. i'm afraid they will not make the menu any time soon. if you have a croissant recipe that doesn't take half my waking hours to prep, let me know.

also, a few vegan questions.

1. are pearls vegan?
2. can vegans go horseback riding?
3. what are the vegan ethics surrounding fish tanks?

know the answers? do share!

baby breath.

i am typing this with a baby on my lap. this particular baby just woke up from a nap and has the worst morning breath ever. that, however, is an aside. the real topic of today's entry is this: it is clear that new year's resolutions have been cast aside, and people are ordering more vegan treats than one little baker could have imagined possible. not only have the resolutions been abadoned, it seems that people are making up for lost time. usually my orders are very similar. one week i'll make three mayan chocolate spice cakes, the next week everyone wants red velvet cupcakes - it's eery, but convenient. this week, on the other hand, everyone wants one of everything - cinnamon rolls, pumpkin scones, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies. who am i to judge? this morning i had three mini-doughnuts with my coffee. alas, they were not vegan. not to worry! i have a recipe which i am veganizing that should be ready for the menu soon. i am also attempting croissants this weekend and will keep you posted. i really do promise to put up pictures soon. i'm making half a dozen cinnamon rolls today or tomorrow, and i feel they're ready for their close up.

my cakespy interview.

your own lulu has been interviewed by the cutest cake-dedicated blog in the internet, cakespy.com. you can check it out here.

since the interview, i have perfected my cinnamon rolls. i rarely call my food "perfected," but these cinnamon rolls are so good, i can't keep it to myself. i'll add a picture of them soon :) i don't eat a lot of sugar (it's true), but i could eat at least 6 of these a day with no trouble at all. dangerous? maybe. worth it? oh yeah. they're up on the menu page, you should order some. your taste buds will thank you.

birth of a blog.

well, here i am. i've come out from under my rock and joined the computerized world. i now have my own blog. maybe some background information would be helpful. my name is lindsey, and i own a little vegan bakery called "la dolce lulu" (it means "the sweet lulu" in italian - lulu is me) here in atlanta, georgia. you can find out all about it at http://www.ladolcelulu.com/ - and by the way, my girlfriend and i designed and launched that site all on our own! if you knew how non-computerly i am, you'd be extra impressed.

2008 is proving to be an exciting year for la dolce lulu. i'm a nominee for dailycandy.com's sweetest things 2007, i catered 2 events at the sundance film festival in park city, and i'm giving two baking demonstrations at the atlanta home show in march.

it feels funny to get so much recognition for something i've done as a hobby my whole life. i can't remember a time that i wasn't in my kitchen cooking something up, usually to the sounds of, "i don't care what you cook, but i want that kitchen left exactly as clean as you found it," from my mother. now here i am, baking for movie stars and teaching other people how to cook! it's downright surreal.

what keeps me grounded, you ask? the fact that my business is still just part time and the other hours of the week i am a nanny. yes, when not baking cakes and icing cookies, i'm changing diapers and singing "they might be giants" songs to toddlers. yesterday i pulled a booger off a baby's foot. it's hard to get ahead of oneself with such a down-to-earth job. a baby will tell you that your hair looks funny, that you have a zit on your face, and (most helpful of all) that your cookies could use some work. so for now, i balance baking exhibitions with nap schedules and movie stars with boogers.