Archive for Will Bake For Tuition!
WBFT: Disappointing news… AND HUGE EXCITING NEWS!!!!!!
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So I have lots of news to report… both good and bad… first lets go with the not-so-great-news….
I met with the folks at AI on Wednesday about entering pastry school come spring. Initially they started talking about re-admitting me for winter since their winter semester has just begun and they were still enrolling. Although I reiterated I wanted spring.. they pushed for winter and created a billing system that, in theory, would work within my budget… I signed the paper and I was supposed to start Thursday… that was the next day!!! Ahhh how overwhelming, yet exciting, yet crazy!
So I got home to tell my BF my big news and he was shocked… not what he was expecting at all.. and I started to tell him all about our meeting. They more I talked about it, the more nervous I got about the billing. As much as this is my dream, every last penny I had would be going to pastry school. There would be no Sushi dates on Friday or afternoon Starbuck’s Lattes for me… it would all be going to pastry school. As I talked and talked some more (my boyfriends a pretty good listener!) I realized I felt really pushed into making a HUGE financial decision that I simply was not comfortable with.
Before bed that night I wrote an email to my rep. at AI saying I would not be beginning pastry school on Thursday. As long as I did not attend any classes, they could not charge me for a thing. As much I want this, I simply could not justify the huge financial risk and burden this would be. So disappointingly, I am back to the drawing board…. or so I thought….
On to my HUGE EXCITING NEWS!!! Yet again, I have another brilliant idea! Post email and after further chatting with my BF, I thought about checking the local community colleges to see if they offer any kinds of culinary program. I would even be happy doing start up culinary program if I could find it at the right price. Turns out, the Trade-Tech School at Los Angeles Community College has both a Culinary Program… AND A Baking and Pastry Program! OMG!!! Awesome!….But Wait… it gets even better!
After doing a little bit more research… I learned the school only charged $20 per unit for California Residents compared to the $300-something AI was charging… OMG AGAIN! This is SOOOO within my budget! I can pay that is cash now!! And not go into debt!!! AWESOME…. And I have even more news… They are accepting application now to begin in Feb!! OMG!!! Talk about Huge-Fabulous-Fantastic-Awesome News! This puts pastry school in total reach for me!Yippee! I can taste the cakes already!!!!
Here’s my new plan of action… Submit my application over the weekend and hope to begin Pastry school in FEB! Thanks for your support everyone!
Happy Baking!
-Kristy
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG Over Due!
Hello there!
This blog post is LOOOOOONNNGGG Overdue! My sincere apologies readers. I have no good excuse what so ever, but I am back… SO.. please forgive my absence, and I promise to never to do it again unless I am on my dream month long honeymoon in Fiji (which would also mean I have to get engaged first… and as much as I love my BF- marriage for us is quite a few years down the road!) Anyways, didn’t take me long to start babbling…. But I have SOOO Much to fill you in on!
First of all, I got some awesome cookie orders during the holiday season. I lost track around the 300 cookie mark and made every cookie you could imagine. Chocolate chip, mint chip, peanut butter, jelly button, M&M and sugar just to name a few… my kitchen permanently smelled of cookies. I was actually approached by a neighbor of mine who informed me the smell wafted into her apartment— luckily she didn’t mind so much! I also developed a new frosted cookie to my repituar (thanks to a little help from my lady Martha Stewart and her awesome December issue of Martha Stewart living) and I will have a post about it later this week!
I can’t wait to share my Christmas Dinner with you too! I made my first prime rib roast… and she was such a beauty! And of course was super tasty! I had a bit of a misshap… there was lots of smoke involved… but with lots of fans I was able to save the day!
Lastly, I have lots of Will Bake for Tuition news to share… a few changes and some re-crafting needed to be done, but it seems like a solid plan has been made. I really look forward that update too!
It is so nice to be back to blogging! Check back for exciting updates! and Thanks so much for your support!
Happy Baking!
-Kristy
WBFT: In a Bit of a Pickle!
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I’m in a bit of a pickle. My scheduled start of Pastry School is January 11, 2010 and its coming up fast (can you believe it’s already November?!?) In recent discussion with the pastry school itself, they’ve informed me I need to have some kind of financial plan in order for me to keep my spot for the January start date. By financial plan, they mean loans or a set payment plan. They’ve been pretty empathetic so far regarding my loan situation– the federal gov. has cut me off from loans and taking out private loans is simply not a smart financial decision, especially in this unsteady economy. Although I continue to apply for scholarships, enter random contest and research creative options, this is unfortunately not the kind of financial plan the school is looking for me! They want a guarantee they will get their tuition money, and at this point in time, I can not make that guarantee!
