Latest / Abide Meditation App / A Dreamy Story for Sleep _ Dreams of Pastry in Paris _ Travel Bedtime Story
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Get Sleepy, the podcast where we listen,
- 0:09Speaker 1: we relax, and we get sleepy. My name's Thomas, and
- 0:16Speaker 1: I'm your host. As many of you will know, today
- 0:21Speaker 1: is Valentine's Day in many parts of the world, and
- 0:25Speaker 1: I know we all have mixed feelings towards this yearly occasion,
- 0:29Speaker 1: so I hope you don't mind me mentioning it. But
- 0:32Speaker 1: I feel like it's an apt opportunity to remind you
- 0:36Speaker 1: of just how appreciated you are for tuning in to
- 0:39Speaker 1: Get Sleepy and giving us your support. So I'm sending
- 0:44Speaker 1: you a warm message of love and care from everyone
- 0:48Speaker 1: at the Get Sleepy team. This show would mean nothing
- 0:53Speaker 1: if it weren't for all of you listeners. Each and
- 0:57Speaker 1: every one of you is important to us. We appreciate
- 1:01Speaker 1: you so much. Now, Elizabeth will be reading tonight's story,
- 1:09Speaker 1: where we'll join Emma for her first day of pastry
- 1:12Speaker 1: school in Paris. So, before we begin our story, let's
- 1:22Speaker 1: just take some time to relax. Every night, we all
- 1:30Speaker 1: go through a process of settling down. Whether it's reading
- 1:36Speaker 1: a book, sipping a nice hot drink, maybe enjoying a
- 1:41Speaker 1: warm bath an hour or two before bed, or just
- 1:45Speaker 1: watching something gentle on TV, there's lots of things that
- 1:50Speaker 1: can contribute to settling down for bed. And the important
- 1:55Speaker 1: thing is to find what works best for you and
- 1:59Speaker 1: to try and be consistent with that. Of course, part
- 2:05Speaker 1: of that process tonight will be listening to a story
- 2:09Speaker 1: here on Get Sleepy. And as you enjoy this last
- 2:15Speaker 1: step in your process of settling down, try to bring
- 2:21Speaker 1: your awareness to the here and now. Noticing some of
- 2:28Speaker 1: the more subtle sensations in your body mind and the
- 2:36Speaker 1: space around you feel how your body warms the bed
- 2:46Speaker 1: creating a cozy cocoon to nestle into for the night
- 2:55Speaker 1: and in turn feel how your muscles relax more and
- 3:00Speaker 1: more as you sink into that coziness. Feel your breathing
- 3:11Speaker 1: gently slowing down, as well as your heart rate. And
- 3:22Speaker 1: feel your eyes becoming heavier as you accept the desire
- 3:30Speaker 1: for rest and relaxation. you're on your way now towards
- 3:41Speaker 1: a beautiful night's sleep I don't know what will be
- 3:47Speaker 1: the final straw that gets you there but it will
- 3:52Speaker 1: come when the time is right and now that you've
- 4:00Speaker 1: settled into bed it's time for me to make way
- 4:05Speaker 1: for Elizabeth as we travel to Paris. The sky is blue,
- 4:14Speaker 1: the clouds are light and airy, and a charming adventure
- 4:21Speaker 1: awaits us.
- 4:43Speaker 2: There's nothing better than a good tartelette au citron, or
- 4:52Speaker 2: lemon tart, on a late summer afternoon, Emma thought. She
- 4:59Speaker 2: was sitting at a small café in the middle of
- 5:01Speaker 2: the night, near the Sacre Coeur, an old basilica on
- 5:06Speaker 2: top of a hill overlooking Paris. The velvety texture of
- 5:14Speaker 2: the creme au citron, creamy and sweet, with a hint
- 5:21Speaker 2: of tanginess from the lemon played on her tongue with
- 5:25Speaker 2: every bite. Three delicate mint leaves and one raspberry adorned
- 5:35Speaker 2: the sea of pale yellow. There must always be an
- 5:42Speaker 2: odd number of decorations on a pastry, she remembered. Never
- 5:49Speaker 2: an even number. It's a rule. The first time the
- 5:56Speaker 2: fork hit, The glossy tart, the crisp pastry, crumbled under
- 6:04Speaker 2: the slight pressure with a satisfying snap. And after taking
- 6:11Speaker 2: a bite, she could hear it crunching in her mouth.
