— Debbie Bixler

Okay. Um, so most of the cookware that I use, or I should say most frequently is stainless steel. And I just find stainless steel to be pretty easy to use all around, um, you know, stainless steel cookware these days have a, have a base that's made of a, you know, a sandwiched material with some aluminum and, uh, other more, um, um, uh, materials that, that, uh, yeah, that conduct heat more readily than stainless steel itself. So you, uh, get a pan that heats up relatively quickly. Stainless steel can be banged around. It cleans up pretty easily. Sometimes you need to soak things that stick, but you can scrub the dickens out of it, and you're okay. You know, the only thing with stainless steel, um, you know, as with other cookware to, to be careful is, um, you know, don't, when it's really hot, uh, don't subject it to a sudden, uh, a drop in temperature through a cold water plunge, for example, which can, uh, lead to warping, um, of the, the surface. And I've definitely seen that over, over the years. Uh, what do we use at home? We use all kinds of stuff. So, um, you know, in addition to the one stainless steel pan, uh, that we have, because it's a disposable item, right? Uh, there's stainless steel. Let's see, we've got, um, some glazed pottery from Japan. We have unglazed clay pots from, uh, India. I've got something ceramic in there, and there's a stone pot from Korea. And, hmm, is there something else there might be? But, um, yeah, we've got all kinds of, uh, vessels, um, and they all work well. Uh, you know, we're often, um, cooking something specific in Oh, yeah, yeah, cast iron, right? I, I think, uh, I, I didn't mention mention that, but, um, some enameled as well as enamel cast iron, they all work well. They all have their learning curve, and they all have, um, you know, certain, uh, sort of needs around handling. Um, so yeah, have fun with it. Uh, I think it's, it's, it's fun to pull out a, um, a clay pot, uh, to cook, uh, something in every once in a while. Thank you. Okay, we've got a next question coming up, which is, what's one way to stand out as a pastry student and business owner? You know, I think the key to standing out, you know, as a student, uh, as well as a professional, is to focus on quality. And it's gonna be the, the, the, the quality of your mindset, right? And that's where things start. And, um, uh, so the quality is gonna go into the, the preparation or the technique, right, that you use, as well as the quality of the ingredients that are used to create this exceptional product, uh, that you are serving, right? Giving away or selling right to the public. And, you know, when it comes to being a student, um, for me, it was always, um, studying, you know, most efficiently, um, acquiring and really understanding the context, right, of terminology, of concepts, and then to practice those until I reached a, a level of proficiency, um, such that, uh, you know, I wasn't, um, too clumsy, right? As, uh, I was executing that particular activity. And once you become a professional, you need to really, uh, uh, you know, polish those edges and just keep on practicing. Repetition is huge, and even as a professional, you need to maintain your skills. So sometimes, you know, uh, doing things, um, simply to practice them because you do them so infrequently is important. It's important to, to keep, uh, your skills, um, nimble, right? And keep, uh, keep yourself on your toes.