Friday, March 11, 2016

New Blog!

Hello, great big world!

My name is Esmé, and I am a pastry chef with a taste for all things literary, culinary, nerdy, and unique. Let me tell you a little bit about myself and what I hope to achieve with this blog. I come from a family of writers. My mother is a published journalist and art critic. She and my father put my brother and I through art school where we both took classes to hone our writing skills. I ended up straying from the performing arts and ended up in a playwriting class where I absolutely thrived.  A teacher I have had the honor to have known for ten years now was paramount in my writing experience when she started writing her own biographical novel. I started out working through school as the assistant librarian to the amazing woman who ran the place. To this day these intelligent and sophisticated women inspire me to keep doing what I love.

Despite my immense love of books and the library environment, I set out for the Napa Valley to obtain my Baking and Pastry Arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America. Of course, I integrated books into my life anyway by working as a bookseller before I finally graduated. I have always been somewhat of a speed reader, and am known for devouring books almost as aggressively and passionately as I do brownies. A scintillating read and something sweet are all I need.

After conversing with a longtime friend (he has his own blog, too! Check it out here), he encouraged me to start writing about what I'm reading. As you get to know me, you'll find I'm woman of many loud opinions that I have trouble keeping to myself. But I also wanted a reason to post pictures of some of the goodies I make at home, and at work. I decided if I was going to start a blog, that I wasn't going to settle for sharing just one of my passions.

And here we are! Shall we get started?

I finally got my hands on the great Amy Poehler's autobiography, Yes Please.

(Picture credit www.bostonmagazine.com)
I have been looking forward to reading this since my father sent me the email that it had been released. Needless to say, the wait was well worth it. We all know Poehler is hilarious, from her stint as a writer and comedienne on SNL, to the show Parks and Recreation. She has long been a role model of mine, a woman who is fearless in her example to others that girls can be beautiful and funny. This intelligent, deep memoir is filled with strangely practical grown-up info for those of us in their twenty-somethings who have no idea what they're doing. Great news, fellow twenty-somethings! Poehler confirms that no one in adulthood actually has a clue! *Rounds of relieved applause*

She goes into everything from working on SNL while she was pregnant, her small-town childhood, living life from show to show, Parks and Rec moments, what it is like to have kids, and even time travel (And she knows it's real, guys. She explains it, even. She knows what's up). Have you ever wanted to have a conversation with Ms. Amy Poehler? I have more great news for you. She talks to you in this book. How cool is that?

Her writing style is very much how you'd expect it to be--conversational, laid back, but also sufficiently detailed and informative. I promise you, you'll laugh out loud at least a few times while reading this (even if you're like me and don't actually LOL when you say you do).

This book is a joy to read. I highly recommend it.

Thanks so much for reading, it means a lot to me! Feel free to leave a note in the comments, I'd love to have some conversations with you. Have you read Yes Please? What did you think? Let me know what you're reading!

Next time, I'll give you a recipe for berry hand pies and a new book to be determined. Happy Friday, everyone!

~E

1 comment:

  1. Hello Esme!!! So exciting to see you've started a blog and are willing to share your wisdom from the kitchen:). We miss you and look forward to seeing you this summer! Keep those recipes coming:).

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