Annette Lamb offered several ideas for nailing down a topic for a project.  One of them was observing: “Begin with observation. Take a couple days to really explore the world around you.”  So that’s what I did!  I sat for a long time trying to come up with something I wanted to research for this class. There are many things I’m interested in – it was narrowing it down to one! I considered studying jazz music. I was interested in J.K. Rowling because last semester I wrote a paper on the Harry Potter book series. I thought about researching Italy because I visited the country when I was 15. There were many other topics that flew through my mind from previous experiences and interests, but one day it came to me.

I was watching the Food Network one evening because I love to cook. One of my favorite shows on that network is called “Ace of Cakes”. It’s a reality show all about the different kinds of cakes these pastry arts chefs have to make each week. It shows their brainstorming, decorating, and execution of the cakes. I’ve always been fascinated by pastry arts and while I love to bake, I have no idea what goes into creating a recipe or how different cakes and other goodies are decorated. I have a basic knowledge about Pastry Arts, but I’m excited to learn more specific things.