Valentine's Day 2018

So, just wanted to share a bit about Valentine's Day.

You see... Valentine's Day is like the Olympics of bakery life. We spend all year talking about it, getting ready for it ('training', if you will), ~~anticipating~~ dreading it, and psyching ourselves up for several days of craziness.

We partnered with Yazel's Flowers & Gifts here in Lima and offered fresh roses at the bakery!

Last year, I was completely blindsided by how busy we would be. We sold out of goodies (for the first time) by 10:30am! At one point during the day last year, we ran completely out of butter and powdered sugar. I might have found myself out back crying in the woods - no shame.

I had a much better plan in place this year, and things went sooo much more smoothly. We advance prepped like crazy and that helped so much! Little things - cutting out heart cookies, dicing strawberries, pureeing strawberries, and stocking the freezer with strawberry mousse frosting - saved us so much time.

Line outside the door at 8:40am... we open at 9am!

Our best-selling product for Valentine's Day is the Chocolate-covered Strawberry cupcake. It's a fresh strawberry cupcake, topped with a strawberry mousse and then double-dipped in chocolate coating. It's a tricky one to crank out fast, because the mousse requires about 2 hours to make start-to-finish. The cupcakes also have to rest in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before you can dip them in the chocolate coating. I meant to keep track of how many of these we sold this year, but that stopped after February 2. I know we usually made at least 2 batches of 15-20 dozen each day the week leading up to Valentine's Day.

Our other NEW product this year was Chocolate-dipped Fresh Strawberries! I was able to get the fancy long stem strawberries from my supplier and they were SOOO good. We dipped them in Ghirardelli dark & white chocolate. Pretty sure I ate at least one per day during the ten days or so that we had them around.

IRRESISTIBLE

As far as how the actual Valentine's Day ended up?! We cranked our ovens ALL DAY LONG and managed to keep a nice supply the ENTIRE day from 9am-7pm. Between Tuesday & Wednesday, we sold close to 7000 cupcakes, 2200+ cookies, 1500+ fresh-dipped strawberries, and 30+ cakes. Almost 1000 customers between the 2 days!

SO MANY HEART COOKIES!

My team hustled their little booties off and worked so well together. So proud of them!

Even Ben got in on the action :-P

However, by Thursday morning, we were all pretty much walking zombies. Valentine's recovery is a real thing. It has taken me until TODAY (5 days later) to feel halfway back to normal. And that's with a 2-hour nap Sunday and a 3-hour nap today. I also think being 23 weeks pregnant might have something to do with that.

So what's next for the bakery??! We've got our very own UNICORN DAY planned for this Friday. Unicorn goodies will be taking over our display.... and we are SO excited about it. Who doesn't love unicorns??!

Samoa-what?

So. Last night I did some baking. For my Business Man. Leaning tower of... cookie bars? Before I tell you all about it, let's rewind a bit... Last week when I was gone traversing the Midwest , our order of Girl Scout cookies came in. (finally!) They got here on Monday. When I spoke with my Business Man Tuesday night, he informed me that the box of Caramel Delights was gone. Gone! I would have been shocked and horrified and disappointed if I actually liked coconut, but alas I just shook my head and laughed. Those cookies didn't stand a chance with my Business Man locked in the same apartment for any length of time. The real deal. Just to prove his love for Caramel Delights even further, let me tell you this little story. L ast year I came out to visit one weekend and take the oh-so-enjoyable Praxis tests. We stopped at Family Video after the tests to pick up a few movies for the afternoon/evening. There happened to be some cute lil' Girl Scouts trying ...

Day 8: Brownie-Covered Oreos

Today's cookie recipe has two ingredients. Yup, just two! Brownie mix and a package of Oreos. So simple that my Business Man could make them! I saw this recipe over at Picky-Palate , and immediately had to try it. I love incorporating Oreos into my baked goods. We even had Oreo Cupcakes at our wedding! And who could forget about Oreo Truffles? (Also known as Snowman Poop in my circle of friends...) After tasting them, I must say these are divine! And so simple. Perfect for the chocoholic in your life. (aka me!) The cookie gets a little soft inside the brownie, and it's just a chocolate explosion in your mouth! You will want to have a glass of milk handy. Just have to show off our tree some more! First things first, mix up your brownie mix. If you want a lot of Brownie-covered Oreos, use a large brownie mix. If you don't need as many, use a smaller brownie mix. My favorite brownie mix is Ghiradelli , but it can be kinda pricey. Usually I just buy what's on sale....

Day 7: Buried Cherry Cookies

I don't remember where my mom & I got this recipe... we started baking these about 8 years ago. And haven't stopped since! The name says it all - there is a 'buried cherry' in each cookie. The cookie itself is chewy and chocolatey, and inside there's a surprise cherry! It's all topped with a unique type of frosting; it is poured over the cookie before it's baked. It's like a cookie version of a chocolate-covered cherry! (Without all that nasty sweet white goo inside...) Here's a step-by-step break-down: Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Make an indentation in each ball. Place a cherry in each indentation. Make the frosting. (And don't forget to lick the spoon. And scrape the sides of the pan.) Top with the frosting. Bake! And then wonder what to do with the leftover 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk. (What kind of recipe only calls for 1/2 cup?) I guess I could be like my friend Jen , as she tol...

Livin' the Dream in Lima

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