WADESBORO — With millions stuck at home amid COVID-19, many people have begun turning to baking as a way to manage stress, learn a new skill, or to simply make some tasty treats. Baker Veneé Pawloski of Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie has a few baking tips for the aspiring pastry chef.
“Experiment with recipes you’ve always wanted to try,” said Pawloski. “Start small. Perhaps try something simple, like a chocolate chip recipe, then work you way up to something more advanced.”
“The main thing,” suggests Pawloski, “and something I’ve had to deal with, is making sure you already have everything you need in your house because you don’t want to make trips out while baking.”
This is especially good advice amid the pandemic, as making multiple trips to the store on the same day is discouraged. “Above everything else,” said Pawloski. “be sure to have fun while doing it.”
Baking can also be used to help manage stress.
“It’s something that requires you to pay attention to, so it helps takes your mind off whatever’s bothering you,” explains Pawloski. “Also, just the sweet smells of warm baked bread, pies, and cakes just kinds of lightens your mood anyway.
“You’re creating too, once you get your creative juices flowing, it’s a good stress reliever,” she continued. “That’s why I do it. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
Though she currently resides in Greensboro, Pawloski’s father is an Anson County native and she fondly remembers the long, country roads her family would take to visit her father during her youth. It was also through her family that Pawloski was introduced to baking.
“It was something I used to do with my grandmother on the holidays,” said Pawloski. “I was always in the kitchen, watching her bake. It became a kind of tradition for me to help on Thanksgiving. I just never stopped.”
Eventually, cooking and baking became a hobby for Pawloski and she would take Pastry Chef courses at Guilford Technical Community College.
“After working at office jobs for a few years,” said Pawloski, “I went back to baking and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Pawloski has worked at bakeries across Greensboro, including Maxy B’s, Loaf Bakery, and Sweet Josephine’s.
Cookies and pies are Pawloski’s favorite things to make. “Those are my two favorite go-to’s if I want to bake something because I’m feeling a little bit down or if I just have a sweet tooth,” said Pawloski. “Nothing too fancy. Something simple, warm, and gooey.”
“You have the time, so why not try baking?” suggests Pawloski. “It might be something you can incorporate into your daily routine after this if you like.”
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