tablespoon.bakery

Today was a typical Wednesday for me. I got to do some paperwork at home before going to the bakery. What was different was that I had many things already prepped for tomorrow so I did not have to work so much, or so hard. I was out of croissants so I made two batches. I was supposed to freeze one but I forgot in the middle and just kept rolling them. So, I can leave them refrigerated tomorrow for Friday that will be no problem, but maybe I will need them tomorrow since it is market day in Inca.  With the expected rain, who knows?!?!?!? One thing I noticed today was how many customers came in to the store looking for bread, and I kept hearing Sandy have to explain that on Wednesday's we do not bake bread. I think this must change. If people want bread we must provide it first and foremost. ... I really do not know how businesses survive, at least in Spain. There are so many taxes and charges, and fees, and more that it is nearly impossible to see green. For me, this is quite true. ...

I did not feel well today with my work. I gave the integral bread a good amount of time for fermentation and they easily got to 80% when I put them in the oven.  Yet, somehow by the end they were smaller when they came out of the oven and just terrible in my opinion. That set a tone for the day. I had some other baking failures as well, including the coffee chocolate chip cookies and a cake I made. I managed to bake a couple of other things that turned out nicely and sandy helped me some as well. But I think most of my down mood came from spending an hour at the phone place getting a factura for my stolen security system. This just reminded me of how difficult things have been and still seem to be two steps backwards. Honestly, I wanted to give up today and just say forget it, it is just not worth this battle anymore. Then I am reminded that I have no money left and I have no other options. But it also occurred to me that walking away is admitting I was beat. I am in no way ready to ad...

I have officially lost my sense of humor regarding this topic. Last night we were broken into again. This time from a different door. I try to make light of it or jokes or find the good in it, but really, I just feel creepy inside. What was taken: Well, they did not take much. One of the speakers for the bluetooth sound we had for the bakery. They took the alarm for the security system I am installing. They rummaged around behind the counter looking for goodies and found none. And then, they took 6 ensaimadas and a bottle of wine. What else can I say at this point? I am happy they have good taste in ensaimadas? It just makes me sick to my stomach. ... Today was the bread fair and we had a table. It was raining in the morning but cleared up nicely. There were many bread businesses and it was nice to see some of their work. We did well. We sold many breads and all of the croissants. We only sold a few ensaimadas, but such is life. I am really glad we were there and our friend Paola helpe...

I did not so much baking this morning at the bakery, instead I used some of the time to go to he city to get some supplies for the bakery. And this I did. It makes me excited to think of the creative foods we can sell with the new gold I picked up. I also managed to get some boxes for ensaimadas and cakes and pastries. These things are expensive and it’s ridiculous!! There must be more cost effective suppliers somewhere and at the same time using recycled materials. Kind of off topic but I just remembered someone had a purse they showed me some days back and it was made from recycled jeans... Tomorow will be quite a day. I will be at the bread fair with a table while Sandy is at the bakery. Because it is a festival we will be open longer at the bakery. The bad news is it is supposed to rain all day. Not sure how I will manage carrying everything to the event as it will be more work to drive my car there and then back again and then two more times .. but I prefer to be walking since it ...

First, I am very sorry for not posting yesterday, I worked so long and hard I just passed out when I got home. In fact, I worked 14 straight hours today but I do not want to miss making posts. i started yesterday with making large batches of everything. The first was 7.1kg of chocolate chip cookie dough. Sadly I actually messed up the recipe and had to remix two times. Prep in bulk is not as simple as I thought. I also made a new simple sugar cookie recipe which I will use for two types of cookies. I then made four double batches of croissant dough and then  laminated and cut them. Everything went in the new beautiful freezer. today I did a lot more prep. I made ensaimadas (4kg) which yielded about 50 80g ensaimadas. I baked some of the cookies and some of the croissants. I also baked the bread masa I made last night. Then I made a pizza dough for tapas and then made some tapas. After that I made more bread masa for tomorrow. Oh, I also made a double layer chocolate cake with mousse in...

