Bakery Day 118: the week is done

I am so happy to know this week is over. Poor Sandy worked so hard in the bakery and I was utterly useless. USELESS!

The good news is I think I am starting to feel better. Right now I am at about 60% which is a huge improvement. One of the important lessons from this week, and directed to me by Sandy, is I have to really start paying better attention to my diet. Not dieting, but what I am eating and when and how much. It is a true statement.

I hope you have had a chance to look at my bakery chronicles video. I would love feedback of course.

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This week my plan is to really rest one more day (tomorrow). I will run some errands and get any needed ingredients, but then I am going to start working first thing Tuesday morning with prep. I need to get a good process for continuing to make croissants. I was not happy there were none in the bakery today or yesterday. Also, I need to prep more ensaimadas, and cookies. And, this week I will post on facebook that we will start taking orders for panettone. That is scary to me because I still do not think mine is perfect. BUT, for my first go around, I am not unhappy about them. I only wish I had a better egg yolk replacer than the one I am using. Such is life. I think the taste of the bread is good, just the texture is not something to do back flips over.

Thank you very much for taking the time as always to read my daily notes. I am sorry this was a boring week with the blog, but you got some entertainment with the video :)

#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...

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