Month: August 2018

Through the ramblings of the past 25 entries, I have been hoping to convey a few messages to you. It’s my hope that first and foremost you get something out of these for yourself. Maybe it’s determination, maybe it’s clarity, or maybe it is just knowing what not to do as you make your own paths in life. But, it should be a learning. I also hope that you are mildly entertained by my odd jokes here and there and at least end with a smile..

I will highlight today in bullet points … it’s been quite a day

1. They came and painted crosswalk lines last night so now we should be able to get tables on the balcony. What a surprise!!! I am so happy and proud to say the mayor of Inca is a man of his word and when he takes action, things get done fast… I look forward to shaking his hand and thanking him personally!

2. Around 4pm a couple came in from Germany after driving by and seeing the word vegan in the window. We wound up having a really long conversation and it turns out i was already Facebook friends with the guy. They are activists and run an organIzation full time as activists. Really super nice couple and a true pleasure meeting them. I even explained my perspective on figs and by the end they now removed them from their diet… awesome…

3. I started a new batch of croissants today and ut oh, they look horrible. While proving they looked just normal like any other time but five minutes in to the bake they turned to a mushy mess. I have NO idea what happened but I am a) ashamed of them, and b) worried what tomorrow’s batch will look like. I had some serious problems with the butter and it could be that it went through the dough. If that happens this could explain the results. Because they are money to me, we will still sell them, but for less money and we will call them “ugly croissants”.. es vida

 

4. While waiting on the croissants another couple was driving by and saw vegan so they came in. Super awesome couple, one from Mallorca and the other from my home state of New Jersey .. we had a lot of laughs for sure and I look forward to seeing them both again soon.

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And on a note about my last post (day 25)…. I think I gave the wrong impression. I am a very honest and very open person. I do not know how to filter my words when expressing my life so I just say what’s on my mind. To me, that is a quality… but many of you gave some great ideas about raising money and one of you talked about a go fund me page … I had this idea before and thought it is a good one, but I am not really a person to ask for money from others .. in the bakery it’s very difficult because I want to give everything for free to everyone .. now that’s a concept for the future !!!

I mention this because I really am not against the idea of raising money like this but what is extremely important to me, is that you understand it would not be so I can just take money from my friends, I actually would prefer that my friends just shared it on other pages so people I do not know may be interested which could ease my guilt some .. and of course I am not looking for a handout …

So if I do it, I would offer things in return, a T-shirt, or a bowl scraper which is personalized for the bakery, or maybe even a pay it forward coffee and croissant for someone to buy for another person coming in to the bakery. How nice would that be?

I would like your input about this. Four years ago I asked you for money to donate to my friend in Nepal who’s family suffered greatly from the earthquakes and you were all extremely generous, but this is different , it’s for me and that just feels weird ..

Ok.. thank you for reading this far, I do not have any Easter eggs for you (computer programmers will know what that means – if you do, comment below) … just a thank you for being so amazing and for taking the time to read my words

#doeverythingwithlove

Ok, that is a true statement and not so true. It’s not true because business is bad on Wednesday’s, in fact, we only reached 50% of our month one daily goal. That is very stressful I will tell you. All the comments people make to us say that September will be better but I know there are no guarantees in life and at the same time, I will not focus on the negative and continue to believe we are doing great.

The good news to Wednesday’s is that I really didn’t work today. Well, I did but I didn’t do any baking other than one tray of croissants. I will explain why in a moment … I did go food shopping in three stores for the bakery and I came home and cooked vegetables for two types of empanadas for tomorrow: one with onions, peas (because I had some extra) peppers, and mushrooms, and the other is potatoes, mushrooms and peas. I will try to bake 6-8 of each with the hope they sell.