Today was a day of work, even though we were not open. Yesterday I bought a new freezer and a small refrigerator. This frees up a lot of space in the kitchen for me to make things in bulk, some of which I can freeze and some I can put in the refrigerator. THAT, makes me very happy!!! I also built a couple of more shelves and moved a few things around. The idea is to make the work space as easy as possible so I can move freely without working around things. It is not easy, but I manage so far. Sometimes I really like the enclosed space, but other times, I realize how much easier my work would be even if I had double the space.  Such is life, I am thankful for what I have. The ensaimadas I baked today turned out amazing. Laura helped me and she came up with an idea for an ingredient to simulate the taste of a traditional ensaimada as they are made with the fat of a pig. Of course I am not doing that so we have this substitute. I cannot share this secret ingredient and if I write a book, ...

Yesterday, as you know, we were closed as we are always closed on Mondays. Today, we are closed by my decision. We will continue to be closed for the rest of the week. Originally I had hoped we would be open on Thursday but after 9 hours of testing tonight, I see there are still far too many things that must be done. In short, my plan is simple.. change how we work, what we sell, how I prepare, and how we approach our business. I had a great talk with my favorite croissant mentor, and a very long, firm, and smart conversation with my amazing friend. He put me in my place and gave me insight that will help Sandy, Tablespoon, and myself immeasurably. Well, there will be measures, but positive for sure.  At one point it was so hard I went to the bathroom to cry for a moment, but I know, it is the love that one gives that counts the most. And, at times, this love must be tough. That man, means the world to me and what he did for me in 3 hours last night I will never ever forget.  "roc...

Last night someone tried to break into the bakery again. This time they were not successful in getting in thankfully but it is a terrible feeling. Right now Sandy and I are in Barcelona for the second half of her birthday and I worry what will happen before I can return there Tuesday morning. I hope nothing!! Not much to report other than this today news about the break in. We only had three customers this morning and made very little money. Very little!! Tomorow the bakery is scheduled to be closed as it is so we will be in Barcelona and visiting bakeries to do some homework. So I leave you with this, the best name I have ever seen for a restaurant. We saw this walking down a street here in Barca. Thank you so much for taking this time and sharing it with my life! ❤️

Today was a lovely day in that I got to give Sandy the cake I baked for her last night. I was surprised not only by her reaction to the taste but that of the other 9 pieces sold to customers.  They loved it. In case you forgot, it is a chocolate cake with a chocolate icing, and a chocolate mousse in the middle. Today I was at the bakery a little late, a bit after 6, and I stayed until 8:30 tonight with Sandy and then we closed the doors and came home. We had only one customer in the evening so there is no point to sitting there just to sit there. We also had no customers at our tables outside today at all. It is life and we will continue to work hard to change this. I made normal breads today and I made a centeno (100%) which I think turned out lovely. I do not know how it tasted, but it looked beautiful. I also made donuts, two batches of croissants,  ensaimadas, and empanadas.  The donuts were not complete until the early evening so I am not too upset we did not sell any. My hope is ...

Vegan Ingredients: 500g plant milk (I always use soy) lemon zest 80g butter or margarine (prefer butter) 60g sugar 50g cornstarch 10g vanilla extract Instructions 1. Mix cornstarch with milk in pot then add lemon zest, sugar, and vanilla. 2. Continue to stir and mix on medium to high heat while slowly bring this to a boil. Once boiling gently continue to stir for a short time longer then remove from heat. Keep stirring a bit longer to make sure nothing burns or sticks to the bottom. 3. While still very hot, strain the cream through a sifter in to a bowl. I use a plastic spatula to push it through. This will remove any lumps you have. 4. Once in the bowl, gently stir in your butter until it completely incorporates and melts.

