Farmer's Market—Week 7, July 16, 2012

Boy, was it a hot one yesterday! I arrived at the market around 2:15 to set up, but before I could set up, I had to run an errand down at The Dancing Bean (coffee shop in Caste Village). The Bean is now carrying my Squish Monsters, so if you need a fix mid-week, you can always stop in there. Marianne makes a mean smoothie, and she's got quite a few flavors to pick from. I enjoyed a mixed berry in the heat of yesterday afternoon, and aside from the brain freeze I had from trying to gulp it, it was fantastic!


Anyway, the drop off set me back a few minutes, so when I arrived back at my car, I only had about 30 minutes left in which to set up. Set-up is always a stressful time, but it's even more stressful when I'm pressed for time, and it's 90 degrees and humid outside. At about 2:50 pm or so when I was nearing completion of set-up, I went to hang my banner, and as I was hanging it, realized that I was kind of trembling. I just felt like I had the shakes. It was very uncomfortable, and I just wanted to stop, but I had to finish, as I still needed to make a stop in the restroom to change into my HappyJack Bakery t-shirt. Anyway, by the time the bell rang at 3:00 to start the market, I was relieved to be able to sit and relax for a while. The shakes subsided shortly afterwards, thank goodness!


The other woman that is usually there selling cookies was on vacation this week. I thought it would help my business, but I don't think it mattered much. I think I still would have done just as well even if she had been there, as I think a lot of my business comes from repeat customers. A few folks stopped by yesterday that I hadn't seen yet this season. It was nice to see them again, and I was happy that they were still interested in my goodies.


The crowd was average sized—the heat didn't seem to keep them away, so that was good, but like last week, I did feel like there were a lot of people milling about, but not as many stopping at my table. Although, by the looks of my sales, I did do better than last week, so I guess more people stopped by than what it seemed. I ended up coming home with only 7 packs of cookies. That's pretty good, and it made jack happy, as he now gets to enjoy some of those leftovers.


I had made two pies on Sunday, and had planned to only sell one, and use the other for free samples. However, on Monday afternoon before the market started, I received a phone call from one of my customers asking me to hold the pie for him. So then I figured I had better try to sell the other one, as I can't really have free samples of a pie with no pie available to purchase. But it was about 6:30 pm and the pie still hadn't sold. But fortunately, a woman who lives on the street behind me, and who has frequented my table in previous years, stopped by right after that. She hadn't been to the market yet this season, and I told her that it was nice to see her back. I mentioned that my pie wasn't feeling the love yesterday, and she immediately said, "I'll take it!" Woo-hoo! She's had my pie before, and I was grateful that she wanted to try it again.


I also made potato chip cookies for yesterday's market. Growing up, my mom used to make these, but I always thought they were gross. I recently came across a recipe, so I thought I'd give it a try. It called for toasted pecans, which I normally shy away from, but decided to give it a try. They turned out fabulous. They were crunchy, and had a great buttery flavor—sweet and salty all in one bite. Total yum!


For next week, I'm planning on trying another sugar-free recipe. This time, it will be an oatmeal raisin cookie that uses applesauce for sweetener. I sure hope they turn out tasty. In the meantime, I'm also preparing for my next HappyJack Chat, which is a baking demo at the Whitehall Library on Wednesday, July 18, at 7:00 pm. In addition, I promised my daughter that I'd make some homemade ice cream for her. 


Well, until next time, have a yummy day!