- 6:19Speaker 2: This was a refreshing, elegant, and chic dessert. a treat
- 6:27Speaker 2: for all her senses. While enjoying the pastry, Emma's eyes
- 6:37Speaker 2: wandered to the three white domes adorning the basilica. They
- 6:45Speaker 2: reminded her of giant meringue cookies, teardrop-shaped with pointy ends,
- 6:54Speaker 2: the result of whisking egg whites with sugar into a white,
- 7:01Speaker 2: fluffy mixture. Emma could imagine tearing a piece from the
- 7:08Speaker 2: giant meringues to reveal a chewy middle. Meringues are a
- 7:17Speaker 2: foundational recipe in French pastries. That's what she had read
- 7:25Speaker 2: in her books in preparation for this trip. According to
- 7:31Speaker 2: the literature, there were three types she had to know.
- 7:38Speaker 2: There was the Swiss meringue, achieved by warming sugar and
- 7:44Speaker 2: egg whites over a pot of hot water before whisking
- 7:49Speaker 2: them up. There was the French meringue, often considered to
- 7:57Speaker 2: be the easiest to make as it requires no heat.
- 8:03Speaker 2: It's just egg whites whipped up and held together by sugar,
- 8:10Speaker 2: added in small quantities at the beginning, and then again
- 8:15Speaker 2: when the mixture is just about to form stiff peaks.
- 8:23Speaker 2: Then there was the Italian meringue, the most stable and
- 8:29Speaker 2: glossiest of them all. Warm sugar syrup is brought to
- 8:35Speaker 2: a boil and then gradually poured over the egg whites
- 8:40Speaker 2: while they are being whisked. The mixing continues until the
- 8:47Speaker 2: meringue is no longer warm. The smooth texture makes it
- 8:53Speaker 2: perfect for baked meringue cookies, because they will remain gooey
- 9:00Speaker 2: inside and crunchy outside. With this knowledge, Emma knew that
- 9:10Speaker 2: if the domes on the top of the basilica were,
- 9:14Speaker 2: in fact, giant meringues, they would be of the Italian variety. Smiling,
- 9:26Speaker 2: Emma turned around to see Paris winding down on this
- 9:32Speaker 2: Sunday afternoon. The sky was clear, and the Eiffel Tower
- 9:41Speaker 2: stood watch over the city in the distance. Behind her,
- 9:48Speaker 2: the church bells rang to mark the six o'clock hour.
- 9:55Speaker 2: Earlier in the summer, Emma had the urge to bake
- 10:02Speaker 2: panna cotta, an Italian dessert consisting of jellified cream. Why
- 10:11Speaker 2: she had this urge, she didn't know, but she made
- 10:16Speaker 2: them in all shapes and flavours. apple basil, strawberry ginger,
- 10:26Speaker 2: white chocolate raspberry, anything that came to mind. Baking made
- 10:35Speaker 2: her days joyful and her nights restful with a sense
- 10:42Speaker 2: of fulfillment. It was this experiment of creation in the
- 10:49Speaker 2: kitchen that that resulted in an online search for pastry schools.
