In 2011, when The New York Times asked “Are Apps Making Cookbooks Obsolete?,” it cited Dorie Greenspan’s app, Baking With Dorie, as a groundbreaking move, a “hint that books as kitchen tools are on the way out.”. Going off the rails really taught me a lot about myself—I’m not good at repetition, and I have ideas about how things should be done at home that wouldn’t work in a bakery. I put that cake in my book Baking From My Home To Yours and called it “The Cake That Got Me Fired.”. The other day my husband said, “you know you really should just put your phone on the kitchen counter and keep it on while you’re working.” Because I’ll say things like ‘oh, maybe I should put that in at 375 and I mean to write it down, but I don’t. Well, we were living in New York and my husband Michael had a cousin who lived in Westbrook. I thought, I’m a magician. But I don’t sift unless I have to. “Here, at home, when I’m working at my desk and things aren’t going well or I’m frustrated, I’ll think cookies! I gave up working on my doctorate in gerontology to bake cookies in a restaurant basement (a job I was fired from) and thank my stars I did. So, I taught myself to cook so we could have this life. Maybe I’ll just be looking at this cookie and think oh, this shape. Greenspan: Well, I talk to myself. During her early twenties, while working toward a graduate degree in gerontology (yes, that would be the study of aging), the Brooklyn native started making cakes and cookies for a restaurant (which she was quickly fired from—“the best thing that ever happened to me,” she says), and eventually turned her attention to baking full-time. I got an apprenticeship at Soho Charcuterie where my job was to stand in the basement and bake their signature cake, which had whiskey-soaked raisins and walnuts. But not the whole batch. I was lucky because there were fewer people who were interested, not lucky because there were fewer outlets. It had vanilla pastry cream and these teeny-tiny little wild strawberries. There are acceptable short cuts and I tell people about them and I do them myself. Greenspan: We have been in Westbrook truly a long time. If I was truly organized I would look at Instagram and I would say these are all the cookie people and these are all the cake people. Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael. For decades, home cooks and professionals alike have turned to one pint-sized authority, Dorie Greenspan… I never told anyone about the change, I just did it. It’s still going, now on 12 years, and people have been bridesmaids at each other’s weddings, babies have been born, I’ve met people when I go on book tour. Do what you’re told. There were no limits to what I would do. It’s hard. To make ckbk work, we log user data. When I talk about desserts, I say there’s no reason for them. You just don’t know. Greenspan: Everywhere. There was a study years ago showing the difference in portion size in France and America. I taught myself to cook using books, and one of the most formative was Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts. I just wasn’t made for production. There is a certain zen to that. It’s remarkable. There are some things that I’m out of control, like don’t put ice cream in front of me. We are in France for four to five months of the year, New York sometimes and here in Westbrook, Connecticut. So, we had gotten these cute little pottery, ceramic bowls. Suffice it to say that no one should make the chestnuts at home, but it was in reporting that story that I met Fauchon’s pastry chef, Pierre Hermé, who has become a lifelong friend and my pastry mentor. We were sitting in his sun porch and thinking, oh this is so nice, I feel so calm here. I mentioned to Pierre something about a recipe for canelé from a nearby restaurant that I couldn’t make sense of, and Pierre gave me one of his to try and said, “this is how it should taste,” and the rest is just history. And I got bored. The sandwich was on a soft, squishy baguette, wrapped in newspaper and secured with rubber bands that compressed it and made everything inside sort of meld together and get a little drippy—which I know does not sound appealing, but trust me when I say we tore into them every night, eating straight off of plastic bags on our laps. In this sense, Greenspan is one of the last vestiges of. Adoption days can brighten a month of work, said Judge Bernadette Conway, chief administrative judge for, Democrat Rosa DeLauro is running for re-election after representing Connecticut’s third district in Congress for the, In a rematch of the 2018 election, incumbent Republican State Rep. Kathleen McCarty faces Democrat Baird, LYME/OLD LYME — The need for an artificial turf field was the topic of a Lyme-Old. I had an article published in Elle magazine and I ended up working at Elle for two or three years. A lot. We were city people. Everything about the meal was incredible, but the