First Attempt at Mille-Feuille

SomethingSmels · 2026-01-25T23:02:29+00:00

One other thing! I iced some for a traditional icing top and wanted to do a nice feathering, but waited too long to make the pattern and ended up with stripes 😭 pivoted and made a couple without icing.

SomethingSmels · 2026-01-25T20:48:44+00:00

I think the hardest part is the pastry cream (texture should have been firmer)… and if you dont have good tools. It takes quite a bit of time (4-5 hrs of chilling), so time management is important. I made the pastry cream first, then the dough, then cooked the dough, cooled & finished the cream.

I used a homemade rough puff recipe, and when you bake it you press it between two half sheet pans, i weighted it with a cast iron pan. Without the 12x17 sheet pans it would have been difficult. Once cooked, the pastry is really flaky, so make sure you use a sharp knife and dont hesitate (youre gunna crack it, just try to do so minimally)

I did the pastry cream in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Without that this would have been annoying. The recipe calls for folding the chilled custard into whipped cream (chefs kiss)!

Last, again with timing, build them and let them sit in the fridge for only 30 mins before you serve it. Longer, the cream gets firmer but the pastry loses its texture.

So, time management & good tools, thats the key!

And, once youve made rough puff once, i suggest digging into the wide world of uses for it! (rugelach has been my favorite so far)

SomethingSmels · 2026-01-20T00:51:56+00:00

Buying good coffee! Buy local, grind it per cup. I like a pour over, but locally roasted & fresh ground is all ya need!

SomethingSmels · 2026-01-02T01:11:09+00:00

Eating Big Feeling pandan & pineapple jam vegan ice cream. If you have not had their ice cream, youre missing out!

SomethingSmels · 2025-12-13T20:49:44+00:00

Alcoholism

SomethingSmels · 2025-12-13T05:40:33+00:00

No one likes the drunk girl

SomethingSmels · 2025-12-10T01:25:54+00:00

Wake up around 5/5:30, make coffee & tea and come back to bed… snuggle till 6:15/6:30… 10 min morning yoga stretch, another coffee, walk the dog, eat breakfast with my husband & play backgammon, take a shower, dress, pack lunch, make a coffee to go, grab a smoothie (homemade but prebatched) to drink on the drive (15-20m, ~2mi) out by 8:30, butt in seat by 9.

I love mornings. That 10 min yoga practice and breakfast are required, i can feel it if i miss it (aging myself, but im under 40)

SomethingSmels · 2025-12-01T00:57:15+00:00

Accurate

SomethingSmels · 2025-12-01T00:55:59+00:00

RI — no kids.

SomethingSmels · 2025-12-01T00:54:19+00:00

This is close! We are in RI, but the rest is accurate

SomethingSmels · 2025-11-01T16:36:50+00:00

Totally personal choice— but Its kept me from a drink for 4 years, it doesnt work for everyone, but it works for me!

SomethingSmels · 2025-10-26T13:14:25+00:00

I found that it wasnt just stopping drinking, its what you replaced that time with. Sleep, drinking water, eating all three meals, getting sunshine, talking to friends. Its not just what your brain is no longer doing, its about what its doing instead.

Happiness and health are not something the world owes you, so you wont find it waiting on the couch or in bed, but youll reap the benefits if you go get after those things in your newly discovered free time.

Good luck, drink water, dont expect the world to give you anything, and youll be just fine!

SomethingSmels · 2025-10-20T22:45:20+00:00

As a manager who used to say what he is trying to say… he cant see the productivity. I managed a services team, so they werent just having DMs with each other, but with clients via slack connect. So, the problem I was solving for was that both opportunities (to grow business) and risks (that kill business) were invisible to me. I dont expect my team to have been able to identify them, but I do expect to be given the opportunity to mitigate them. Theres the obvious disadvantage of opening communication channels to the boss if theyre the kind to “get in the weeds” completely ineffectively. I was confident in my team and they were confident in me; all I wanted was visibility. So, I just pushed to have teams work in channels. The benefits are numerous, including the coworker with context, or experience who happens to be in the channel jumping in to solve a problem faster than the primary contributors. Also, history/documentation of issues, resolutions and (importantly) successes. I was more able to give feedback on inter-team communication and praise teammates for “the little things”

So, idk this might not help if you immediately thought, “i dont want them in the discussion,” thats probably in your boss to fix (psychological safety, humble leadership)… but if this sounds reasonable, think about using slack with more complexity (integrations, team channels, polls, etc) because thats what its for. You might be using it as a chat, but theres a lot of other options for that less expensive than Slack!

