Relationships

Sometimes, reading this blog, you might get the impression that it's all about the sales at the markets. If so, I've given you the wrong impression. Of course, any business, mine included needs sales to stay afloat, however, the relationships you form are nearly as important, or at least it is to me. You may say, you're a lucky gal who doesn't need to live off her earnings, and you'd be completely justified to think that way. It's oh so true I'm one heck of a lucky gal.

Heading off to the Winter Garden Market on Saturday morning I mentioned to Bruce that I was going to take a few cookies out for the family I've become friendly with. Cookies? What cookies you ask?

Friday, instead of a road trip, I baked. Or at least partially so, because the gingerbread dough is still in the refrigerator awaiting it's fate in the oven. Do you think this organic cinammon I used will elevate the taste?

Unlikely, but we'll see. What I did manage to get done were the sugar cookies. Ordinarily I make a drop sugar cookie, contenting myself with decorated circles. Because I bought some new cookie cutters I decided to give them a try using the included sugar cookie recipe from Wilton. Delicious friends, delicious.

The dough is on my new handy pastry mat from Amazon, actually made in Ocala, Florida. In the foreground is the cutter for what is supposed to be a snowflake. Not really, more like a flower when it's all said and done.

In defense of my baking skills, the photograph makes them they look a tad browner than they do in person. But, if I were you what I'd be noticing is the silly looking frosting attempt. Using a recipe from All Recipes, which had exemplary ratings by the way, I was not nearly as enthusiastic as most reviewers. Entirely too thick. Wouldn't spread worth a darn, as is plainly evident. Another reason I might be hesitant to re-use this cutter is the excessive browning on the little legs while the middle requires further cooking. Prior to actually making the dough I got out the egg carton and picked out an egg. Well, of course I did if the recipe called for it! What I noticed is that it seemed much larger than usual. Thus, I lined them all up to compare the size of what is in a carton of large eggs.

When baking, measurements are so important that it made me wonder just how much liquid does a large egg represent. Perhaps, the disparity makes a difference. This sounds like a Tom question to me.
Where is he when I need him??? Why, in London of course!

As I mentioned above I made a little gift box for TJ, Ellen, Meghan, Emily and Torrie, hoping they would come to the market and they did! Meghan made me an adorable card, complete with an oversheet meant to be the envelope. Her drawn stamp had a little heart in the middle. :) The family also brought me a gift bag which held this homemade ornament. You know how I love ornaments that are memory makers.

Very sweet. Speaking of sweet, while at the market I picked the brain of my German pastry maker friend. We discussed my frosting dilemma and he gave me a few pointers on baking in general. He suggested I mix confectioners sugar with a little lime juice and paint it on my gingerbread which is what I intend to do after blogging. Moreover, he shared another trade secret for cake baking. Simple syrup. Yep, you brush simple syrup on each layer of a cake prior to adding the frosting which he swears is what makes bakery cakes moist. Can't wait to give that one a try.

So, the sales were dismal but my encounters with friends can't be measured in dollars and cents. Dana even arranged for a Santa Claus to be there for the children.

And a pretty impressive Santa he was.

Saturday night we went to Bruce's annual department party. The invitation read, "holiday cocktail attire", however, from the looks of the things, it seemed as if Bruce and I were the only ones who followed through. I got pretty glammed up, although I've no pictures to prove it. I didn't have anyone take our picture, nor are any of the pictures I took at the party worth sharing. At the risk of sounding like a bit of a grump, I hate parties where you pretty much have to bring everything. BYOB, BYOF, BYOG. Bah humbug!

Sunday morning was a bit crisp and chilly, however, Bruce brought my little heater, as well as put up the tent sides to block the wind, creating a cozy little atmosphere. The day was cram packed with visitors, many of whom I didn't properly get to chat with. I was making introductions all around. Seriously, it felt like a daytime party! While Trish was there, a fellow came into my booth and after a bit of chit-chatting, I asked him what he did. He said he owned quite a number of hair salons along the east coast, as well as one in Las Vegas where he lives on the 35th floor of a condo building overlooking Caesar's Palace. Okay. He related how he was in town scouting an Orlando location before driving to visit his Tampa salons. Furthermore, he claimed to be a bit famous in the "hair styling world." Somehow, don't really remember how it got to this, but I believe he was responding to a question about his reputation as an employer. He said, and I kid you not, "They think I'm God, but, really, I'm just me." Unbelievable. Oddly enough, Monica, my stylist for those of you who don't already know this, came by a little after 3. Because I wrote his name down, I asked her if she'd ever heard of him. "Who?" I thought so.

Our Sunday Santa served a different purpose. The caption on this one should read, "No Kids Allowed."

Yeesh!!! Who has their dog photographed with Santa?  Because I was so busy myself, I never got back around to see if a line formed....