- 10:58Speaker 2: She found one in Paris, one of the birthplaces of
- 11:03Speaker 2: modern pastry. After signing up for the program, she packed
- 11:11Speaker 2: her bags and moved to the French capital about a
- 11:16Speaker 2: month later. She had been to Paris before, but visiting
- 11:27Speaker 2: is different than living in a place. When you visit,
- 11:34Speaker 2: you are a tourist. You go to the main sites
- 11:39Speaker 2: while trying to acquire as much information as possible. But
- 11:46Speaker 2: when you live there, you begin to notice the little
- 11:51Speaker 2: details that make each place so unique. The smell of
- 12:00Speaker 2: the chestnut trees, especially after it rains, or freshly baked
- 12:08Speaker 2: bread in the morning. How no one is especially pressed
- 12:15Speaker 2: for time, and how they allow themselves to enjoy their
- 12:21Speaker 2: morning coffee while sitting down. It was these details Emma
- 12:29Speaker 2: had come to appreciate during her time in Paris. The
- 12:38Speaker 2: architecture in the center of Paris was the kind that
- 12:44Speaker 2: seemed to transport her back in time to life in
- 12:50Speaker 2: another century. The buildings weren't very tall, and they all
- 12:58Speaker 2: blended into each other, connected by small, winding streets. Most
- 13:09Speaker 2: doors were made of wood, and the windows were small.
- 13:15Speaker 2: Some streets, she found, were decorated with pots of flowers
- 13:21Speaker 2: hanging from the street lamps, while others were left bare
- 13:27Speaker 2: to rely on their own charms. Emma was in love,
- 13:37Speaker 2: not because Paris was the romantic city, where couples would
- 13:43Speaker 2: hang locks on bridges, but because she was at ease
- 13:49Speaker 2: with herself. She realized that the French found purpose not
- 13:56Speaker 2: only in work, but in life itself. Of course, having
- 14:03Speaker 2: a job was important, but so was enjoying the process
- 14:09Speaker 2: of living, and Emma enjoyed everything about living in Paris.
- 14:19Speaker 2: She took the last bite of her treat and sat
- 14:23Speaker 2: back on her chair, wondering what awaited her the next
- 14:29Speaker 2: day when she finally started pastry school. What would it
- 14:37Speaker 2: be like? What would be the first thing she made?
- 14:43Speaker 2: These were questions that only time could answer. Out of
- 14:51Speaker 2: the corner of her eye, Emma noticed that the woman
- 14:55Speaker 2: sitting next to her had ordered a small, dome-like dessert
- 15:02Speaker 2: covered in chocolate and nut. It was the pastry enthusiast
- 15:09Speaker 2: in Emma that acted like a magnet to all things sweet.
- 15:17Speaker 2: She seemed to see desserts everywhere she went. On her plate,
- 15:25Speaker 2: the woman had a doumounoisette, a hazelnut mousse cake consisting
- 15:32Speaker 2: of various layers. covered with a chocolate hazelnut glaze. To
- 15:41Speaker 2: put it simply, it looked like an oversized, nut-covered chocolate
- 15:49Speaker 2: ball cut in half and placed on a white plate.
- 15:58Speaker 2: To achieve the dome shape, the chocolate hazelnut mousse had
- 16:04Speaker 2: to set in the freezer in a spherical mold for
- 16:09Speaker 2: about 30 minutes. Emma imagined what it would be like
- 16:16Speaker 2: to mix the mousse. She would have to add the
- 16:21Speaker 2: melted chocolate last, being mindful of the temperature difference between
- 16:28Speaker 2: the warm chocolate and and the cold hazelnut cream mixture.
- 16:37Speaker 2: There was a possibility that the chocolate would seize up
- 16:42Speaker 2: if the mousse was too cold, the chocolate too warm,
- 16:49Speaker 2: or both, resulting in clumps. The chocolate was meant to
- 16:57Speaker 2: hold the mousse together, making the mixing process all the
- 17:03Speaker 2: more important. Otherwise, the dough could get stuck in the mold.
- 17:14Speaker 2: A slow mélange, or mix, was the key to achieving
- 17:19Speaker 2: that smooth, luscious, and even consistency. This was a complex
- 17:29Speaker 2: dessert to make, and Emma couldn't help but feel intimidated
- 17:35Speaker 2: by it. She had often heard that the French cuisine
- 17:40Speaker 2: industry was like the army. The head chef was your
- 17:45Speaker 2: commanding officer, and you treated them as such. Anything the
- 17:53Speaker 2: chef said regardless of what it was, had to be
- 17:59Speaker 2: answered with a strong yes by calling out, we chef.