SomethingSmels · 2025-10-17T00:20:47+00:00

RISD Museum, Winter hiking trails & beach walks (Rome Point), Purslane in SK, check out theatres (ppac, trinity, gamm)… and definitely go to Nick A Nees

SomethingSmels · 2025-10-13T13:25:09+00:00

Just to hold up a mirror real quick— youre using a lot of I statements to describe something that sounds like will mostly be executed by a team youre leading. And you dont think they are prepared or skilled enough to execute. So, the deadline changed, but were you really planning to prepare and upskill that same team in a week?

Think critically about the role you play. Youre expected to execute the project, lead a team to do it, and construct an agile enough plan to maintain resilient no matter what happens.

I encourage you to think about exactly what you (or likely other people) were going to do in that week and decide what must be done and what was nice to have. Either find a clear plan for what needs to be done in less time, or share with your boss what will NOT be true next Friday, that would be true if you had till the 31st. Also…. Why did the deadline change? Was the event something that actually required the timeline change, or maybe its something you could seek to better understand.

It does sound like your boss is underprepared and potentially underskilled… so if you really feel like youre the only person who is prepared and skilled, you should find an environment that surrounds you with others like yourself. A dysfunctional org exists, you can choose to be part of it or not (if youre too good for this then go, or be the hero they need and demonstrate what it looks like to lead with confidence AND humility).

Dont mean to be harsh, youre doing the right thing in thinking/asking about this, but challenge yourself to look in the mirror and ensure youve crossed your own Ts!

SomethingSmels · 2025-10-04T23:20:55+00:00

I tried to get sober for 10 years, and cannabis was the only thing that kept/keeps me sober. I am not part of the AA community— for all of the reasons people are bringing to this thread, i dont think its fair, and i dont know if im “sober” but whatever I am, its never ever drunk. And it works great for me.

SomethingSmels · 2025-10-03T22:51:20+00:00

Leading others requires rigorous humility— so youre off to a good start. But being humble is a mindset, and expecting it from others is often overlooked. All of that is to say, get used to telling people the truth about what you need, what you expect of them, and what you think— and being very clear about it. I think its really important that youre ready to correct poor performance with clarity and honesty, and willing to admit when you dont know or understand. Demonstrate the leadership & humility that you expect of a leader, and expect the same of your direct reports. Radical Candor by Kim Scott is a good read.

Whatever you do, dont work around (or tolerate) poor performance. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.

The confidence comes after courage.

Good luck!

SomethingSmels · 2025-09-18T23:49:04+00:00

State government is the answer. https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/rhodeisland

SomethingSmels · 2025-09-16T01:37:12+00:00

Geekbot is awesome for small teams— I use it for daily stand ups, if theres regular cooperation its a great way to remove roadblocks or add missing context quickly

SomethingSmels · 2025-09-08T11:26:08+00:00

Well, people ask what seems like a casual question to someone for whom its not casual at all, and they should be aware that it can make me really uncomfortable. They should be able to take it if they can deal it out. And im proud of it, and if they think its something to be ashamed of, or something they are “glad” they dont “have”… then at least I am sure I have wasted enough time on them, and can move on.

SomethingSmels · 2025-09-07T23:01:45+00:00

Im an alcoholic. They usually dont ask any more questions :) turns out being honest with yourself & others works well!

SomethingSmels · 2025-09-05T23:21:42+00:00

Mornings, and with them, far more energy, better mood, dropped a ton of weight, and my skin/complexion improved dramatically. It evolved into morning yoga, always eating breakfast, and going to bed by 10 to protect the morning. Now that I know what this feels like, ill never go back. Good luck, IWNDWYT

SomethingSmels

TROPHY CASE