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4×8 Meme

Feb 28 by Anita 6 Comments

Dessert_class_006

The lovely Bea of La Tartine Gourmande tagged me for this meme:

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

1. Front counter at the local Chinese takeout place.

My very first "real" job  – taking orders over the phone, bagging orders, working the cash register, and filling hundreds of little individual containers with sweet and sour sauce. The cooks actually made really good "non-takeout" Chinese for us employees, but I can tell you exactly what 90% of the customers ordered: lemon chicken, sweet and sour pork, house special chow mein.

2. Clerk at the local library.

The perfect job for an incorrigible bookworm. The best part of the job, of course, was being able to see all the new releases first, and hiding them away so I could check them out first!

3. Research Assistant at University of Hong Kong

This was only a summer job – the biggest benefit was that my Chinese improved tremendously.  Also I remember being asked, "Why do you want to be a civil engineer?  Women don’t do that." To be fair, I think they thought I wanted to be in the field, working out of the trailer, dealing with construction workers. Guess what? I still do that as part of my job.

4. Structural engineer. 

What pays for my increasingly expensive cookbook and baking equipment habit.  The best part of the job is that my firm is international and thus we get a constant flow of visitors from our other offices around the world.  You never know when you’ll see Jaffa Cakes or Japanese biscuits in the kitchen.

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset

2. Fellowship of the Ring

3. Hero

4. In the Mood for Love

Four places I’ve lived:

1. San Jose, California

2. Berkeley, California

3. Hong Kong

4. New home TBD in the Bay Area – yes I’m a California girl!

Four TV shows I love:

1. Lost

2. Scrubs

3. Battlestar Galactica

4. Sex and the City

Four places I’ve been on vacation:

1. Paris

2. Rome

3. Canada

4. Japan

Four websites I visit daily:

1. Salon

2. NYTimes

3. Television Without Pity

4. Egullet

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Anything from Pierre Hermé’s pâtisserie

2. Miso black cod

3. Dim sum (from Hong Kong, preferably)

4. Either chocolate chip cookies or shortbread – I go back and forth between which is my favorite cookie

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. A beach on a remote tropical island

2. Baking in the kitchen

3. On the couch reading a book

4. Anywhere with my sweetie

Four tags to continue this meme:

Kiki of Kiki’s Midnight Bakery

J.T. of Pastry Life

Nicky of delicious:days

Hanna of Cooking with Chopsticks

*The picture at top is from a dessert class I took at the CCA last year.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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« IMBB #23: Paris-Brest
Away Message »

Comments

  1. 1

    Kat & Satoshi says

    Feb 28 at 7:05 pm

    What an interesting and informative meme! Love your dessert platter photo too.

    Reply
  2. 2

    Bea at La Tartine Gourmande says

    Feb 28 at 7:14 pm

    Well done Anita! Thanks for sharing little bits of yourself! And have a great time on your trip!! Love the Dim sum too and am jealous you will taste it soon!!!

    Reply
  3. 3

    Katy at Pomelo Pleasures says

    Mar 9 at 12:33 pm

    Wow those deserts look great- I would kill to be able to take a class like that. I hope you have a wonderful trip, it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun.

    Reply
  4. 4

    Anita says

    Mar 13 at 9:45 am

    Kat & Satoshi,
    Thank you! That dessert class was a lot of fun, the chef was from France and very talented and funny!

    Bea,
    Thanks for tagging me! I will have vacation posts up very soon (just like you!)

    Katy,
    Thank you! I hope to post about my travels very soon – and I can’t wait to explore your blog some more!

    Reply
  5. 5

    rob says

    Mar 17 at 6:43 pm

    Anita, whereabouts in Canada were you on your vacation?

    Reply
  6. 6

    Aaisha says

    Nov 6 at 2:53 pm

    I just found your blog a few weeks ago and I was hooked. I have this habit of starting at the beginning, so I went to page 22 and am working my way back to the present 🙂
    I didn’t realize you were a structural engineer! I love seeing other women in engineering fields, who also love to bake 🙂 I’m a database admin; a bit different I know, but still very science / math-y.
    Plus I love the fact that you love Before Sunrise / Sunset, In the Mood for Love (one of my top 10), and Battlestar! I can’t wait to read more of this blog to see what else I find out 🙂

    Reply

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about pastrygirl

Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, baby girl, and rescue cockapoo Snickerdoodle. More about pastrygirl

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