- 18:10Speaker 2: Emma had thought that the army comparison might be a
- 18:14Speaker 2: bit of an exaggeration, but now she wondered if she
- 18:20Speaker 2: was wrong. What if the kitchen ended up becoming a battlefield,
- 18:28Speaker 2: one she could not survive. It was hard to let
- 18:35Speaker 2: go of these thoughts as she walked back home. The
- 18:39Speaker 2: potted flowers hung from the street lamps, guiding her way
- 18:46Speaker 2: as the day began to cool down and the moon
- 18:51Speaker 2: replaced the sun in the sky. She noticed the shop
- 18:57Speaker 2: owners closing up for the day. On the corner, there
- 19:05Speaker 2: was a boulangerie, a cozy bakery. Through the window, Emma
- 19:13Speaker 2: could see the bakers mixing the dough so they could
- 19:18Speaker 2: leave it to prove for the next day. Emma remembered
- 19:26Speaker 2: watching a show about bread making. They had explained that
- 19:31Speaker 2: the mother dough was the basis to start the bread,
- 19:36Speaker 2: the natural yeast that allowed the dough to rise. A
- 19:44Speaker 2: mixture of water, flour, and sometimes a few drops of
- 19:51Speaker 2: lemon would be left to ferment in a container until
- 19:56Speaker 2: it grew into a bubbly monster known as the mother dough.
- 20:06Speaker 2: The result was soft bread with uniform air pockets and
- 20:13Speaker 2: a crunchy crust. There was no doubt in Emma's mind
- 20:21Speaker 2: that the same street would be filled with the smell
- 20:25Speaker 2: of baking bread in the morning. The brioche, or sweet bread,
- 20:33Speaker 2: would be shaped and placed into buttered molds, The long,
- 20:41Speaker 2: thin baguettes would be rolled out, and razor cuts would
- 20:46Speaker 2: be added to the top for the steam to escape.
- 20:54Speaker 2: Emma could tell that the bakery on the corner would
- 20:57Speaker 2: make many people happy come morning. That night, She promised
- 21:07Speaker 2: herself that she would do her best in pastry school,
- 21:12Speaker 2: no matter what came her way. The next day was orientation.
- 21:21Speaker 2: The school provided a uniform, which included a chef's jacket, apron, hat, towel, tie,
- 21:34Speaker 2: and white and black that reminded her of pajamas. She
- 21:42Speaker 2: had several chef instructors who all spoke French, were strict,
- 21:51Speaker 2: some more than others, and had a deep passion for
- 21:56Speaker 2: their profession. After signing an agreement that she would never discuss, share,
- 22:07Speaker 2: or reproduce any of the recipes that would be given
- 22:12Speaker 2: to her, except for personal and professional use, Emma started
- 22:19Speaker 2: her first class. Classes were six hours each, three hours
- 22:30Speaker 2: of demonstrations, where she would watch one of the chefs
- 22:35Speaker 2: make the recipes, and another three hours where the students
- 22:41Speaker 2: had to reproduce what they had seen in the kitchen.
- 22:47Speaker 2: The first recipe was for sable diamante, literally meaning diamond cookies,
- 22:57Speaker 2: round French butter cookies. lined with sugar on the outside.
- 23:06Speaker 2: Emma had expected to be assigned the hazelnut domes she
- 23:11Speaker 2: had seen the woman eating the day before, or something
- 23:16Speaker 2: else of immense difficulty. She had made the diamond cookies before,
- 23:24Speaker 2: and that reassured her. How hard could it be, she thought,
- 23:35Speaker 2: Once in the kitchen, she started weighing out all the ingredients. Butter,
- 23:43Speaker 2: powdered sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, vanilla powder, flour, and salt.
- 23:58Speaker 2: She then started mixing them together in a metal bowl.
