4 posts tagged “bakery”
If I were stupid enough to open my own bakery (especially now), here's a sign I might just want to use in the front
window.......
And I thought my last boss was easy! This is Mom. The one I'm "employed" by......the one I am now caring for. She looks kind of grumpy, but she's really not....she's just concentrating on "Wheel of Fortune". She never misses it.....or "Jeopardy" either. Every night, it's dinner, then "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy". I've only been at this caregiving thing for a couple of weeks now, and I'm about to go MAD! Mad I tell you. But I found a little help......
No, I'm not a drunken caregiver.......but a glass of wine now and then never hurt anyone, right? See, here's the deal.
I'm a pastry chef that is used to deadlines and pumping the product out.......move move move.....time to lean time to clean......that sort of stuff. On my feet all day......die on the couch when I get home....etc etc etc. Life was moving at 78 rpm (for you young'uns, that means 78 revolutions per minute, which was the speed of very old record albums), and now I'm at 33 1/3........actually less. I'm like the bionic man, who, when he was shown using his bionics, he ran verrrrry slowly with the accompanying sound effect....ch ch ch ch ch (or was that when he was jumping off buildings?) Ok, I've got to stop dating myself. Kids today are like, "record albums? 33 1/3? Bionic man? Huh?"
Anyway.
This caregiving thing isn't about deadlines or moving my fat butt around the kitchen as fast as I can go to "git 'er done". It's about patience, sacrifice, putting another person's needs over yours.........something similar to what Moms do everyday, except I've never been a "mom" until now. Now I'm my Mom's mom. Did I say anything about patience? Yeah, well lucky me, I have it. For instance, the other day my mom decided to go through her rolodex and reminisce about every person in it, from A-Z. She'd say "Oh remember Herb and Irene?" I'd say "yes", then she'd say, "they're dead now". And so I got the current update of who of our friends and relatives were still alive or dead. I can't TELL you how much fun that was. My eyes were glazed over and I hadn't even had my glass of wine yet.
Mom doesn't want to move into a retirement village or assisted living or any of that. She wants to stay home. I'm doing what I can to keep her at home without wiping out her finances, which is why I'm her primary careperson. Daughters work cheap......well, at least I do. Plus I manage her financial affairs, which is something a hired caregiver cannot do. She is too confused to manage her finances anymore, so I do that and pay myself a small fee.
Mom has Crohn's Disease, and Myasthenia Gravis, both are which autoimmune disorders. They tend to make her somewhat homebound, and she's gotten to the point where she is uncomfortable driving. So she doesn't get out of the house unless I take her out and she enjoys that a lot. It's just that there are limited places to go. It can't involve a lot of walking, and a restroom must always be nearby or within a short distance. This presents me with many challenges.
Especially since Mom doesn't show much interest in anything in particular. No hobbies, crafts, or anything like that. A lot of the day goes by where she just prefers to sit in front of the TV. I have this feeling that I need to keep her company, or entertain her and so I'm watching a lot of tube with her. TV is fine, but not THAT MUCH. I need stuff to do so I search for recipes and I cook a lot. At least my chef skills are still in fine tune.
I'm still in touch with Jewlz from the bakery, and she gives me the scoop as to what's going on. I can't help but obsess about that place since I was the starting chef for the cafes......it's like it's my "baby", and I've had to give my "baby" up.
How's my "baby" doing?
Seems that we didn't find a suitable replacement for me until the DAY BEFORE I had to leave, but we found one, which is what was important to me because I didn't want to leave Jewlz in the weeds with no help. Lizzie did a great job, but we only got her for two days and she left her key on the third saying her husband got an opportunity on Orcas Island that they couldn't pass up. And just like that she was gone. So it was just down to Jewlz and our assistant whom I shall not name. We'd had her since December and was a great help to us; getting a lot of the grunt work done and such. But there were personality problems between her and Jewlz, which to this day I (and Jewlz) could not figure out. She didn't seem to have much of a problem with me........but for some reason she wanted to blame Jewlz for all her dissatisfaction there. Not a week went by that I was gone, and our assistant left her key saying she "didn't feel welcome" and that the volume of work that had to get done is not what she expected. Oh, that's nice. It's too much work so just leave Jewlz by herself....she'll magically get it done. Nice move. And this leads me to my pet peeve.........
