Bakery Day 40: Forty Days and Forty Nights

The past forty days have passed in a moment. Some great memories and not so great memories. I learned a lot about what it takes to run a bakery and yet, I know nothing. I realize that this journey is much harder and much longer than any one definition. Maybe it is forty days for some and maybe it’s forty years for others. I suppose I am somewhere in between the two.

...

These last two days have been 15,5 hours long each. Yesterday I was exhausted and today, I am beyond tired and do not even know I am tired. Tomorrow I have an order for six loaves of bread, 6 baguettes and ten croissants. That is on top of my daily baking. I need sleep and it is now 20 before ten so I will try to sleep soon. I have to wait for the laundry to complete so I can hang it. But I do want to say I am proud of myself. I was alone the entire day. I never sat down once and I even let customers in while I was in between open hours and working on croissant dough and the tapas.

Which reminds me.. so far the tapas is not going well. Tonight there were just two customers. I suppose my options are not great but the people just do not come in. So, I need to find a better way to market the idea or it will be a failure every single time.

And... I am not sure if I will e alone again all day tomorrow but if I am, I will make it work. I am not giving up even when I want to. I cried when Sophie left this morning as I realized just how much her family means to me and how much I miss them. But I had to toughen up fast as I had a customer in the bakery and I needed to be smiling

That is the goodbye 😂

thank you for reading this somewhat short blog entry. I realize that the last few are indeed shorter but I am honestly so tired that it takes plenty of energy to spend these few minutes with you.

#doeverythingwithlove

Comments

Closing in on ten months

And what a journey it has become!!! I don’t know what to say or where to direct my energy in this blog entry. Some of the content is a repeat of what I’ve said many times and some maybe different. The bakery continues to struggle to meet the ends and while there are more customers it does not seem to change many of the outcomes. I spend time looking at the costs versus the income and I see little in terms of gaps that can be tightened. Really... I want to give up! I want to close the doors and never look back. We were closed last week for multiple reasons, including the installation of an air conditioner. I felt it was absolutely necessary to have colder air when it starts getting hot outside. We were also supposed to do a festival on Sunday, but when I found out it was more about marketing than making money I decided against it. Yes, marketing would help, but I would have had to buy a table and then invest in the foods with my fingers crossed that I would sell everything. So, such is...

Bakery Day 19: Working smarter, not easier

Today I have been feeling extra sick. As I am writing this I am wet from perspiration, and weak. I knew this morning when I got up that I had to think smartly about the work I did today. I also knew, that I needed to focus my energy in a perfect way so that I do not weaken myself more. As with each morning, I start out with making white bread, 5kg of flour, 3500 of water, 100g salt, 120+g fresh starter, and 750g of masa madre (starter, sour dough starter)... while this is mixing I already have the croissants out of the refrigerator getting to room temperature and starting to rise and the oven is on. Funny thing about the croissants... two days in a row I forgot to glaze them before I started baking them. This is making me crazy that I keep forgetting this. I also had a small problem with the dough last night, the butter came through the dough two times. I really must find a way to focus more. Eugeni told me to get my dough to 5mm... wow.. i need a perfect temperature for this to happen...

Bakery Day 69: lots of baking

I was up early this morning so I went to the bakery just after five. Let me premise this by saying, when I get to the bakery I wash my hands and immediately start the first bread in the mixer. When I opened the refrigerator to gather the needed things (masa madre, fresh yeast, and cold water) I was treated to a surprise of a pitcher of soya milk and a few other things falling out. The milk went all over me and made a mess of the floor. Not my favorite start to the day! Once I got the mess in order, I moved on to baking: i made white breads, raisin breads, integral breads, a double order of brioche cinnamon rolls with icing. I made croissants, and the focaccia. By this time the cinnamon rolls sold out so I needed to make another bath of them. After some cleaning I then started on the tapas for this evening. First I baked crostini’s and then I made a puff pastry. After this I did some cooking to prepare. I made a garlic and spinach, a walnut pate to be served on the crostini with olives...

tablespoon.bakery

Search This Blog