So, I’m in a pickle and have been trying to brainstorm a few options. Here’s what I’ve come up with…
- Enroll in the schools payment plan, which is 3 payments of approx. $1,000. Its risky since I still don’t even have enough for just one payment, but I have the hope that some scholarships will come through in December. (Really, December is the season of Miracles… I deserve a Miracle too!… Okay, okay… I know I’m being cheesy again… I’ll try to sensor myself a bit next time!)
- Defer until the spring semester. This gives me a bit more time to raise the money, is a bit more logical, but it is a delay… and I’m not fond of delays!
- Defer indefinitely and set my sites on smaller programs for the time being. There are quite a few program in the LA area that are 12-24 weeks and range in price from $1,200-$2,400. A bit more reasonable for the wallet, somewhat less of a serious commitment, and gets me in the door, but doesn’t provide me with the certificate I was hoping for.
I have some serious thinking to do over the weekend! I can get really frustrated when I don’t achieve a goal I set for myself. Pastry school is my dream, and I want to make it happen. I know I can be a bit impatient, and maybe I have to come to terms with the fact that this might not happen right now (Grr, I so don’t want to!) Anyways, readers I would love to have your thoughts on the matter! Take my poll and let me know what you think is the best route to go!
Loading ...Happy Baking!
-Kristy
WBFT: My Very First Donation!
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I’m kind of exhausted today, so this post will be brief, but wanted to be sure I shared my super exciting news! I received my very first monetary donation today! I was so thrilled to see a very special email from Pay-pal when my blackberry beeped at me this AM! It was a donation from my good grad school friend Camille for $5! I obviously sent her a ridiculously long “THANK YOU” text, as it was so super generous of her. This brings my grand total raised for Pastry School to $65… now only $3,504 to go! Yippee I’m on my way!
I consider Camille a fellow foodie. She and I subscribe the to same religion, Weight Watchers and Happy Hour! While in grad school, it was not uncommon for us to meet at the gym at 7am for spinning and gain tons of activity point, go to our prospective classes/internships/labs, meet for happy hour at one of many local places and frequently split a delicious dessert to top off the evening… okay not exactly the healthiest of lifestyles… but for sure a life style appropriate for coping with the stresses of grad. school! Nothing beats 2 for 1 when you’re on a school budget either! We always had a blast, would share recipes and other fun foodie tips. Oh how I miss our happy hours!
I love sharing pics, so here is one from our ladies night Valentines Day Mexican Celebration! And Yes, those Margarita’s were 2 for 1! So Fun! Thats me on the left and Camille on the right.
So a very special Thank you again to Camille! I so appreciate your kindness, generosity and support! Every dollar and penny counts!
Happy Baking and Happy Hour Indulging!
-Kristy
Pie Recipes, Round One!
I’ve been checking up on Pillsbury.com daily to figure out the status of my submitted pie recipes for the Pillsbury Bake-Off Monthly Challenge, and was pumped to see that the 3 recipes I submitted are posted! Awesome! I was going to submit 4, but I missed the deadline because I completely forgot the challenge is on Eastern-Stand Time, and I’m on Pacific! Damn those 3 hours! I was so confused when my clock said 9:18pm and the “Submit Recipe” button was gone! Yes, I missed it by 18 minutes! What a Bummer!
So from here its the waiting game until October 21st… to see if any of my recipes make it into the finalist round. (Keep your finger crossed and please send lots of 
positive Kristy vibes to Pillsbury! This girl has Pastry School to pay for!) But since they are all submitted, I thought I would post the recipes here to share, including the forth that I didn’t get in, in time. If you’re registered with the Bake-Off, type in the name of my recipe in the ‘Search” box and see my recipe on the website! Wicked Exciting!
I am going to post one recipe a day, for the next four days, so keep checking in! Today’s recipe is the Nutty Pumpkin Apple Pie! I think I was most excited about this one! (Mmm… Doesn’t it look soo delightful on the inside! Try it heated up, top it with ice cream, more pumpkin butter and whipped cream… Ahh my mouth is watering! Oh I wish I had some left!)