I'm a pastry chef that is used to deadlines and pumping the product out.......move move move.....time to lean time to clean......that sort of stuff. On my feet all day......die on the couch when I get home....etc etc etc. Life was moving at 78 rpm (for you young'uns, that means 78 revolutions per minute, which was the speed of very old record albums), and now I'm at 33 1/3........actually less. I'm like the bionic man, who, when he was shown using his bionics, he ran verrrrry slowly with the accompanying sound effect....ch ch ch ch ch (or was that when he was jumping off buildings?) Ok, I've got to stop dating myself. Kids today are like, "record albums? 33 1/3? Bionic man? Huh?"
Anyway.
This caregiving thing isn't about deadlines or moving my fat butt around the kitchen as fast as I can go to "git 'er done". It's about patience, sacrifice, putting another person's needs over yours.........something similar to what Moms do everyday, except I've never been a "mom" until now. Now I'm my Mom's mom. Did I say anything about patience? Yeah, well lucky me, I have it. For instance, the other day my mom decided to go through her rolodex and reminisce about every person in it, from A-Z. She'd say "Oh remember Herb and Irene?" I'd say "yes", then she'd say, "they're dead now". And so I got the current update of who of our friends and relatives were still alive or dead. I can't TELL you how much fun that was. My eyes were glazed over and I hadn't even had my glass of wine yet.
Mom doesn't want to move into a retirement village or assisted living or any of that. She wants to stay home. I'm doing what I can to keep her at home without wiping out her finances, which is why I'm her primary careperson. Daughters work cheap......well, at least I do. Plus I manage her financial affairs, which is something a hired caregiver cannot do. She is too confused to manage her finances anymore, so I do that and pay myself a small fee.
Mom has Crohn's Disease, and Myasthenia Gravis, both are which autoimmune disorders. They tend to make her somewhat homebound, and she's gotten to the point where she is uncomfortable driving. So she doesn't get out of the house unless I take her out and she enjoys that a lot. It's just that there are limited places to go. It can't involve a lot of walking, and a restroom must always be nearby or within a short distance. This presents me with many challenges.
Especially since Mom doesn't show much interest in anything in particular. No hobbies, crafts, or anything like that. A lot of the day goes by where she just prefers to sit in front of the TV. I have this feeling that I need to keep her company, or entertain her and so I'm watching a lot of tube with her. TV is fine, but not THAT MUCH. I need stuff to do so I search for recipes and I cook a lot. At least my chef skills are still in fine tune.
I'm still in touch with Jewlz from the bakery, and she gives me the scoop as to what's going on. I can't help but obsess about that place since I was the starting chef for the cafes......it's like it's my "baby", and I've had to give my "baby" up.
How's my "baby" doing?
Seems that we didn't find a suitable replacement for me until the DAY BEFORE I had to leave, but we found one, which is what was important to me because I didn't want to leave Jewlz in the weeds with no help. Lizzie did a great job, but we only got her for two days and she left her key on the third saying her husband got an opportunity on Orcas Island that they couldn't pass up. And just like that she was gone. So it was just down to Jewlz and our assistant whom I shall not name. We'd had her since December and was a great help to us; getting a lot of the grunt work done and such. But there were personality problems between her and Jewlz, which to this day I (and Jewlz) could not figure out. She didn't seem to have much of a problem with me........but for some reason she wanted to blame Jewlz for all her dissatisfaction there. Not a week went by that I was gone, and our assistant left her key saying she "didn't feel welcome" and that the volume of work that had to get done is not what she expected. Oh, that's nice. It's too much work so just leave Jewlz by herself....she'll magically get it done. Nice move. And this leads me to my pet peeve.........
What the hell happened to the courtesy of two weeks notice?
No one who has been through my kitchen here in this town has given notice. Not ONE. They just quit on the spot. I'm not a mean boss; in fact I'm one of the easiest people to get along with, and I always end up with flaky people who don't have the courtesy, the COURTESY of giving notice. News flash people: quitting like that doesn't help your references on your lying flaky resumes! Oh yeah, please don't use me or Jewlz as references, 'cause I won't have anything good to say about y'all.
What is is about this town?
This seems to be one of the biggest problems here in the Port Townsend area......getting good, RELIABLE help. In Seattle I never had problems like that like I do here. There's practically no competition for the job we are trying to hire for, and I've gone from interview questions like, "Are you familiar with pate choux?" to "will you just show the f*ck up every day?" That would be nice. Show up and do your work......ok you're qualified. Sigh.
An alternative newspaper we used to have here called "Vigilance" had an article on the so called "Port Townsend Flake Factor". I found it amusing then, since I had just moved here, but now that I've been here a few years, I can attest to the validity of the "Factor". I hate the "Factor!" I personally will never succumb to the "Factor".....I may live here, but I'll never be one of "THEM".......
On a brighter note, while shopping with Mom at Bartell Drugs the other day, I spotted THIS!!!!
