Tag: baking

Categories
Food & Beverage

That’s How The Cookie Crumbles

We all love a good sweet treat, whether it be a craving or impulse we all tend to reach for a cookie. They come in different shapes, sizes, colors and flavors, but have you thought about everything that goes into a cookie. Yes, sugar, flour and eggs, but have you ever thought about what goes into owning your own brand, brick & mortar and creating your own recipes? What inspires someone to continue on a journey of baking?

I myself am curious because I have done two out of these three. I own my own cookie brand, Comatose Treats, Visit Them Here! My inspiration sprang from my mom. She is a self-proclaimed master of sweets, but her favorite thing to make is cheesecake. She would take me to get a haircut, and end up walking out of there with a decent stack of cash, by selling cheesecake slices. This sparked my interest in not only baking, but business. Watching each barber and customer’s eyes light up after taking a bite out of her creamy rich Reese’s Pieces cheesecake made my eyes open and brain start to think. If they liked it, I could only imagine what would happen if she rolled out a line of top 3 flavors them hit the farmer and vendor markets. Now that I am 27 venturing on this journey I branched out to speak with Craig Hurlbut, the Owner of Clemente Bakery.

Craig’s is more than cookies, he is a genuine lover of making dough rise. His day begins at 4am where he starts off with baking bread, this process takes two hours to prep and one hour to cook, he repeats this for two rounds to ensure the bakery is stocked for the day. The next person comes in at 9am to help with the baking of the sweet treats. When asking Craig what inspires him he explained how he has two decades in the restaurant industry where he was an actual line cook as well as a pastry chef. This brought him joy, but what really brought him into his own light was during the pandemic. His wife started to fall in love with the process of adding yeast to sourdough and watching it rise. She then approached him for help, like any good husband, he agrees. This projected him into going after his own brick and mortar. Another question I asked Craig was how does he differentiates himself when making different flavors of cookies and bread. Craig’s response was he got himself educated on flavonoids and how they work together to not only create an endless chain of new possibilities, but it also helps our overall health. An article published by Healthline broke it down so simply by saying, “they help your body function more efficiently while protecting it against everyday toxins and stressors.”

Another thing that separates him is his sourcing of ingredients. He goes the extra mile to source Einkorn flour. Einkorn flour is oldest flour ever created, it was cultivated 9 thousand years ago but the best thing about this type of flour is the benefits it provides to your body. Keeping it simple this baking ingredient is a cheat code! Einkorn is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than modern wheat. It has about 30% more protein and 30% less starch than flour made from modern wheat. For the people that are gluten intolerant this could be for you. When baking the mixing process of flour and wet ingredients is what brings the gluten alive which also helps what you’re baking rise. Einkorn flour doesn’t really do this, you should only expect about a 20% rise so gluten won’t be a demise for you. The final question I got to ask Craig was about the adversity he faced when getting Clemente Bakery up and running. He chuckled and responded, “You can’t pre-think everything.” Craig ran into a bit of cat and mouse game with having to get licensing and permits. He highly recommends getting acquainted with your local chamber of commerce they are life savers and tend to know all the answer on how to make mountains move when it comes to that side of business. The other adversity is staffing. It becomes difficult at times to find the right personality pieces to complete your puzzle, but when everything falls into place you get to really admire the beauty of what you built as well as the smiles of satisfaction from your customers. If you’re ever in Ventura head over to Clemente Bakery to get educated and have your taste buds dance with joy.

Categories
Food & Beverage

Worms in the Mud Cookie Cups

How 6 kids have changed the path of my life and how I’m changing Theirs

Go to RECIPE

When I was 11 years old I found out I was gonna be a Tia. Taking on this title I thought it was gonna be full of thoughtless fun, dressing the baby up in cute clothes, playing with toys and occasionally making a bottle and it was for a little while. I began to realize that my love for this one child, and soon to be others, goes so beyond what I could even grasp and I had a chance to help guide them to a better life than I had. So during my high school years I sacrificed my youth and helped raise them and it is an experience that holds so much gratitude and turmoil but I would never give it up. I took on the responsibility of healing the generational trauma of the past to give them a fighting chance to build something new. I now have 4 nieces and 2 nephews, that’s right about a decade later there are now 6 kids ranging from 9-3 years old, running around at almost all times. It’s always a party with them, sometimes I’m trying to decide if it’s a party I want to be invited to or not (ha ha).

In society it has been the standard to believe children aren’t people, that they don’t have feelings or wants of their own or that they’re not entitled to those because they’re children. I believe society is entering a transition period and reevaluating the vital role kids play because they are the future, Why would we not emphasize their importance? I was not raised to be in touch with my needs or wants, I was raised with the main focus of sacrifice and how important it was to sacrifice anything and everything as long as it helped your family make it in the end. Learning how to sacrifice has been one of the best and worse lessons in my life, learning anything without balance is bound to lead to disproportion. I do know the importance of sacrifice and it is something I will never underestimate, but now I am integrating the importance of saying no and not always prioritizing others over myself. The winding road of never ending sacrifice leads to burnout, resentment and emptiness. Sometimes never ending sacrifice is key for survival but when you’re able to get out of it and move into autonomy over sacrifice it can lead to beautiful healing.