thing that really stands out for me is that the maître D’ overheard our table talking about it being our birthdays, and he brought out every single dessert from the kitchen. This isn’t work I grew up thinking I would do. That dinner really helped me understand the importance of every single ingredient, and I’m glad the busboy said something, because he recognized that we were enjoying our food so much but missing two simple-yet-hugely important elements. I made my own version of it and I’m still tweaking it, but the first try was pretty good. Greenspan: Well, I’m not a trained pastry chef and I’m not baking for a large scale. But, the most important thing is just to get in the kitchen and cook and bake. CT Examiner: How has the internet and social media changed your cooking and career? After competing once before in a 2019 special election to fill the seat of then-State Rep. This is a different time, women are waiting longer for everything. I think it’s important to follow recipes. Pencil and paper. When you make something over and over you come to know it in an almost beautiful way, but I didn’t know that then. Put all of the ingredients except the chocolate and egg whites in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is sandy – it’s okay if you’ve got a few larger bits. So many of the problems that people have in baking. What’s really helpful to see a recipe when it’s made and not perfect. Greenspan: It’s both. I wouldn’t have done this. CT Examiner: What brought you to cooking and baking? I have been trying all my life to make this cake, and while I come close (in fact, the cake that’s on the cover of “Baking From My Home to Yours” was a version of one such attempt, which ended up being more of a black-and-white cake), I’ve learned that you can’t capture the flavor of a memory. It was only after her marriage that she also ironically fell in love with baking. It’s also nice to be careful in the kitchen. championing the thoroughbreds of the dessert world, Page Pecan Armagnac torte, a.k.a. CT Examiner: I understand France and New York, but why Westbrook? We kept in touch and I ended up working with her on Baking with Julia. All Rights Reserved. Maybe it’s the baker in me. Dorie’s Cookies. an era of cookbook writers who actually put hard time in in the kitchen as opposed to brainstorming endless 30-second kitchen hacks with SEO potential. For over an hour on the patio beside Hen & Heifer we discussed everything from Dorie’s first career in gerontology, to new recipes she is working on for her next cookbook, to the challenges that women face in the professional kitchen, to why on earth she … Greenspan: Failure! Greenspan’s 12 cookbooks have earned their dog-ears for many a home cook, and the same audience will soon have another one to wear in come October when she releases “Dorie’s Cookies." The first time I cooked a turkey or roast, it was like, whoa. When you make something over and over you come to know it in an almost beautiful way, but I didn’t know that then. For decades, home cooks and professionals alike have turned to one pint-sized authority, Dorie Greenspan, for wisdom related to cookies, cakes, crumbles, tarts, and more, all of which are hard-wired into the sweets-inspired narrative of her life. I worked with Julia Child and she ate everything and she was trim. Her journey into the culinary world was unconventional. She was pursuing a doctorate in gerontology when she decided to shift careers to cookery writing. I mean, I have no training, and I never even raised my hand in school because I was too shy, but there I am. We had the kid with us, the French au pair. Go figure. About eight years ago, I was traveling with my son, Joshua, through Southeast Asia, and we spent a few nights in Luang Prabang, Laos, where we developed a little ritual of wandering the night market, snacking, then buying a chicken sandwich to take back and eat in our guesthouse. But proud is not a word I use. If something is like perfect the first time out, I still make it again. Greenspan: Well, I won’t cook tripe. CT Examiner: Did you ever take classes or have professional instruction in cooking or baking? I would say I’m so happy that I’ve been lucky enough to do this work. You spent time at home. She always said everything in moderation, even moderation. She has also partnered with celebrity chef including Julia Childs and Daniel Boulud. Dorie Greenspan is an American cookbook author most famous for her skill in pastry. CT Examiner: Do you get a lot of comments about your weight as a baker? She is testing if she understands the instructions, the timing, she checks if the batter was thick if I said it should be. In the early 1990s, I had the pleasure of writing about a lot of great French chefs, including Alain Ducasse. I love the work. Besides almost burning down her parent’s house at the age of 13 while baking cookies, Greenspan was not a cook in her youth.