An alternative newspaper we used to have here called "Vigilance" had an article on the so called "Port Townsend Flake Factor". I found it amusing then, since I had just moved here, but now that I've been here a few years, I can attest to the validity of the "Factor". I hate the "Factor!" I personally will never succumb to the "Factor".....I may live here, but I'll never be one of "THEM".......
On a brighter note, while shopping with Mom at Bartell Drugs the other day, I spotted THIS!!!!
The original Star Trek Pez collection for only $16.99!
Pretty cool, huh? Did I buy it? No. I had to restrain myself strongly. I wanted it, but I have to watch my spending. It would also leave me with a dilemma.........no serious collector would buy it and open the package....they would leave it intact and perfect and wrap it up to keep it pristine and original. As a collector I realize that, but as a PEZ fanatic, I simply wouldn't be satisfied if I couldn't eat a PEZ out of Mr. Spock's chest. It's best I didn't buy it because my collector's knowledge would clash with my strange urge to eat PEZ out of an original Star Trek dispenser. I might implode. So I made the best decision by not buying the PEZ.
Ack. Look at this blog deteriorate! From pastry, to caregiving to freaking PEZ. Well, dear readers, at least I'm still blogging!
Ack. Look at this blog deteriorate! From pastry, to caregiving to freaking PEZ. Well, dear readers, at least I'm still blogging!
I have a big problem with other humans who fail to grasp the obvious. I used to be fairly nice about it, but now that I've aged, my patience has stretched thinner and thinner. Some people may even call me a bitch. But hey, at least I'm not stupid.
I work in a "country bakery". In the building where I make all my magical pastries, there is no retail space. It's just a bakery. The retail space is located about 45 minutes away in a neighboring city named Poulsbo. Every day I make things that get shipped to the retail space every morning at 5 am. Here's the front door of the Cafe, complete with our bread baker, Tyson, and his happy mug to greet you.......
And here is the pastry case with all my goodies inside.....I couldn't get a decent picture without that nasty reflection from the windows!
Actually, I'm very happy that the bakery space is 45 minutes away from the retail space. I get less interruptions that way, and I can actually get some work done......that is when I'm not telling people that the bakery isn't open to the public except on Saturdays.
On Saturdays, the bakery is opened up and we make a bunch of stuff to sell people right from the kitchen. My worktable becomes a display table, and from there we sell a selection of items from my side, (the frou-frou side), and the danish, croissant and bread side. Saturdays are one of my days off, so I'm not there to greet the hordes of sweet-toothed customers. We hired a person for that. Customer service.....not my deal.
Now you'd think that the people in Port Hadlock were starving for bread by the way they come up to my door on a daily basis thinking that we're a retail space and that we're open to the public. They act like they can't get artisan bread anywhere, but it's not true......there's a perfectly good grocery store about a mile away that sells perfectly good loaves of artisan bread. There's something about the lure of a bakery that draws people in. And my building has that magical word on it....."BAKERY", which you can easily see from the road.
Now, when I'm trying to get my work done, and I have a lot to do every day, I don't really relish being Miss Wal-Mart Greeter and telling everybody who walks up that no, we're not a retail space, there's nothing for sale here now.....please come back on Saturday, or please visit our Cafe in nearby Poulsbo. There's a LOT of people who walk up to my door regularly and the spiel was becoming tiresome. So I thought some well placed signs would help.
First I composed some signs for the windows that said, "Open every Saturday from 8 am to 2:30" and also some informational signs about our Cafe in Poulsbo that is open daily except Mondays. I made the print large. I stuck it in
the window right where people walk up so they couldn't miss them. Or could they? Yes, they could. They'd walk right by
the sign and come to the door and say, "Are you open?" And I'd have to launch into the spiel. I marveled at how people could A) miss the signs, and B) look in the window and not figure out that there was nothing for sale in there. I mean, you look inside and you just see two people working. No cash register, no tables, no chairs, no coffee or espresso, nothing on display. Just a big worktable, ovens, a big sheeter and a KitchenAid mixer. Does it LOOK like a retail space? Not even remotely.
Sigh. So I thought I'd make MORE signs and place them right where they couldn't miss them.......on the front door, where they'd always walk up. At eye level. One ON the door and one on the SIDE of the door.
Does it help? A little. Not much though. People look RIGHT PAST the signs and ask, "Are you open?" "Can I buy bread here?" "Is this the front door?" (love that one). "Is this a bakery?" (love that one too).
This is my favorite though. Some people will come up to the door, read ALL the signs, THEN ask, "Are you only open on Saturdays?" AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Now what the HECK is that all about? It is when that happens that I find it very hard to mask my irritation, but I do. "That's right Ma'am" I say, "only on Saturdays! Please come back then!"