Nutty Pumpkin Apple Pie
Ingredients for Pie Filling:
- 1 Pillsbury Refrigerated pie crust
- 5 ripe apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 1/2 cup Pumpkin Butter
- 2 TBS all purpose flour
Ingredients for Topping
- 1 cup old fashion oats
- 2 TBS Sugar
- 2 TBS Brown Sugar
- 1 TBS Flour
- 3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
- 1 TBS Pumpkin Butter
- 3 TBS Butter, chilled
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400F. Roll pie crust into 9 inch glass pie dish according to box directions. Set aside. Peal, core and slice 5 apples. Put in large bowl and toss with flour, follow by pumpkin butter. Add apples to pie dish.
- Topping: In separate bowl, combine oats, sugar, brown sugar, flour and walnuts. Mix well. Add Pumpkin Butter to dry ingredients. Cut butter into small cubes, and cut into mixture. Combine well then top pie with mixture.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let rest 5-10 minutes prior to serving. Enjoy!
Test it out and let me know what you think! Join me in the Pie Tasting and rate it based on Taste, Creativity and ease of preparation! I would love more feedback!
Happy Baking!
-Kristy
WBFT: A Sponsor and Thank You’s!
To learn more about ‘Will Bake For Tuition, Click Here! To read all Will Bake For Tuition Posts, Click here!
I have exciting news to share! I have recently been in contact with Tiffany, the wonderful lady behind The National Cookie Network, who has been providing me with great support and guidance with not only my blog, but also with my project ‘Will Bake For Tuition.’ Tiffany has decided to add a new component to her page, which is called “Sponsor a Pastry Student!” By doing so, she is providing the student with publicity to gather support and fund raising for the students pastry school hopes and dreams. Tiffany has been kind enough to offer the very first sponsor spot to myself and my blog! I am so thankful for her and am thrilled with the opportunity it provides! Check out her website to read a short bio I provided, and take a peek at her many awesome recipes and resources!
The publicity she is providing is very important to me, my blog and this project. None of this would not exist without readers and The National Cookie Network is one great venue to spread the word to new readers and fellow foodies. I also want to add that although I have decided to go to pastry school because it is a dream of mine, I hope that I am able to provide my readers with something else along the way. I didn’t necessarily have to tell me story here on the Internet, but I opted to anyways. Prior to my education decision, I was super reluctant about going back to school! My goodness I had just finished grad. school a year ago and am paying more in student loans a month than I pay in rent! I must be crazy! The truth is I LOVE to learn, and I LOVE to bake! Going back to school would be tricky, difficult and quite simply a bit of a risk. But I guess I saw no logical, set in stone reason that should keep me from pursuing my passion. I love reading about how people take risks to make their dreams come true, and I love the inspiration I get from them. Here, I hope to return the favor. I hope that maybe my pastry school adventure might inspire a reader to take your own risk in your own way. Whether its starting your own website, going back to school or starting a business… do it! Take the challenge head on and do your best… you are bound to succeed and probably learn some great lessons along the way. For me, I think my biggest regret in life would be not taking that risk… and although I have my doubts from time to time, and on occasion feel overwhelmed by the fete that is in front of me… I know the payoff will be worth it! Okay, I know… I got a bit philosophical and a little cheesy… but I’m a little cheesy… maybe even a bit cream cheesy… Mmm cheese cake sounds great right about now!
Anyways, I would love it if you would come along on my pastry school journey with me. I need all the support I can get! From simply clicking on my blog everyday, to a one time donation, to telling your friends and fellow foodies, I will be eternally grateful! There is no donation of time, consideration or money that is too big or too small. I will be thankful, as always just for the thought. I promise to keep you updated on all my scholarship findings and donation progress and hopefully I can provide you with great recipes, a little inspiration and a good giggle from time to time!
So, to close for today, I need to say Thank You. Thank you to all my new visitors, thank you to the returning visitors. Thank you to Tiffany for the sponsor, thanks to my Sister for helping me get this website going and thanks to my boyfriend for putting up me and my baking mania!! Thank you to my friend and family for the support! Stayed Turned for many great things to come!
Happy Baking!
-Kristy
Pie Tasting!
Tasting Sheets
Last night I had a couple friends over for a pie tasting. I’ve been a pie making machine lately because I am entering the Pillsbury Bake-Off Monthly Challenge. From September to December, Pillsbury will award $2,500 monthly for the best dish in each months category. September was quick and easy dinners, and October is sweet and savory Pies, hence my pie tasting festivities! If I am one lucky enough to win, my winning will go straight into my Will Bake For Tuition Fund to help me pay for Pastry School! Like I said before… I will bake for tuition, and I have surely been baking alot!
