I'm the boss!

Happy cannoli day

We were all at work today as we were supposed to have been and someone that was not Buddy was helping him design the cake and they were talking about dragons. This week we (outfit 17) had these people come in and they were talking about having these dragon boat races. They like raced boats and they were having a fundraiser and wanted like a centerpiece and since we had never heard about this before they had to explain what that was. But to be honest it sounds like it is exactly as it sounds like racing boats in the shape of a dragon. And they told us normally they had about 20 paddlers on each boat. So like the boat in Willie/Charlie in the chocolate factory. That was kind of dragon shaped and had about 20 people paddling in it. And apparently one person steers or something like that. They said it started off traditional but now it became an actual sport. He told us that they raced all over North America. And they had actually gone to nationals.

They said they had a lot ideas based on the photos the woman was giving us but they wanted to make sure that the Chinese culture was in the cake somehow. They wanted to tie the idea of the dragon races and their culture altogether in the cake. He told them that he would make them a fantastic dragon cake and would respect their culture and that he wouldn't let them down as he then talked ideas with me about what he thought he might want. So first he wanted to do a 24in round bottom of the cake and he wanted two dragon heads around at the bottom and he wanted their bodies racing around the bottom tier. Then he wanted to make another two tiers on top. And he wanted to hand pant some dragon boats and some Chinese houses and he felt it would really tie in the culture with the hand paint. He could not stress to the team enough how authentic this needed to look. Those he called out were told to start making the dragon heads that they would be part of the most important part of the dragons and this cake.

They were made out of rice crispy treats and modeling chocolate. But we also had to make them look the same size. I would leave that up to the people who knew what they were doing when it came to size and sculpting things this was not something I could help do not without someone teaching me how to do it like have steady hands which I didn't do. He wanted them to be about the same size of softball in order to fit on the cake. And then he took me to go see Sal he was making the red velvet cake for the dragon cake Buddy told Sal he wanted to do 30lbs of cannoli's he told me I could help make the mix. And wanted to get crackin' every year they do this cannoli throwback kind of day where one day they have a stand outside and they sell them for the price they sold them back in 1964 so for a quarter. He said it was a way to give back and let the community know we're here and we love them. He wanted to make all of these cannoli's then make one cannoli as the display. He told me and you guys that it was same recipe our dad brought over with him so it had been a long time.

To make it we start with sugar and shorting. He tells me how much of it we need helps me measure it out and then we take it kind of like by the shovel and dump into this big huge mixing bowl. Then they add in vinegar to make the shell flaky and tender. We then put in flour cinnamon and vanilla now that it's mixing we gotta get back to the dragon cake. He called down to Joey to send up the sponge cake for the 24in round. The plan was to do chocolate and vanilla with chocolate fudge filling. But the problem is he only brought up one. And when Buddy asked where the other one was Joey said he was only told one. I grabbed my headphones from my desk and put them on I had a feeling he was gonna scream and yell. He said one cake but that we needed 3 pieces to it. He said they only made one. He asked who then turns to Frankie and says he said make 3 pieces. And then Sal comes up wondering what happened. Buddy is upset that this is a 24in round and not a cupcake he says cupcakes I can do in my sleep. He says after they do the this and the that like mixing and baking this whole process takes about 4-5 hours. Sal turns to Frankie and says he only told him to make the one.

I lower my headset to hear the convo I need to know what's going on but the moment I felt he would start screaming I would put them back on. Frankie was mad because he wanted to know when they ever say just to make one and then told him what he said Buddy said. They were arguing over who screwed up this went back and forth the headphones went back on. Buddy was made wondering which one of them was the "liar." Though for some reason it was just some kind of mixed communication for some reason or another. No one wanted to take responsibility. Buddy's saying that he told Frankie to tell Sal he needed 3 24in rounds one chocolate two vanilla that may have been where the error happened. One chocolate there were not two vanillas or whatever. Buddy feels they have both been there long enough they can make the 3 24in sponge cakes. He scolded them to go get it done black and white. Joey said he would take care of it and Buddy's over here saying he shouldn't need to in the middle of it. Meanwhile we go down to where Sal is where the dough for the cannoli's is. Once we roll out the dough Buddy is handed a pipe as he explains what he's doing. He says he's gonna take the dough and wrap it around the pipe. That's I'm guessing how he gets the right shape for this giant cannoli.