As I sit here and type this I’m currently surrounded by 3/6 kids and I watch them and soak in their interactions and am filled with so much gratitude and some fear for the future. I can only hope that I am able to be a person for them that I never had. I hope that I help guide them towards something new and better while leaving them laced with our family culture that came before us but may not serve us anymore. So I leave you with my hope and a very kid friendly recipe 🙂

Worms in the Mud Cookie Cups

Cookie Cup

>1 cup of Butter (softened)

>1 1/2 cup of Sugar

>1 Egg

>2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

>2 3/4 cups of AP Flour

>2 tsp of Baking Powder

>1 tsp of Salt

Filling

>Store Bought Chocolate Pudding Cups

>Crushed Oreos

>Gummy Worms

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a cupcake pan. Put your softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat till creamed together. Slowly incorporate the egg and vanilla extract, then set aside. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt, give a quick mix to combine. Put your mixer on the slowest setting and add half the flour mixture. Once incorporated add the other half of the mixture and put the mixer on a higher setting, it should come together as a dough. If too sticky add a tbsp of flour at a time until it comes together. Take 2 tbsp of dough and press into each cupcake slot. Bake for about 13 minutes or until golden brown. As the Cookie Cups bake prep your Oreos, separate the filling from the cookie and put the cookies into a small sandwich bag. Proceed to crush them in the bag until they are crumbs, resembling dirt. Once your cookie cups have come out of the oven and cooled for 10 mins or longer, press a circular indentation in the middle, you can do this by using a tsp or tbsp. Add the pudding in the middle of the cup, then the Oreo crumbs and then the gummy worms. Ta-Da! You have some Worms in the Mud Cookie Cups!

Categories
Food & Beverage Local Business

Rolling Pin Donuts

Best late-night Snack?

Do you ever find yourself craving sweets late at night or just a good donut at any time of the day? Rolling Pin, located on Los Posas Rd in Camarillo, has been providing fresh donuts 24/7 since 1992. This family-owned business has become a beloved gem to its community and has greatly impacted the city. Rolling Pin is open every day of the week, offering sweet treats to satisfy your cravings.

Rolling Pin has a strong loyal fan base for donut enthusiasts, if you enjoy donuts, you’ve probably heard of Rolling Pin. They carry a wide variety of fresh donuts but the ones that stand out the most and are fan favorites are their Tigers Tails, Apple Fritters, and the well-known cronut which is a croissant donut with sugar. These fan favorites are what make Rolling Pin the most desired local donut stop.

Open 24/7 from Monday – Rolling Pin stands out from other local donut shops due to its extended hours, setting it apart from the competition. Driving past Rolling Pin during the day it may seem like any normal donut shop, but at night, and people are getting off work, ending a night out, or even craving something sweet, Rolling Pin’s lines can get pretty outrageous and crowds would flood into the parking lot no matter how late.

Not only is this gem winning over devoted Camarillo locals, but has also made its way into Ventura with a second location on Telephone Road. Soon we will be seeing a new wave of Ventura locals flooding their very own Rolling Pin which is aimed to open at the end of April or the beginning of May of 2024.

This wraps up Ventura County’s favorite local donut shop, which is open around the clock and the best place to please your sweet tooth late at night. Follow Rolling Pin’s Facebook to stay updated with your favorite donut shop.

Categories
Food & Beverage

Banana Cream Pie Cookies

A story about grief and how baking can help you move into a chapter of anew

Go to RECIPE

On February 28th, 2017 the longest 2 weeks of my life came to it’s peak. My Grandpa, Steven Rodriguez had died. Contrary to popular belief sometimes death takes a long time, involves a lot of people and there is a lot of sacrifice. Some people asked me what is the consolation prize I received from this experience? There has to be something you get after having such a loss. You get grief, your “consolation prize” is having to relearn how to live your life without that vital person. You learn how to make all the emotions coexist at once. I can tell you from my experience you will never forget this person, you may start to forget little details but you will never forget the core of them, you will never forget what made them them. Overall you do start having to slowly piece together what life will be like now and how you will continue to honor this person in your life. Baking was my vital key to keep my life afloat during this time and allows me to continue to honor my Grandpa, even 7 years later.

Baking has been my life for over a decade. Not to brag but I would say I’ve gotten very talented at it. I still have so much more to learn though! That’s what sold me on the baking world, things are always changing, you will never stop learning how to do something! Another thing about baking is routine, even though the ingredients may change the process is almost always the same. This is how baking comes in as a coping skill, when our brains are overloaded with emotion we need something that doesn’t take much thought/effort and can bring a level of comfort. Baking can serve as that purpose, you have a pretty straightforward process and get something delicious and comforting after. Not every baking endeavor has to be this long drawn out process that has extraordinary results. You can throw a couple ingredients in a bowl, put it on a cookie sheet, bake it and end up with something delicious and comforting.

So does baking solve all my problems and take away all my grief? No! But it gives me a creative outlet to let my feelings out and a special way to honor my loved ones. Food is something that connects us all, why not have it help you bring some healing. My Grandpa was funny, smart, loving and sometimes a hardass. But overall he was a diehard for a slice of banana cream pie, I’ve made it so many times and so many different ways. So my brain got to thinking and this is what I came up with! I hope you enjoy! 🙂

Banana Cream Pie Cookies

>1 box of yellow cake cake mix

>1 packet of banana cream pudding mix 

>1/2 cup of banana 

>1/4-1/2 cup of oil 

>1 graham cracker crust pie shell 

>Whipped Cream 

>Sliced Almonds (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Into a bowl crumble up a graham cracker crust pie shell and set aside. In a separate bowl mix together your cake mix, pudding mix, 1/4 cup of oil to start and banana. Mix until incorporated into dough, if too dry add 1/4 cup more oil. Then mix in your crumbled up graham cracker crust pie shell. Take 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls and add to cookie sheet, give a little two finger press down. Bake for around 16 minutes, or until golden brown on the sides. Let cool for 10 minutes then add your whipped cream and slivered almonds. Enjoy!