This week's market was pretty awesome. I arrived at my usual time, about 2:15 pm, set up my tables and tent, and again had a small line formed right before the bell rang at 3:00. I sold a few things, and was just settling in at about 3:15. This is about the time, after the initial rush, that I text my husband to see how his afternoon is going, and to update him on any news from sales. However, before I had a chance to do that, he showed up and surprised me. I was so very happy to see him on my last day at the market for the season. It was wonderful to have his company and help as the day progressed.
It was a chilly day, too. The sun was shining, but it was cool in the shade under my tent, and when the wind would blow, I would get too cold for comfort. I ended up giving in to the weather and put on my new winter parka. Well, it's not quite a winter parka—it's more of a fall jacket with a fuzzy lining. But it helped a lot.
Then, to my surprise, my mom and dad stopped by at about 5:15 pm. They ended up staying for the rest of the night, which was very helpful, as they helped me tear down my tent, drove home with me, and helped me unload. Jack actually left shortly after they arrived because he had a volleyball game to get to—he's a coach. Then at 5:45 pm, Lila arrived with the babysitter, and the babysitter hung out for a little while for a visit, too.
So it was great! I had a lot of company to pass the time, and I had all of my great customers stop by for one last hurrah! Several folks stocked up on treats that they were planning to freeze. I had pre-sold a batch of pumpkin gobs, and also pre-sold a batch of Grandma's Peanut Butter Cookies. I also had a few pre-orders for some cookie packs, so overall, it was a very good day for sales, and I only ended up with one blueberry HappyJack left at the end of the night (we call our mini pies "HappyJacks"). I gave it to my mom. I love her.
But now it's over.
How about some stats? Over the course of the 16-week farmer's market, I made 5769 cookies, 13 apple pies, 173 mini pies (apple and blueberry), 93 gobs, and 16 pound cakes. No wonder my shoulders are sore. And how do my sales this year compare to the past two year's that I've been selling at the market? Well, they've been pretty steady. There's maybe been about a $200 fluctuation among the three years, but also in the first year, there were 15 weeks, last year I participated in 17 weeks, and this year I participated in 15 weeks. So that fluctuation is to be expected because of that. Now, granted, ideally in any business, you grow from year to year. But I haven't raised my prices in these three years, and I can't force people to buy my products. I'm happy to just have a following that loves what I do for them, while I make a small amount of money on the side. It's fun, and I truly enjoy every minute of it (well, except maybe those times at the end of a day of baking when I just want to sit down and rest, but have to clean a mound full of dirty dishes, pots, pans, and baking utensils).
So what's next? Well, I'll be selling Squish Monsters and Chocolate Chip Snowballs to The Dancing Bean coffee shop in Caste Village, so in the off season, if you need a fix, you can always stop there. I'll also be happy to fulfill orders for you at any time. My website lists the variety of goodies that I make, in addition to the ones I sell at the market. And if there's something you'd like that you don't see there, send me an email and ask. I may still be able to get you a price and whip it up for you. I'll also be taking orders for Thanksgiving (apple pies and pumpkin tortes are my specialities), as well as for the Christmas holiday season. So please keep in touch, and let me know if you need anything.
Until next time, have a yummy day!
Read about the somewhat weekly happenings in the world of HappyJack Bakery, including how things go at the farmer's market each week throughout the summer.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Farmer's Market—Week 15, September 17, 2012
Whew! We are in the home stretch, ladies and gentlemen! Only one more week left.
But before we talk about next week, let's talk about yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, but it was a mild 70-some degrees. No rain in sight, at least not at 3:00, and I was comfortable in my shorts. As I was pulling in to set up, an old friend stopped by to say hi. I didn't expect him to stay for long, as he seemed to have other things he needed to get home to do, but he was sweet, and hung out with me during my 45 minutes of set up. He even pitched in and help. It was nice to have the company, and to visit for a while.
At 3:00 when the bell rang to open sales for the day, I actually had a line! I never have a line, but I had a line! It was so exciting!!! (As I'm typing this, I'm thinking how lame that sounds, but trust me, you would have been excited, too.) I had printed out some ballots for my customers to vote for the final week's cookie of the week, but I was so bombarded with customers during those first fifteen minutes that I totally forgot about the ballots. Oh well.
The rest of the day went pretty well. This week, I sold my cranberry orange pound cake in four small pans, and they all sold. I had found these adorable little brown paper pans at the grocery store, and they seemed the perfect size. And they were! I was able to bag them like all of my other cookie packs with my ribbon and stickers. So I think I'm going to try that again for next week.
I did end up with some leftovers—not many, but enough that I can contribute to the bake sale that my daughter's school is having this evening, without having to bake anything new. Thank goodness, because I didn't have time to bake anything new anyway.