This morning I woke up late and was rushed to be at the bakery by 6, which is already late … 1

I took the croissants out and put on a try to prove and put on my shelf … then another tray crashes on that tray, it flipped and went to the floor… luckily only two croissants actually hit the floor but they took quite a beating … 2

I forget the third thing for a moment but I will get back to that

I was sad about the croissants but I had a total of 24 more so I baked them and put them out for sale … and at exactly 11:02 am, the 24th one was sold… that is three days in a row when I sold out completely of the croissants …

The first customer, Freddie, came in and got three fresh from the oven, and his daughter came in an hour later to thank me for the amazing croissants and then post the most perfect message – I will edit and add to today’s photos what she said … that was awesome

So I decided to make a double batch of croissants – I have to find a more efficient way to do this as I have no more space in the refrigerator … but now I have 55 or 60 ready to go (I didn’t count them)… this should hold us over for tomorrow and Thursday – you know Thursday’s are crazy so maybe not, let’s see…

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There is a spanish pastry chef who has a successful YouTube channel … last night he gave me the perfect idea for the leftover croissant dough (the cut off ends, etc)… I made crumuffins with them.. basically they are plaited croissant pieces baked in a muffin tray… they taste great and are fun.

The owner of Villa Vegana came in today too. Super nice guy … sadly he took one treat which was a bit dry and I should have warned him but I didn’t 😕 … let’s hope he forgets that oversight as I would love to do a bread project or something with him and them!!!

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Still trying to remember the third thing

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Poor Sandra is not feeling so great today. She works so hard and really burns the candle at both ends (it’s an expression for non English as a first language people which means to work from morning until night – has nothing to do with the mouth or ….) 😂 … I am happy to say she is now resting at home and I am driving the ship, um bakery… it’s scary because the Spanish does not flow but I will not worry. Also, I think very few people will come in because it’s so hot and everyone is on the beach. If you are reading this, send her your wishes for a speedy recovery… she is amazingly strong but the Dave virus might have been too mucho …

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I rolled up two pieces of pasty dough and baked them out of boredom … tell me they do not look like the eyes of the grinch!!!

 

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Ok… I cannot remember the third thing but it was small, maybe I spilled flour all over the floor or something similar … not so important as it’s in the past

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And finally … very little bread sold today .. I cannot figure this out for the life of me, but I just hope it is because it’s hot and still August … I love making bread and I want everyone to love the bread I make … I love saying I have the best croissants in Mallorca too but I don’t wanna be a croissant shop… I wanna be a baker when I grow up… herbie became a dentist so I am sure I can be a baker

As always, thank you for reading this… it means the world to me…

#doeverythingwithlove

ps – the moon was beautiful this morning

And if you made it this far, something very special is happening tomorrow .. I may burst if tomorrow doesn’t come fast enough ❤️

Well kinda sorta!!

Sandy made that funny sign that you saw yesterday about the croissants being the best in Mallorca… funny enough, it brought in customers this morning and by 10:40 am, we were sold out of croissants so I had to quickly bring the sign in to not cause a c.roit.ssant attack… Then the boss ordered me in the kitchen to make more – ok, that part may not be true, but it adds to the drama, don’t you agree?

So, I made 33 more croissants, some with chocolate, and some plain.. Only baked 10 more and the rest are for tomorrow …

I also made some funky thing, I used the standard “sweet dave” as the title but I am not so sure they turned out super great. I used the old pastry from the previous croissants. I rolled them up and froze the dough so I could cut it better. I then baked them with a fruit… boring, I know.. but, they are super cheap in the bakery (.95 cents) so I think you will get your money’s worth. If not.. well, I can always eat them.. 😂

In other news, it was pretty busy this morning. I had two customers before Sandy came in to the bakery, and then continued until about 11:30 with many people coming in. That is always fun as I was super busy before she got there By 7:30 AM, I ….
– baked the white breads
– baked the integral breads
– baked cookies
– baked raspberry muffins
– and baked those croissants that sold

I guess this gives new meaning to “I do more by 8AM than most do all day”… ok, maybe that is not true too.. but I can tell you, I multitask and bake things in between other things and it works out well… but, what I am most careful of is the baking temperature of the croissants, so I insist the other things (except the breads) adhere to my rules or they get timeouts… its that simple!!