- 24:05Speaker 2: First the butter and the sugar, then the flour with
- 24:11Speaker 2: a pinch of salt, followed by the vanilla. The dough
- 24:18Speaker 2: came together easily and she enjoyed the sweet scent of
- 24:24Speaker 2: the vanilla powder. To finish the dough, she placed it
- 24:30Speaker 2: on the marble countertop and rolled it. with her hands
- 24:35Speaker 2: into a long cylinder. Small pieces of dough crumbled away
- 24:44Speaker 2: and separated from the main mass, but Emma incorporated them
- 24:50Speaker 2: again and kept rolling, until the outside of the dough
- 24:57Speaker 2: was shiny and smooth. she was careful not to use
- 25:05Speaker 2: too much pressure. The butter had been at room temperature
- 25:10Speaker 2: for some time, and the heat from her hands had
- 25:14Speaker 2: also warmed it, to the point where the dough was malleable,
- 25:20Speaker 2: but delicate to handle. The cylinder was then rolled in sugar,
- 25:29Speaker 2: so the outside sparkled with sweetness. The whole roll was
- 25:36Speaker 2: wrapped in parchment paper and placed into the freezer. While
- 25:44Speaker 2: waiting for the butter in the diamond cookie dough to harden,
- 25:50Speaker 2: she leaned against the counter and looked at all the
- 25:55Speaker 2: other students rolling their dough and coating it in sugar
- 26:01Speaker 2: the same way. The leftover sugar on the black countertops
- 26:10Speaker 2: looked like stardust. Was this a dream, or was she
- 26:17Speaker 2: finally fulfilling her dream of becoming a pastry chef? The
- 26:24Speaker 2: answer was made clear 15 minutes later. once the dough
- 26:30Speaker 2: was hard enough for her to cut the roll into discs.
- 26:37Speaker 2: The cookies were arranged on a baking tray in staggered
- 26:41Speaker 2: rows that allowed air to flow evenly during baking. The
- 26:50Speaker 2: last step was to place her tray in the oven.
- 26:56Speaker 2: Once the cookies were in, the kitchen was filled with
- 27:00Speaker 2: the smell of sweet, buttery goodness. Emma took a peek
- 27:10Speaker 2: at her batch baking in the oven. The sizzling sound
- 27:16Speaker 2: of cooking butter and sugar seemed to call her to
- 27:21Speaker 2: watch as the cookies baked. Not long after, they were done.
- 27:31Speaker 2: The chef came around to inspect every student's batch. When
- 27:38Speaker 2: he saw Emma's diamond cookies, he smiled. He picked up
- 27:45Speaker 2: the wand that was furthest away from him and held
- 27:49Speaker 2: it up. This is good, he said, but it's not
- 27:56Speaker 2: fully round that will come with practice. He placed the
- 28:03Speaker 2: cookie back down and continued his inspection. Just like that,
- 28:12Speaker 2: her first day was over. Emma walked home that night
- 28:21Speaker 2: with a container full of fresh, out-of-the-oven cookies. The first
- 28:30Speaker 2: day had been a surprise. She had expected to be
- 28:35Speaker 2: yelled at and criticized for her work, or rather for
- 28:41Speaker 2: its failure. But the chef was kind and understanding. Of course,
- 28:49Speaker 2: he still gave her a three out of five. But
- 28:53Speaker 2: she had learned that only patience, persistence, and time could
- 29:01Speaker 2: create a perfectly round cookie. Maybe all the times that
- 29:08Speaker 2: the chef told them to hurry wasn't meant to be
- 29:13Speaker 2: a chastisement, but rather a reminder of their goals. Just
- 29:19Speaker 2: like when you run a marathon and there are people
- 29:23Speaker 2: cheering you on, the chefs were cheering for Emma, and
- 29:29Speaker 2: all the other students in their own way, all while
- 29:34Speaker 2: keeping order. That's the way it works, she thought. thought.
- 29:42Speaker 2: Her instructors certainly got the same treatment when they were
- 29:47Speaker 2: training to become chefs. After entering the professional world, they
- 29:54Speaker 2: mirrored their mentors and Emma was determined to do her best.
