Farmer's Market—Week 12, August 20, 2012

The weather today started off beautiful. The sun was shining. The humidity was low. The temperature was pleasant. The wind was refreshing. But then around 5:45 pm, the threat of rain started to set in. We got lucky, and it never really did rain, except for a few sprinkles for not even 10 seconds at a pop. But I think it still drove customers away, and it caused extra work for me, as I decided to put up two of my tent's sidewalls to try to ward off the dampness from the rain that never came. Those sidewalls are a pain every time I try to use them, but during a rainstorm, it's helpful to have them, as it protects me from the rain that decides to blow sideways into the tent.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to evaluate my week this week. I didn't sell out, but that's because I made a bunch more stuff. I had the equivalent of 97 items to sell, and I only sold 84. That's not too shabby. Last week, I had 80 items to sell, and I sold out at 6:30. That's why I decided to make more. I guess I didn't need to go as overkill as I did on the extra stuff, but I must admit, HappyJack is pretty happy tonight because he got to eat some apple pie. He's been begging for leftovers for weeks, and I just haven't had any to bring home. Tonight, he is a happy man.

Today's market was fun, as usual. It was nice to see all of my regulars, as well as the few new customers I had today. I hope the newbies enjoyed my treats. I had one customer ask about what happened to the other girl that had been selling pie at the market. I told the woman that the other pie girl was no longer selling her pies at this market, and the woman said, "Her pies were so good!" as she was standing there in front of my mini pies. I had to laugh (to myself, of course). So I then said, "Well, have you tried mine? They're very good." That wasn't enough to convince her to buy one. Oh well. Maybe next week. Someone else bought one, commenting, "This better be good for as fattening as I'm sure it is." Hopefully she ended up a satisfied customer. But I may never know.

This week's cookie of the week was my mom's old peanut butter cookie recipe. They're so fabulous. I just love them. I used to make them all the time before I discovered all of these other wonderful cookie recipes (back when I was more of a one-trick pony in the kitchen), so it was a nice memento of another time in my life. They sold pretty well. I had made a lot of them, and ended up selling about 75% of what I made. My friends at work will probably be happy to have some leftovers tomorrow.

I'm thinking of doing another sugar-free cookie for next week's cookie of the week. It's been about a month since I did one, so I'm interested in trying another recipe.

This time of year starts a rough time for me and the market. I have a love-hate relationship with it at this point because of my husband's schedule (he coaches volleyball, so he often has games or practices on Monday nights). He was unable to make it to help me pack up my gear (and subsequently unpack it back at home) at the end of the day today. And I think over the course of the remaining weeks of the market, he may only be able to help me once. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is for me. Everything is heavy, it takes a long time when there's only one of me, and I have to do it all after having worked a 12-hour day between my regular job and the farmer's market. But c'est la vie. I manage, and it's never enough to make me want to quit, because I get so much joy and satisfaction out of baking, and making friends with my customers and the other vendors, that at this point, I can't imagine my life without HappyJack Bakery.

So until next week, have a yummy day!