Thank you for those of you who signed up to follow the blog… I just keep reminding you that this will stop here and only continue there. Not because I do not want to post it here, but really it is extra work to post this twice and most days I am hanging on by a thread. Today, I managed to come home after about 10 hours so I have some spare time.. but I am planning on being in bed by 9PM again so I can be up and fresh first thing tomorrow.

I love the bakery.. even when I am struggling at times and stressed most of the time, and worried all of the time. I read a quote from Gary Vaynerchuk the other day that said something like 98% of entrepreneurs fail… he gave good solid reasons of course, but that number sticks in my head all the time as it is a reality..

and that is that

#doeverythingwithlove ❤️

ps – teaspoon says hello.. ok, that may not be true either as she is asleep 😂

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

….

The ending to the third week was unexpected. This morning I was at the bakery a bit late, a little after six. I knew that we would not sell a lot of bread, but because I had two bread orders, on top of the croissant order, I needed to do some work. So, I made some integral bread, and I made some pan payes, which as I have mentioned before, this particular recipe is a combination of rye and white flour. As a side note, I brought one home and they taste amazing, absolutely amazing. I always love a little bit of rye flour in my breads, but this is 70% rye and just amazing.

As the day was progressing, we only had a couple of customers, it was looking to be the worst day to date, for sure. I was starting to feel a bit depressed and wondering if it will ever get better, not just today, but as a whole. I often find myself questioning this decision, but I suppose that is ok to do as it keeps me in check. And, I do not give up.

At 10:45 I said to Sandra we should just play cards. No one is here, and I doubt anyone is coming. Then her friends walked in, those who ordered the croissants, and two special breads. They are very generous and really have been so supportive of us, it really means a lot to me. Then another familiar face came in, and then two more groups came in and then another. Soon, the room was full. Then, one of the visitors, whom has been endlessly kind and supportive, called her friend and said come over and have some croissants. And they did come.. Actually, we met him before and it was because of him that the other person spoke to the mayor on our behalf about getting those tables on the plaza… and we discovered we have the same birth date.. that was awesome.

All in all, in the end, we sold all of the croissants, I think maybe 20 (which included the order), we sold the empanadas I made this morning (which tasted amazing this time), and we sold almost all of the cookies. Officially we are open 9-1 on Sunday, but our first customer came in around 8:15 and the last people left around 1:30.. and we made more money than we did on Saturday and Wednesday combined. To be clear, we are not breaking any records, but we certainly had a great day. Our one display case was completely empty..

It is these little things that give me hope that it is going to get better and better and we will make it as long as we work hard, stay focused, and most importantly, remember my mantra which is “the customer is king/queen” .. and we will not be static and change where its necessary to make sure we are reaching the majority of our customers needs. I think it is essential to being successful. For instance, I was making sandwich rolls but no one was buying them, so I stopped. Many wanted Pan Payas, so now I make it. Along with gluten free bread (as we chatted about before).

I am also happy to report, I have more croissants for tomorrow ready to be baked so I was able to take all of this afternoon off. That is an amazing gift.

Finally, it is amazing to me the emotional roller coaster this business is. I really did not expect this in any way. One minute its empty the next we are looking for extra chairs. One minute we are selling breads faster than I can bake them and the next we are taking some home. It is quite unpredictable, but I suppose in time, the diverged paths of my life has taken me down the one which is much less traveled by, and yes, it is making all the difference. ❤️❤️

PS – we thought it would be funny to protest we have the best croissants in Mallorca.. true or not true.. its funny.. so we put it on the sign.. what is funnier, Sandra drew an arrow pointing to a location in the opposite direction… a customer had a good laugh about this and then so did we.. 😂

Generally speaking, when we talk about dreams we are referring to two different types of dreams, those we have when our eyes are closed and asleep, and those that have aspirations, like I dream of becoming and astronaut who teaches meditation on the moon to elephants.. don’t laugh, it could happen…

Today I want to talk about the sleepy ones, you already know my other dream has come true and continues daily. Two nights ago I had an amazing dream. It was strange, but amazing. It was in the evening and I was walking down a long road while the sun was setting, talking with my stepfather Eddie (no one else calls him Eddie btw). There were wheat fields to the left and right and shadows casting from a few trees in the distant. The sky was golden with pinkish streaks and the weather just perfect. While we were walking I was calculating how much it would cost for him to drive from his home to my home in north jersey in his Prius (he doesn’t own a Prius).