- 30:05Speaker 2: In the following months, she would plunge herself into the
- 30:09Speaker 2: world of pastry and food. Her small Parisian apartment would
- 30:17Speaker 2: begin to overflow with sweet treats. She would learn how
- 30:24Speaker 2: to line a tart ring and undo her work. only
- 30:30Speaker 2: to do it all over again. She would practice whipping
- 30:37Speaker 2: up a meringue by hand as fast as she could,
- 30:41Speaker 2: since machines were not allowed during the first level. She
- 30:48Speaker 2: would buy mashed potato mix from the supermarket and practice
- 30:53Speaker 2: her piping. While cleaning up her experiments, she would repeat
- 31:03Speaker 2: the recipes over and over in her head to memorize
- 31:09Speaker 2: them for the exams to come. The call of, We Chef,
- 31:17Speaker 2: would become part of her everyday vocabulary and nothing more
- 31:22Speaker 2: than a reflex. The kitchen would become her love and
- 31:29Speaker 2: her life. Future conversations would revolve around food, and outings
- 31:37Speaker 2: would consist of finding innovative restaurants to try. When Emma
- 31:46Speaker 2: finally reached her apartment, she placed the container with the
- 31:51Speaker 2: diamond cookies on the kitchen table, next to a vase
- 31:56Speaker 2: of flowers. Only then did she realize how tired she
- 32:04Speaker 2: was with all the excitement and contentment that she felt.
- 32:14Speaker 2: That night, lying in bed, Emma did not want to
- 32:20Speaker 2: go to sleep. she could see the Eiffel Tower light
- 32:26Speaker 2: up every hour and was determined to memorize as many
- 32:32Speaker 2: details as she could, imprinting the image on her mind.
- 32:41Speaker 2: The strains of Edith Piaf's classic song, La Vie en Rose,
- 32:47Speaker 2: played in the background of her apartment It was evocative
- 32:53Speaker 2: of time and place, and Emma felt emotion well up
- 32:59Speaker 2: within her. If there was a song to capture the
- 33:04Speaker 2: essence of Paris, it would be this one. It was
- 33:10Speaker 2: the perfect tune to mark the end of a wonderful
- 33:15Speaker 2: Parisian day. A slow, romantic melody played by violins, accompanied
- 33:24Speaker 2: by piano, and her sultry voice was a love letter
- 33:30Speaker 2: to those who also loved this place. As the song
- 33:39Speaker 2: came to an end, Emma got out of bed and
- 33:44Speaker 2: went to the kitchen once again, She found the container
- 33:51Speaker 2: with the shortbread diamonds and sat down by the window.
- 33:58Speaker 2: She picked up one of the buttery, sugar-covered cookies she
- 34:03Speaker 2: had made that day in school and took a bite.
- 34:10Speaker 2: The texture was hard but crumbled easily. sending a cascade
- 34:17Speaker 2: of stardust into her lap. The cookie was simple, yet satisfying.
- 34:27Speaker 2: Then Emma got up and took some macarons from the
- 34:32Speaker 2: fridge before returning to her place by the window. She
- 34:39Speaker 2: had brought the sweet almond sandwich cookies that afternoon, while
- 34:46Speaker 2: strolling by the Seine, the river that traversed Paris. The
- 34:54Speaker 2: crust of each cookie was hard, and the middle was soft.
- 35:02Speaker 2: She left the rose petal macaron for last. The buttercream
- 35:08Speaker 2: was delicate, with a floral hint. One day soon, she
- 35:15Speaker 2: would move on from the diamond cookies to these more
- 35:19Speaker 2: difficult macaron, and they would be as good as the
- 35:24Speaker 2: ones she'd bought, Emma promised herself. No matter what the
- 35:32Speaker 2: coming weeks would bring, Emma knew in that moment, as
- 35:38Speaker 2: she gazed out the window, over the rooftops of this
- 35:43Speaker 2: romantic city, with the taste of rose petals on her tongue,
- 35:51Speaker 2: that she would always keep both pastry and Paris in
- 35:59Speaker 2: her heart. Thank you.
- 36:19Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you.
- 37:00Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you.
- 37:44Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 38:37Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 38:53Speaker 1: Thank you for watching. Thank you.
- 39:42Speaker 2: Thank you for watching. Thank you.
- 40:50Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you.
- 41:33Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you.
- 42:40Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 43:06Speaker 2: Thank you.