I love having tastings and take them very seriously. I make score sheets, ask questions of the tasters and take time to consider all feedback provided. I figure four mouths are better then one when it comes to testing flavor, consistency and even aroma! I also create my score sheets based on the judging criteria of whatever contest it is I am entering. For this Pillsbury Bake-Off, all recipes are judged on three categories… Taste, Ease of Preparation and Creativity, so my scoring sheets were made accordingly.
Mac-n-Cheese Pie
Taco Pie
We had lots of fun last night and ate tons of pie! I started out with the savory Pies… First a Garlicky Mac-n-Cheese Florentine Pie followed by a Taco Pie. I wanted to take simple, everyday meals that appeal to many for my savory pies. Pillsbury is all about ease and appeal to the stay at home mom and busy families (or the random 20-something girl that is obsessed with baking, such as myself!) I had many a taco night growing up as did we frequently eat Mac-N-Cheese. So to me, it seemed natural to turn these staples into pies! In the tasting, we decided my mac-n-cheese pie needed a bit of adjusting, but the Taco Pie was a huge hit. Actually, when my Boyfriend came home at lunch today, he had 2 huge pieces of it and you can see in the pic there’s not a whole lot left! I think an easy way to judge the success of a dish is how many times people go back for seconds! Based on that criteria… Taco Pie was a success!
Nutty Pumpkin Apple Pie
Ice Cream Sundae Pie
On to the sweet pies. I wanted to make a variation of a classic, to give myself a bit of a challenge, so naturally an apple pie came to mind. Quickly and shockingly, I realized I had never actually made an apple pie before. I know, I know, crazy as it sounds, I have made tons and tons of apple crisps because I simply preferred that over pie. But now, it was my turn to take the apple pie plunge! I was a little nervous, but excited about my variation… a Nutty Pumpkin Apple Pie. I tossed the apples in Pumpkin Butter (yes, I am officially obsessed) and made an crispy and nutty topping. After I had served my guested the pie and returned to kitchen to grab my own slice, all I heard ringing from my living room was “Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.” Yippee! They liked it! They really liked it! (Hopefully the Pillsbury Judges will too!) My other sweet pie was a Mini Ice Cream Sundae Pie. For this one I used cookie dough to make the “pie crust,” filled it with vanilla ice cream and topped it with chocolate sauce— super simple yet super delish! I thought this pie was going to be the bust of the night, because my cookie crust did not turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but instead turned out to be the hit of the evening! It was a bite sized ice cream sundae, tasted yummy and looked adorable! I actually sent one of my tasters home with 3 of them!
My taster’s gave some awesome feedback, and also gave my pie-baking abilities a bit of a confidence boost! Once my recipe adjustments are made and all are entered into the contest, I will be posting each for you on here, along with some bigger pics. So keep checking in and check out Pillsbury.com to see if my recipes made it to the final voting round! I am really pumped about this contest and the ones coming up in November and December (easy apps and simple desserts!) More tastings will be had as well! Volunteers for tasting are always welcome! Let me know if you are interested!
Happy Baking and Tasting!
-KM
WBFT: Donate Now and Featured Publisher!
To learn about Will Bake For Tuition (WBFT), Click here! To read all WBFT Posts, Click Here! (Remember to read from the bottom up!)
Great News! I’ve been given lots of fantastic advice on many ways to raise money for pastry school, and one of the most common suggestions has been to add a “Donate Now” button to my page. And Ta-Da! It has finally arrived! I am slowly but surely learning my way around running this blog, keeping up a web page with the help of an awesome sister and figuring out how to add these neat widgets/buttons to my blog page. With a little research and trial and error, my Donate Now Button is up and running! (And I even took the extra step to become verified with PayPal!) If you feel so inclined, Any and all donations of any denomination are welcome! Every dollar and penny counts (and by the way, I have begun saving my pennies is a very special ‘Tuition” jar!) So give the button to the left a click and see what happens! Thank you, in advance, for your kind generosity!
Yippee! Another step in a hopeful direction! Mmm… Pastry School… I can begin to smell its sweetness already!
One other new thing you’ll also notice on my blog is my “Featured Publisher” tag for Food Buzz. Yes, I am also happy to report I am on Food Buzz as a featured publisher! I am new to Food Buzz, which is an awesome website to connect you with other foodies, blogs and recipes, and am really enjoying it. It’s real easy to navigate and I have already found a number of great blogs and people on there. If you’re a foodie like me, you should soo go check it out!