And in the next moment I was in bakers clothing, soaked from working hard and late to a seminar which was to start at 10pm. As i entered the room there were many people and i greeted them all. The leader of the seminar invited me up on stage, maybe because I did what no one else did (greeting) and then, I took the microphone like I was meant to be there, and explained the reason we have dreams and how each one of us can make them come true.

Last night, I had a polar opposite dream. I was somewhere familiar and I brought home four small bags with things I bought earlier in the day. One was a spider, two of them I do not remember, and the fourth was a saw scaled viper snake, but red. It’s head was very large. While on the ground a little boy kept trying to hit it with a stick and I said it’s the worlds most deadly snake please get away. The snake never was bothered by the kid. But the moment it saw me, it started to attack. It kept lunging at me with bites until it finally reached me, struck a blow, and I woke up.

Now, I know what you are thinking, what does this have to do with the bakery? Fair enough!! We have been having a few problems and two days ago sandy worked on them some and then yesterday, with sandy sitting with me, I brought them up again. With great sadness, we agreed with the person working for us that it would not work out long term. It was even his suggestion. So I went from lovely dreams to this one last night. I woke this morning and realized that the best thing to do would be respectful but free him immediately. This allows him to continue his dream and search and it takes out the worry of how the following days would be. To be clear, I think things would have continued well, but I have always felt that once a foot is out the door then the love soon follows, and it’s imperative that love prevails every working moment for the bakery to be successful.

Since this departure I have been very sad. I know it’s the right decision but I also know he is a very nice guy that I like very much. It’s not the first time I have had to do this and it will not be the last. But what is important is that it never becomes easy, as if it does, that means I have lost my love and that would be a tragedy.

…

And in lighter news … one of the customers came in today to get her gluten free bread and she told me she wanted to try the chocolate croissant (pain du chocolat)… I was embarrassed to watch as she took a bite for fear she would not like it, but she loved it.. a lot!! That made me smile.. then later a man came in and he had a croissant and said it was really good. This too made me smile… and I have an order for 10 of them tomorrow, which means I will be back in the bakery in a few hours to make them. I was planning on attending an event today for the rights of horses used for pulling humans around the city but I must put the bakery first. There will be more opportunities to support this important issue.

And for those of you still awake, sandy had been amazing with her help and support. She is working now, after working the day shift yesterday and then cleaning the house last night, doing the laundry, making dinner, and taking care of the fur/hair babies ❤️

 

 

Today I have been feeling extra sick. As I am writing this I am wet from
perspiration, and weak. I knew this morning when I got up that I had to think smartly about the work I did today. I also knew, that I needed to focus my energy in a perfect way so that I do not weaken myself more.

As with each morning, I start out with making white bread, 5kg of flour, 3500 of water, 100g salt, 120+g fresh starter, and 750g of masa madre (starter, sour dough starter)… while this is mixing I already have the croissants out of the refrigerator getting to room temperature and starting to rise and the oven is on. Funny thing about the croissants… two days in a row I forgot to glaze them before I started baking them. This is making me crazy that I keep forgetting this. I also had a small problem with the dough last night, the butter came through the dough two times. I really must find a way to focus more. Eugeni told me to get my dough to 5mm… wow.. i need a perfect temperature for this to happen for sure.. I am not close, I still hover around 8-10. Its ok, it just means in time I will get better and better about this work and one day, call myself capable. 🙂

As I write, it is close to 7pm.. about 30 minutes ago a lovely woman came in with two people, maybe her children. She is older.. and said to me, “I am a very old lady” so I asked her just how old she is, and she replied 88. She is sharp as can be and funny, and full of energy. She is also a yoga teacher <3. She asked me, “why would you come from New Jersey to a place like this?” I had to laugh and then told her it is a slow transition as I lived in Basel for 6,5 years. Then we had a lovely chat about how much she loves Basel. That was a sweet treat to speak with her and she took my phone number to give me advanced notice for some gluten free bread. This is why I love what we are doing. It brings many smiles to me.