Cookie of the week yesterday was the pumpkin gob. I really should be taking pictures of these things. I'm not sure why I don't think to do that. Maybe because I don't have a camera that takes beautiful pictures like I've seen other people use for good food shots. The lighting in my kitchen is very orange, so everything has this weird glow; although I guess for a pumpkin cookie, that might not have been bad. Anyway, I made a double batch (61 cookies), and I was sold out by 5:00. I even had a customer who didn't get to try one order a batch for next week. How cool is that?
So, I mentioned that I did this ballot to determine next week's cookie of the week. In the end, I didn't have very many people vote (totally my fault for not pushing it more), and only one cookie ended up with two votes—the potato chip cookie! So that's what I'm going to make for next week. I hope that everyone else feels the love and stops by to buy some. They really are a delicious and unique cookie.
This is going to be a busy week coming up, though. I have a few special orders, plus I have to make dough for three of my regular cookies, as my frozen inventory is just about wiped out (which makes sense since we're going into the last week of the market). In addition, we have to give our house a good cleaning this weekend, plus we're having my niece and some of her friends over on Sunday afternoon to jam (not to make jam.... to jam.... sing, play instruments, that kind of thing.... more on that later if it turns into a successful venture).
I hope to see you all next Monday, September 24, as it is our last week for the farmer's market at Caste Village. To everyone that came out yesterday, thank you so much! I'm so glad that you get as much enjoyment out of eating my treats as I get out of making them for you!!
Until next time, have a yummy day!
But before we talk about next week, let's talk about yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, but it was a mild 70-some degrees. No rain in sight, at least not at 3:00, and I was comfortable in my shorts. As I was pulling in to set up, an old friend stopped by to say hi. I didn't expect him to stay for long, as he seemed to have other things he needed to get home to do, but he was sweet, and hung out with me during my 45 minutes of set up. He even pitched in and help. It was nice to have the company, and to visit for a while.
At 3:00 when the bell rang to open sales for the day, I actually had a line! I never have a line, but I had a line! It was so exciting!!! (As I'm typing this, I'm thinking how lame that sounds, but trust me, you would have been excited, too.) I had printed out some ballots for my customers to vote for the final week's cookie of the week, but I was so bombarded with customers during those first fifteen minutes that I totally forgot about the ballots. Oh well.
The rest of the day went pretty well. This week, I sold my cranberry orange pound cake in four small pans, and they all sold. I had found these adorable little brown paper pans at the grocery store, and they seemed the perfect size. And they were! I was able to bag them like all of my other cookie packs with my ribbon and stickers. So I think I'm going to try that again for next week.
I did end up with some leftovers—not many, but enough that I can contribute to the bake sale that my daughter's school is having this evening, without having to bake anything new. Thank goodness, because I didn't have time to bake anything new anyway.
Cookie of the week yesterday was the pumpkin gob. I really should be taking pictures of these things. I'm not sure why I don't think to do that. Maybe because I don't have a camera that takes beautiful pictures like I've seen other people use for good food shots. The lighting in my kitchen is very orange, so everything has this weird glow; although I guess for a pumpkin cookie, that might not have been bad. Anyway, I made a double batch (61 cookies), and I was sold out by 5:00. I even had a customer who didn't get to try one order a batch for next week. How cool is that?
So, I mentioned that I did this ballot to determine next week's cookie of the week. In the end, I didn't have very many people vote (totally my fault for not pushing it more), and only one cookie ended up with two votes—the potato chip cookie! So that's what I'm going to make for next week. I hope that everyone else feels the love and stops by to buy some. They really are a delicious and unique cookie.
This is going to be a busy week coming up, though. I have a few special orders, plus I have to make dough for three of my regular cookies, as my frozen inventory is just about wiped out (which makes sense since we're going into the last week of the market). In addition, we have to give our house a good cleaning this weekend, plus we're having my niece and some of her friends over on Sunday afternoon to jam (not to make jam.... to jam.... sing, play instruments, that kind of thing.... more on that later if it turns into a successful venture).
I hope to see you all next Monday, September 24, as it is our last week for the farmer's market at Caste Village. To everyone that came out yesterday, thank you so much! I'm so glad that you get as much enjoyment out of eating my treats as I get out of making them for you!!
Until next time, have a yummy day!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Farmer's Market—Week 14, September 10, 2012
So did you miss me? Yes, we were off for Labor Day, but there was no break for me. I baked my tushie off over Labor Day weekend to help my niece celebrate her 21st birthday. I made her all kinds of yummy desserts for her party—peach pie, birthday cake, cookie cake, cheesecake, and a bunch of cookies and cupcakes. I think they ended up ordering too much from me, but what's wrong with having some leftover HappyJack treats? Nothing, right?
Well, this past Monday's market (I realized today that I hadn't blogged yet this week... so sorry for the delay) went fine. I went back to making the amount of treats that I had been consistently making, and although the market seemed pretty slow, I still ended up selling most of what I took. I think I only had leftover one pound cake (this week it was cranberry orange!), and two packs of Cinnasnappers. So although it was a slow day, it must have been steady, as I ended up with a good day of sales.
