Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Busy Wednesdays

Wednesday begins my weekly baking for the local farmers' market.  Usually I fire up the ovens at about 8:00 a.m., bake several types of breads, pies, and brownies until about dinner time, then shut the ovens off until Thursday morning, when I bake up the cookies and granola until roughly 2:00 p.m.  Then everything is wrapped, labeled, packed into the truck, and off to the market for four and a half hours.

Today, however, it is extremely hot and humid all ready (humidity at 93% due to overnight fog that hasn't quite burned off yet), and I'm contemplating the reality of low customer attendance at tomorrow's market--projected temps during market time: 97 degrees with heat index of 104--and that baking is seriously going to heat up my house, which is not air conditioned.

And so, I sit, stalling, on the computer, looking up weather forecasts for tomorrow, calculating, contemplating, and procrastinating turning on the oven.  I have strawberry jam made in June that I can sell tomorrow, as well as "Dinner in a Jar" which is pasta with a dry seasoning mix in a canning jar that you add to cooked ground beef, or diced chicken, along with water and simmer to make a quick, easy, and tasty dinner to feed 4 (or up to 6 with side dishes).  Perhaps this would be a good time to try a new non-baked item that I have been thinking of mixing up and selling: taco/fajita seasoning mix.  I've been making it for my own use for years, perhaps it might sell well at the market too.

I will go to the market, despite the heat and humidity.  It's not the idea of sitting out in that weather that intimidates me; I love being outside and I love being at the market.  It's a relaxing afternoon/evening spent visiting with my fellow vendors and loyal customers.  No, what is slowing my production this morning is trying to figure how much to make--that will sell and not be a 'loss' (actually a gain to my waistline because what doesn't sell always gets eaten at home, and I don't need to eat pie, cookies, and brownies everyday!).   Figuring how long to run the ovens, how much discomfort indoors is not imposing on the family too much, for what I know will be a low-sales day tomorrow.

M&M Brownies and Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

 Granola
 
Banana breads.

Crumb top apple pie.

Counter full of baked goods (not shown, cinnamon bread, french bread, zucchini bread, herb bread, blueberry pies. . .)


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