I brought a plate of cookies to the market, hoping to share them with my customers and a few vendors.

Because that frosting was so darn thick, I thinned it out considerably with milk, either dipping the cookies in it, or spreading it on with a knife. Much, much better.

My sales were just fine and my Square worked like magic. After the market Bruce and I visited with Dana who has a idea for our business which you'll learn about sooner, rather than later if you stay tuned to Camera Crazy. That relationship thing? Ah, yes. Bruce bought some ornaments from the children's art booth;  next year as I get all the ornaments out, will, to the best of my ability, fondly remember him helping them out. Encouragement goes a long ways.

Off to the kitchens, my gentle readers....

The Final Week

Can I say that I'm very proud of myself? I think I will do just that because for the first time in many years I'm pretty much on track with my Christmas preparations. It feels good. Don't get me wrong, I've still got plenty to do, but any Christmas that I manage to bake is going to be an excellent one.

The day dawned dreary Saturday morning with rain and chilliness. Every day Bruce has a work schedule and Saturday's are no exception. Thus, he cleaned up the yard and washed both cars regardless of the downpour! I, on the other hand, was lazy, staying in my pj's until lunchtime. After we had our lunch, I got down to business, baking for the next six or so hours. I convinced Bruce to take my picture in action:

Baxter is being Mommy's helper standing at the ready to clean the floor as needed. That is definitely one advantage to having a dog!

Although Nancy sent me a sugar cookie recipe, it called for a few ingredients not in my fridge, thus the internet came to my rescue. Nancy and I discussed using parchment paper on the cookie sheets with me telling her that I have had great success with some awesome cookie sheets Ruth and Pat gave me for Christmas some years ago. I did a little experiment making one sheet with, and one without. The cookies come off beautifully with the paper, however without is nearly as good.

Sugar cookies were first, then on to what my mother always called Russian Tea Cakes. This year I rolled them once warm, and again when they had cooled. I just love the crumbly texture and buttery taste.

Following that I made a recipe that I found in my mom's recipe box because I had the ingredients. Although I thought they were macaroons, they are more like little coconut-filled meringues:

If you've a sweet tooth and like coconut these are your cookies!

While I was working on those sweet little bites, the gingerbread dough was chilling in the fridge awaiting the roll out. Can I just tell you how great having granite counter tops is? Sprinkle a bit of flour on the counter and off you go. I could only find a few cutters so I made all little trees for my first batch. By now Bruce is suggesting I get off my feet, which I did soon thereafter. I told him I was warming up for the big Christmas day get together!

So, although the day outside was grim, I barely noticed amidst the flour, sugar, butter and warm spicy smells in our kitchen.

Sunday, on the other hand, was a different story. Answering truthfully when customers arrived, I said I was miserable. And I was. The weather forecast called for gloom turning to mixed gloom, not all day gloom. Plus the temperature was supposed to get into the middle sixties. Neither of those predictions proved to be accurate. Damp, cold, and gloomy all eight hours. Much to my good fortune, my market neighbor Donna loaned me a giant sweat shirt to wear over my shirt and overshirt. When leaving the house I considered bringing another pair of shoes to replace the Uggs when the day warmed up. Didn't happen. Here's Lake Eola as the day began:

Some would remind me that elsewhere it is like this all the time and freezing cold to boot. So what? I live in Florida for a reason! Surprisingly the few people that braved the weather were there for a reason--to buy. I sold more than I've sold in recent weeks that's for sure. Dana wanted to close the market next Sunday which met with some resistance from some of the vendors, however, I believe good sense prevailed and we will have the day off. 

In just a few short hours Matt and Tom are arriving, or let's hope they do. Chicago's weather is what they termed on Weather.com as uncomfortable. 28 degrees and snowing sounds more than uncomfortable to me! Plane delays would not be welcome. Matt was thrilled that they left London before the major snow storm of this past weekend which left thousands and thousands of people stranded at both Heathrow and Gatwick airports. As they say, timing is everything.

A Few More Things

I almost forgot one of the best things about yesterday's market--I met the woman who bought my piece from the silent auction. She came by the booth,(I'm unclear if it was intentional or accidental, but I think intentional) and introduced herself. Turns out she is an interior decorator but bought it for her home. She was super jazzed which made me really happy. Apparently people have asked what it is and whether I painted on it. I was happy to explain the former, and negate the latter. I have wondered for a few months now where it went.

Secondly, here's a tip I learned last week which blew me away. Maybe you are clever enough to have already done this, but I'd never even thought about it before. When making Christmas cookies that require rolling out, do it right on the cookie sheet making the transfer unnecessary. Imagine that I've been making cookies for nearly 40 years and this never occurred to me. This is courtesy of some show on the Food Network featuring a Wilton spokesperson. Duh!! Happy baking!