Tomorrow will be a long start to my day, but I do not mind because it is Saturday. This means Sunday is just around the corner… What I have done the last couple of days and I think I will include this in my routine, is go home around 11:30 daily and rest for a few hours and then come back to make pastries for the evening and next day. It really is a fun way to work.

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And some menu changes… I mentioned we are going to try and do a tapas evening on friday and or saturday. I do not know how that will go, but I think as long as we are using bakery ingredients I am ok with it. I am also going to start making empanada’s and ensaimadas. The latter I get requests for many times, and I have been asked to provide some more savory items and so the empanadas will work well with this.

As mentioned yesterday, the donuts do not sell so fast so I will cut back to doing them once a week. I will start to make more croissants since so many like this, and even offer them as sandwich options for the day-old croissants.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read these entries.. As promised, I will start including recipes.. so I am going to end with an easy one… a beginners bread

This bread is a lower hydration, but its a good start to bread making.

500g flour
325g water
7 grams dry yeast or 15g fresh yeast
10 grams salt

in a bowl put the flour. Then add the salt on one side and the yeast on the other. If they come in direct contact the salt can damage the yeast and your bread will not rise, but once mixing, it is no longer a problem of course.

if mixing by hand
Use a plastic bowl scraper to continue to mix the ingredients until there is no available water. do not add any flour, no matter how sticky it seems

if mixing in a machine. use the dough hook. Mix on slow for 3-4 minutes and then move to a higher speed and continue to mix – 15 minutes or more if necessary. In the end you want it so the dough is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.

by hand..
put the dough on the counter and start kneeding. It will be sticky but do not give in and add flour. After 5-7 minutes of kneeding the dough will start coming together nicely and no more stickyness.

Once its a nice ball, put it in a bowl and cover and let rise until double in size. Usually one hour or so.

At the end of the hour, turn your oven on to 230 if it goes that high, or as high as it will go. At this same time, place a put in the bottom of the oven to get hot too, something you can easily add water to. I usually use a baking pan like a pie dish or something like that. But, do not use glass, as we will be adding water to it.

Now take your dough out of the bowl and lightly dust the counter and then shape your dough by turning the corners. Here is a great video by my friend Jack which shows you exactly what to do.

Once done, let it rest for 20-30 minutes until it starts to rise again. You do not want it to rise too much as you want the oven to do some of this work for you.

Now, get your baking tray ready and put your dough on the tray, with the top facing up. And at this time, take a cup of water and pour it into the hot pot in the bottom of the oven. Now cut a couple of slices in to your bread with a razor blade or serrated knife. This will allow the gas to release while it rises and bakes without having an explosion out the side of the bread in an unpredictable place.

Bake for 25 minutes and then turn the oven down to 190 and bake another 15 or so. You have to just keep checking the bread because every oven is different. Bertinet says this very funny thing .. well, its funny to me.. when you ask him how long to bake something, anything, his answer is always 3 minutes. Its a very good point.

I would love to see photos of your breads.

#doeverythingwithlove

Nothing tells the truth more than or bodies. Today, I am not feeling well. I felt it a bit two days ago and later on yesterday I was sure it was coming to this. That’s the bad news.

The good news is I really only worked about 4 hours in total today (including shopping). I made donuts this morning after a failed dough last night and then I went shopping and I was done. I even managed to watch two episodes of Ray Donavan while soaking in the bath tub. And yes i slept some too.