Happy Baking!
-KM
WBFT: Scholarships and the Pillsbury Monthly Bake-Off!
To learn more about Will Bake For Tuition, Click Here!
For no good reason at all, over the last couple days I have been getting so completely nervous about raising my tuition money for Pastry school. My first quarter will cost $3,469, and thus far I have raised $55 (I have wonderful friends that support me!) So that’s $3,414 to go! And, I know it’s a doable thing and I am off to great start… every penny counts. But I have been simply unable to shake this nervousness.
So, when I get nervous I do the only think I know how to do… take action! Over the weekend I managed to find over 40 Scholarships that I could potentially apply for, and my goal for this evening is to organize them in a spreadsheet by date, locate the websites and have a clear, coherent and well planned schedule of scholarship-application-mania! (Clearly, the type A in me is out in full force today!) I already applied for all that were due by September 30th, which eased my anxiety some. Yippee… progress is being made!
In addition to my scholarship research, I have been asking friends and colleagues for their advice and suggestions about how to find my tuition money… and I have been given some awesome ideas! Earlier in the week one of my co-workers from Pier-1 (Yes, along with my day job as an art therapist I also work nights at Pier 1… I have a busy schedule!) suggested I check out the company websites for any and all baked goods to see if they offered contests or anything that could help me raise tuition money. So my first stop was Pillsbury.com. I usually frequent the site, but realized today I hadn’t been on it all that much. And much to my surprise and excitement I read about their latest contest… The Pillsbury Bake-Off Monthly Challenge! Each month throughout the end of this year, Pillsbury is taking submissions of recipes for a particular baked good…testing them out… having the public to vote on the best of the best and the voted winner will receive a $2,500 cash prise!
OMG talk about the most perfect contest for me! I am so freaking excited and I beleive I am more than capable of winning one of these! I missed the contest for September, but already have a few idea’s for the October Contest; Savory and Sweet Pies! For all my LA friends… There may be a pie tasting this weekend in order for me to perfect my Pillsbury Pie Recipe!
With all this progress made, my anxieties have eased a bit. I do have ALOT of work cut out for me this week, but of course, it is all work that I so enjoy doing and will lead me to my ultimate goal of pastry school! Stay Tuned for pie progress and scholarship updates!
Happy Baking!
-KM
WBFT: Great News Arrived in the Mail!
To learn more about Will Bake For Tuition (WBFT), Click Here!
I arrived home from work today to find my apartment sparkling clean (I really have a fabulous boyfriend! He cleaned the apartment, the dog and did my laundry while I was at work! Jealous!?!?) Along with doing a good cleaning, comes finding piles of mail that have yet to be opened. Mail generally tends to bother me mainly because it turns into clutter… and clutter drives me nuts! I find that just when I go through all the piles I need to, more comes the next day meaning more clutter… yes, I know.. that’s how mail works… but really only about 50% of it I actually need to read or respond to and I think junk mail is really just a waste of trees. Anyways… I digress… Today, actually, was a great mail day for me!
So as I was going through a couple of weeks worth of mail… really just looking to see if my renewal registration notice for my car had arrived, I came across a letter from the Art Institute of California. It was a small letter, and I immediately had a flashback to my application processes for grad school where I received my first rejection letter ever from a school (you know.. only rejection letters used to come in small envelopes)… granted my only rejection was from Harvard… and I am pretty okay with not being Harvard material! (come on now lets be realistic… there are MANY MANY MANY other people who have also received rejection letters from Harvard! I just join the club!) I anxiously open this little letter and the first thing I saw was… “Congratulations Kristy!…” Yippee! I have officially been accepted to the baking and pastry diploma program at the Art Institute of California! OMG!
Of course… I screamed! I am soo freaking excited. Even though I was home alone when I received the letter… my squeal of excitement was loud enough to wake my dog who began to jump and prance with me. That’s the great thing about dogs… they might not understand what exactly is going on… but they comprehend excitement with ease!
After re-reading the letter a couple thousand times, composing myself and taking the pup for a walk, I met my boyfriend and his friends at a bar for a celebratory beverage! To him, it was a no brain-er that I would be accepted… but he was of course was happy for me.
And post beers and bar snacks now I am here reporting the exciting news your way! I am one step closer to achieving my goal. I should have more progress to report later this week so keep checking back! Thanks to all my readers for all your support!
Happy Baking and Studying!
-KM
