Baking with Stephanie G.

After 15 years working in high-tech I had enough of the constant stress, demanding work and long hours scrunched at my desk trying to solve other peoples issues. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next so I started taking classes in anything that sounded interesting. I took my first cooking class at the local community college and loved the way it made me feel. It wasn't until I took my first baking class in this degree program that I knew I was home. After graduating with a hospitality management degree, I transferred to Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island to earn a degree in Pastry Arts My first job was with the Rhode Island Hospital. This hospital had received great recognition for the quality of food the kitchen produced. The director wanted to create a pastry program to expand the selections even more. Thus started my career. Coming back to the bay area, I wanted a more autonomous position, so I went into business for my self; first with a whole sale bakery which morphed into a catering business. I did this for 12 years, and loved it. All this time I was teaching community baking classes, adult education baking and pastry classes, and teaching part time at Mission College in Santa Clara. I was then asked by Mission Valley ROP program to create a culinary/pastry program from scratch. It was a real challenge, but I found I really like challenges. From there I went to work for Whole Foods as a Pastry Chef. After a few years of working for WFM I started teaching at the Art Institute in San Francisco. From there I went to Le Cordon Bleu, Also in San Francisco. In the middle of all this I got married to a wonderful man. The Cordon Bleu closed in September of 2016. Which brings me to the present. I am passionate about teaching baking and pastry, and hope to create a program which will allow students to understand baking, not to just follow recipes. My goal is to flame the creativity, and passion in my student, and fuel the desire to keep learning.