75 days of the bakery are now closing down to completion. I just finished making four of the six tapas for tonight and I am exhausted. Sandy made parts for two more so I will add them and then go home since I have been here since the early hours going non stop. Feedback... oh how I would love some honest feedback. From you, from customers, and strangers alike.  My job is difficult, but not hard. Difficult due to the amount of work but not hard because I love the work.  But I am losing customers. Those who were coming all the time are not returning. Honestly I feel like crying. Every ounce of love I can spare is in the bakery, the foods I produce, and the time that passes by my hands. So why are my customers dying down? Is the food so bad? Are the choices too few and far between? What am I doing wrong? Seriously!  If you ask me about managing large scale programs or projects and teams of people, I can speak as an authority. Strongly! If you ask me about some of my breads, with relative ...

I know it is Thursday, and actually, I am not so tired to be honest. I got to the bakery around 5 and got right to work. I made lots of breads today and I finished the donuts. I also made a chocolate mousse to fill in the donuts as well as put on the little tarts I made, which I named Sweet Sandy... that mousse turned out amazing. It is so simple, and not my recipe but I will provide it below. Then around 7:45 I could hear something but I did not know what it was. Until I looked out the window. It was pouring out massively. I also noticed many of the Thursday vendors did not come out with their products to sell. This, was a bad sign. Maybe because of the rain or maybe not, but we were full for about 1 hour which was nice. In the end we did not make a lot of money today and there was a lot of extra bread, but it goes with the business. We have cut the breads up and will use them for tostados. The croissants looks nice on the outside but yet again on the inside no beautiful holes like I ...

Coming in to today I was still feeling the happiness from the hard work last night. This morning I went to the bakery to get the croissants out so they could rise. In the end I let them rise for 150 minutes but it was not enough, I still did not get those beautiful bubbles I wanted.  Also, the taste was quite a bit different than mine. For tomorrow there will be more of the same since I have four batches. In the morning, I will get them out early and this time, I will give them plenty of more time to rise, as I think they needed another 45 minutes to an hour. This afternoon I went to the bakery and of course made a few things for tomorrow, croissant shapes and laminating, empanadas, and donuts.  I also took some leftover croissant dough from last night and made little pastry cups with chocolate in the bottom. Tomorrow morning I will fill them with a chocolate mousse and then sprinkle with bits of almond for a crunch. I must say, it feels weird not being open four nights a week, and clo...

I just now got to lay down. This morning I was at the office at 5 am.. I baked like nobody’s business and then at 2pm a new friend came. She is a professional baker who teaches and she wanted to help me. I met her a few weeks ago when we came into the bakery and we got to talking and said if I ever need she is happy to help.. Sorry, she = Laura. Today she taught me the correct technique and recipe for baking ensaimadas - wow is it hard and completely diffeeent than anything I expected. And did I mention they are very difficult too? In between this she and I worked on my croissant recipe. Actually, we tore apart my recipe completely and now we are working on hers. Laura stayed with me today for six hours and she smiled the whole time and cleaned and was just amazing. I cannot express in words how thankful I am (though I think I just tried). As a trade, I told her she can use my bakery to teach bread classes anytime she wants and she likes that idea. She did not want money just some Engl...

Today is the 71st day of the bakery but we are not open. So, I am wondering, does it count as a bakery day? I suppose it does because the bakery still exists, we are just not there. That is about all I have on that topic... Tomorrow is back to work and baking baking baking.. I do love baking, I just wish I did not have to do it at 5AM ;)... then again, I imagine most bakers feel the same way. #doeverythingwithlove

Today was a very short day, in fact, I did no baking whatsoever. Sandy worked with customers for about 2.5 hours and we closed. We collected about 10 bags of food for cats and dogs who are suffering from the tragic floods, so the time today was used to deliver the food, which was very successful. A super short post and a super big thank you to all of you who were so generous to give food for those needy friends, every little bit helps.                   #doeverythingwithlove

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...

Today is a holiday in Spain.. I think it is a bank holiday. To be honest, it seems like Spain is full of holidays, some regional, some local, and some national. Any reason to have a day off is a _______________________ (fill in the blank). At the bakery this morning I worked hard for about 4 hours and then I felt burned out. On top of that, I ran out of fresh yeast which means I would only be able to make breads with dry yeast which is not happening. So, I decided to go to the store... Remember what I said a moment ago? Today is a holiday so the stores are closed. Or are they? I had to drive nearly to Palma but I went to the big store for businesses which was open and then to another large market which is probably open Christmas day.  In the first, it was empty and really relaxing, in the second, I lasted about 15 minutes and had to go, it was just too jammed with people. With that said, this morning I made cinnamon rolls with brioche dough and they turned out amazing. In fact, a man w...