So let's talk about this pound cake for a minute. Every week up until this week, I had been making a blueberry sour cream pound cake. I made one every week, and every week it sold. This week, since we're now in September and the beginning of the fall season, I thought I'd mix it up and make a cranberry orange pound cake. I actually made two because one of my customers pre-ordered one. I figured surely someone else would want one, too, but I was wrong. It didn't sell. I don't know why. Is cranberry just not appealing to people? Well, for this coming week, I'm not giving up on the cranberry pound cake, but I am going to try smaller portions. I found these awesome little cardboard bread pans at the grocery store. They even came with their own little bags that look like the bags I wrap all of my cookies in. So I'll see if the smaller size will appeal to more people. If that doesn't do the trick, I'll either skip the pound cake for the final week, or go back to blueberry sour cream.
My cookie of the week this past week was Pumpkin Pie Bars. I made a double-batch, so I had about 80 cookies to sell. These went very well. I love these things, and I considered making them again for the last week (two weeks from now on September 24), but I don't know. I'm now actually considering doing a survey this coming Monday, and see which cookie-of-the-week flavor was the crowd's favorite. For Monday, September 17, I'm making pumpkin whoopie pies (gobs). Those are always a favorite, too. I love anything that has pumpkin in it. I love this season. I love sweets. I love it all!!!!!
I had a customer on Monday that I didn't expect. My daughter's teacher stopped by to buy some Squish Monsters and Better Than Regular Old Chocolate Chip cookies. I realized that she must have been a returning customer all summer, as she knew exactly what she wanted, but I never realized that she was a teacher at the school. But now I know. No wonder Lila likes her so much. She's pretty awesome!
That's about all I have for you today. I can't quite remember details about anything else special that happened. That's what I get for not blogging right away.
Oh, and totally unrelated, is anyone else thrilled that the new TV season has started? I am a TV junkie, but have no idea how I'm going to keep up with all the shows we love, considering I usually only have about an hour of time each evening to watch. Maybe once the market is over, I'll be able to squeeze in a little more time. And maybe it will give me something to blog about during the times I don't have baking stories to tell. I wonder if you'd be interested in reading my take on my favorite TV shows? I guess time will tell.
Until next time, have a yummy day!
Well, this past Monday's market (I realized today that I hadn't blogged yet this week... so sorry for the delay) went fine. I went back to making the amount of treats that I had been consistently making, and although the market seemed pretty slow, I still ended up selling most of what I took. I think I only had leftover one pound cake (this week it was cranberry orange!), and two packs of Cinnasnappers. So although it was a slow day, it must have been steady, as I ended up with a good day of sales.
So let's talk about this pound cake for a minute. Every week up until this week, I had been making a blueberry sour cream pound cake. I made one every week, and every week it sold. This week, since we're now in September and the beginning of the fall season, I thought I'd mix it up and make a cranberry orange pound cake. I actually made two because one of my customers pre-ordered one. I figured surely someone else would want one, too, but I was wrong. It didn't sell. I don't know why. Is cranberry just not appealing to people? Well, for this coming week, I'm not giving up on the cranberry pound cake, but I am going to try smaller portions. I found these awesome little cardboard bread pans at the grocery store. They even came with their own little bags that look like the bags I wrap all of my cookies in. So I'll see if the smaller size will appeal to more people. If that doesn't do the trick, I'll either skip the pound cake for the final week, or go back to blueberry sour cream.
My cookie of the week this past week was Pumpkin Pie Bars. I made a double-batch, so I had about 80 cookies to sell. These went very well. I love these things, and I considered making them again for the last week (two weeks from now on September 24), but I don't know. I'm now actually considering doing a survey this coming Monday, and see which cookie-of-the-week flavor was the crowd's favorite. For Monday, September 17, I'm making pumpkin whoopie pies (gobs). Those are always a favorite, too. I love anything that has pumpkin in it. I love this season. I love sweets. I love it all!!!!!
I had a customer on Monday that I didn't expect. My daughter's teacher stopped by to buy some Squish Monsters and Better Than Regular Old Chocolate Chip cookies. I realized that she must have been a returning customer all summer, as she knew exactly what she wanted, but I never realized that she was a teacher at the school. But now I know. No wonder Lila likes her so much. She's pretty awesome!
That's about all I have for you today. I can't quite remember details about anything else special that happened. That's what I get for not blogging right away.
Oh, and totally unrelated, is anyone else thrilled that the new TV season has started? I am a TV junkie, but have no idea how I'm going to keep up with all the shows we love, considering I usually only have about an hour of time each evening to watch. Maybe once the market is over, I'll be able to squeeze in a little more time. And maybe it will give me something to blog about during the times I don't have baking stories to tell. I wonder if you'd be interested in reading my take on my favorite TV shows? I guess time will tell.
Until next time, have a yummy day!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)