My boss thought it would help if he put a sign right near the roadway.
We're right next to a thrift shop, so the readerboard above applies to the thrift store. The sign is pretty plain. "BAKE SALE SATURDAYS 8:00-2:30". Right next to the road. But even that doesn't prevent people from pulling in every other day of the week and walking up to my door and asking, "Are you open?"
Sigh.
I'm not one to give up easily. I'm convinced that if we cover up the sign that says "BAKERY" on the side of the building, people will stop pulling in. Maybe. I don't know. It's probably the smell that draws them anyway. I can't win.
But perhaps if I could change that thrift shop readerboard..........
On Saturdays, the bakery is opened up and we make a bunch of stuff to sell people right from the kitchen. My worktable becomes a display table, and from there we sell a selection of items from my side, (the frou-frou side), and the danish, croissant and bread side. Saturdays are one of my days off, so I'm not there to greet the hordes of sweet-toothed customers. We hired a person for that. Customer service.....not my deal.
Now you'd think that the people in Port Hadlock were starving for bread by the way they come up to my door on a daily basis thinking that we're a retail space and that we're open to the public. They act like they can't get artisan bread anywhere, but it's not true......there's a perfectly good grocery store about a mile away that sells perfectly good loaves of artisan bread. There's something about the lure of a bakery that draws people in. And my building has that magical word on it....."BAKERY", which you can easily see from the road.
Now, when I'm trying to get my work done, and I have a lot to do every day, I don't really relish being Miss Wal-Mart Greeter and telling everybody who walks up that no, we're not a retail space, there's nothing for sale here now.....please come back on Saturday, or please visit our Cafe in nearby Poulsbo. There's a LOT of people who walk up to my door regularly and the spiel was becoming tiresome. So I thought some well placed signs would help.
First I composed some signs for the windows that said, "Open every Saturday from 8 am to 2:30" and also some informational signs about our Cafe in Poulsbo that is open daily except Mondays. I made the print large. I stuck it in
the window right where people walk up so they couldn't miss them. Or could they? Yes, they could. They'd walk right by
the sign and come to the door and say, "Are you open?" And I'd have to launch into the spiel. I marveled at how people could A) miss the signs, and B) look in the window and not figure out that there was nothing for sale in there. I mean, you look inside and you just see two people working. No cash register, no tables, no chairs, no coffee or espresso, nothing on display. Just a big worktable, ovens, a big sheeter and a KitchenAid mixer. Does it LOOK like a retail space? Not even remotely.
Sigh. So I thought I'd make MORE signs and place them right where they couldn't miss them.......on the front door, where they'd always walk up. At eye level. One ON the door and one on the SIDE of the door.
This is my favorite though. Some people will come up to the door, read ALL the signs, THEN ask, "Are you only open on Saturdays?" AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Now what the HECK is that all about? It is when that happens that I find it very hard to mask my irritation, but I do. "That's right Ma'am" I say, "only on Saturdays! Please come back then!"
My boss thought it would help if he put a sign right near the roadway.
Sigh.
I'm not one to give up easily. I'm convinced that if we cover up the sign that says "BAKERY" on the side of the building, people will stop pulling in. Maybe. I don't know. It's probably the smell that draws them anyway. I can't win.
But perhaps if I could change that thrift shop readerboard..........
When I get home from a long day at the bakery, where I've been on my feet all day, I just want to sit my ass DOWN.
After I get my dose of the TV News, I usually plunk myself down in front of the computer, check my email, post on
eGullet and Cheftalk, see what that latest is on Britney (can't help myself, as I said in my previous post, I love trainwrecks), and then play around with my favorite computer program, Adobe Photoshop. Before I was a pastry chef, I was a geek, and I'm still a geek. I used to be very quiet about my geekness, but now I'm proud, especially when we have movies that get sympathy for our cause, like "Revenge of the Nerds". Then of course, there's Bill Gates. The nerd you make fun of today, could possibly own you tomorrow! All hail Bill! Of course I'm not saying that because Bill and my brother look strangely alike. No, not at all.
Anyway, I indulge my inner geekness after a long day of swimming in butter eggs, and flour. Here's my latest Photoshop project, in which I have inserted my face into a picture on the front of an old Hamilton Beach Mixer user's manual. Added some rats, and changed a little wording and you have yet another example of expressive art created by, yes, a burned out pastry chef. I've stayed on the "bitch theme" because well, I'm still on a diet.
Do I need professional help? You betcha. But computer art therapy is much cheaper.