Last night was mostly a sleepless night. After being broken in to, it has been hard to relax, that creepy feeling still lingers. I am sure I was awake more hours than I slept during the night. Today I made a few different breads and we sold out of everything except two baguettes. That makes me very happy because there is no waste but yet I am perplexed because I still do not see a pattern to the buying which would help. As I have said before, I will start scheduling the days I make certain breads and this should help in the long run with buying patterns. Twp friends of a friend came in today to say hello. One was the person who organized those beautiful flowers that the girls from Basel sent me. Remember them? They are still beautiful. Anyway, the two are really nice and we had a lovely chat. It is really nice to make new friends and meet new people, even on the days I am a zombie, or as Rick would say, “a walker.” 😂 ... Our original plan for tomorrow was to take breads and pastries t...

As I wrote on Facebook this morning, we are now an official business as we were robbed last night. Someone broke open the side doors and got in. They did not take much, the money we had as tips (maybe 40€) and the businesss cell phone. I am upset as it is creepy to think someone did this and they are out there. What also upsets me is they didn’t take a single donut or croissant. What the fuck! My pastries are not good enough for thieves? What is this world coming to? i got a new phone today (money I did not need to spend) and ordered a security system. Hopefully insurance will pay to repair the doors and the phone replacement. It’s Spain so I do not have a lot of hope. ... in Mallorca there were also the worst floods in history and several people have died sadly, and I am sure our non human family too. It’s a terrible tragedy and makes everyone sad and at the same time brings many together. It’s a sad and sobering reminder to live our lives in the moment and not spend our time in anger...

Some days I think I am talking to myself when I write here.. well, I admit, I talk to myself a lot so maybe I am just projecting :) .. Today I got to the bakery early and did a lot of work. I like when I can get in early and get it done and yet, getting out of bed is easily the hardest part of the day.  I think that getting up in the morning is so difficult for so many reasons, especially now that it is colder outside and it is nice and warm under the blankets. This morning I made plenty of bread and by the time I was finished baking the integral bread, half of the white bread was gone. Of course, I made a few other types of breads and now they just sit watching time pass.. uff.. one of these days I will understand the brains of the locals - or not!  One man came in for "San Francisco Sourdough" bread the other day which I told him he could get today. From what I understand, this just means it is a bit more of the sour side, which is fine as that is how I keep my masa madre (...

  And tonightIt is really nice to be closed on Mondays. I still have to go and do work (make croissants, cookies, muffins, and today I prepared a sourdough masa) but I also got to relax. So I made a special croissant using a colored masa which I made from dried organic beetroot powder and layered that with a plain croissant. After a short thundering outside and maybe a spot of rain, we were lucky enough to see a beautiful double rainbow. It stayed for a really long time too, what a treat!! #doeveythingwithlove    

Since today is a short day at the bakery followed by a day off tomorrow, we are careful about the amount of food we bake.  There is nothing worse than food going bad, and of course we can only consume so much as it is. This morning when I got to the bakery I took out the remaining croissants to bake and I made some bread.  I did not make a lot, but I made enough to sell. While I had the bread proving I decided to go to the outdoor sunday market (it is a 2 minute walk) and get some plums, tomatoes, and flowers for Sandy. I was successful on all three accounts.  As I was walking back up the street, I could smell the croissants. Croissants?!?!?!?!?!?! Uff, I started running as I just realized I left them in the oven. The smell was strong and as I entered the bakery Sandy just looked at me and I realized she took them out for me, but sadly, too late. I do not know how I lose my focus like this sometimes and forget things.  But...... I did....... and.... I do! ... The bakery was busy today....

I cannot say if it is the long days, or worrying from time to time about how the business is going, but my back has been really bad for the past week. It has been bad for a long time, but these last days it has been horrible. Every time I bend over it cracks about 6 times. With that.... today I did everything I could to prepare for tapas plus I made a last minute order for gluten free bread and then around 5pm I came home. It was a full day as I also made croissants, brioche, and breads.  I do feel bad that Sandy is at the bakery alone. It is not nice for me to know she is doing it all herself.  And as I type this, she told me we had ten customers again tonight for tapas. That is GREAT and bad at the same time. We only made 8 pieces for each tapa as every Saturday has been really quiet. It just means that next week we will have to start preparing larger quantities. It is a problem to run out of food, but for me, it is a good problem.  I also think our price is very good (6 tapas plus a...

... but i admit I am exhausted and actually considered not writing this until tomorrow ... ... i made a lot of bread today because it’s satrday - wait, it’s Friday which explains what I am about to say... and we sold very little of it. I also made plenty of baguettes because we needed the extra bread for tapas tonight. Uff, tapas!!!! Today I made three and sandy made three. I mentioned this yesterday. Well, we had ten customers tonight as I was leaving so I am very happy to say the tapas went very well.. I left because I was on my feet for 14.5 hours today going non stop and I am really tired. I think I will sleep a bit in tomorrow and go to the bakery around 7. I will not rush to make bread since we do not sell a lot Saturday, especially in the morning. I will need to make empanadas and since sandy made a filling and I have a masa conplete, that will not be too difficult :) i am so proud of sandy and how much work she does, and how hard she works, it amazing to see. I am also proud of...

Some days, things flow lovingly and it makes me smile very much.. Today, I was at the bakery around 5 or so. Since it is Thursday it is important to be there early to get everything done so when customers come I can assist.  Luckily, our friend helped us today and I did not have to help very much. He really is great and does such an amazing job. Yesterday I made about 20 different puff pastries (I think I told you this already) and we sold most of them. We also sold about half of our croissants, many of the empanadas, and other things. Strangely enough, we do not sell many of the donuts. Maybe they are ugly? I do not know.. I will keep making them. Also, on Sunday, if I can find the time, I will make cannolis. Maybe I should wait for a different day because we are closed Monday so if they do not sell on Sunday, I will have to eat them all. Of course, when I make them, I will use my classic beet-root filling. This is how they looked the last time I made them.... ... For tapas tomorrow n...

Today is the day I am not supposed to bake breads in the morning. The sole purpose of this is so I can rest a bit. But, we had an order for two special breads, one spelt, and one gluten free.  So, I went in around 7 which of course is later than normal and made those plus I made some integral bread. It is funny, that on the days we do not have bread, people come in droves asking for bread, and on the days I make a lot, it just sits, watching the day pass by without many visiting customers. Once I was done with the bread I started baking for tomorrow. I decided to just do it all early today so I did not have to be there late tonight.  But, before I did that, I made the cocas de patatas again after letting it rest over night and they turned out fantastic. I will start making them more often for sure!! For the rest of the baking, I made a full batch of croissants, I think 38, I forgot to count. I also made donuts, but I really need to work on the creativity for them. I did buy some "...

Today was a good day though not a lot of baking happened. I made breads and cookies and croissants in the morning. Sandy made really nice raspberry muffins. Later on in the day I did some non baking things, got shelves for the bakery, made business cards, made the paper menu and printed a sample for Sandy to see. After hanging the shelves we were open again so I started a little baking. I made the masa for cocas de patatas and i made some not son tasty carrot cake muffins. Tomorrow I will put an icing on them to see if they are ok to sell. ... i have to be in the bakery a bit early tomorrow to make some speciality breads which were ordered by a customer, one gluten free and one spelt. So I will make some normal breads since I am there working. Then I will rest and then really focus for Thursday. Sandy has been working really hard and helping a lot! ... And finally, a short note about stress. It is the same story about money. Weeks ago I decided to not have this as a discussion topic be...

The only thing that happened in the bakery today was prepare croissants and empanadas ... maybe two hours of my life... there is nothing like a good rest ❤️ teaspoon and yoko #doeverythingwithlove