Sweet Thing Bake House & Coffee Bar

Yo-yo-yo....Here come the Cake Ladies!

2010-05-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, hello there, fans of sugar everywhere! It is a fine Friday morning and Dawn and I are getting ready to hit the streets selling S-U-G-A-R!!! Our trip today will take us down the ever-interesting and stimulating, NE Alberta.

For those of you who have not spent much time in NE PDX, the fabled NE Alberta neighborhood is one you may never forget! We just so happen to hold down the major intersection of MLK and Alberta. So, Sweet Thing, is in storied territory! Hopefully we can live up to the hype!

That said, there are neat little spots on every block. As you traverse east from Sweet Thing, it is as though each successive block is striving to outdo the next..... It starts out kinda slow and sparse, but by the time you've hit 14th/15th, you've discovered that eccentricity sells, no one in Portland seems to have to work during the day, and breakfast, in this town, is KING!!!! From Tin Shed to Helser's, Petite Provance to Francis, Fuel Cafe to Vita Cafe, there are a litany of options for the meal of all meals, BREAKFAST! Interspersed among said breakfast options are an array of coffee/tea joints, from the Black Cat to Townshend's, Random Order to Concordia Coffeehouse. Nary a Starbuck's in sight! That, my friends, is why you have to love this part of town!

And that too, my friends, is why we are embarking down the Avenida del Alberta in search of those great little drink/nosh/sit/chill spots that would be just that much better if a Sweet Thing sweet were added to their menu del dia! (OK, I'll stop....Cinco de Mayo was a couple of days ago....).

Here's to a day full of Sweet sales!!!

In other news:
1) We are working on getting menus up on the website (official, current ones....=)). In the meantime, if you would like to get one, please let us know and we can e-mail them to you.
2) I mentioned a "Dawn" above. Said "Dawn" (Dawn A. Dall), is a new team member and one that has already paid for herself in encouragement, idea generation and last, but certainly NOT least, keeping me from going crrraaazzzzeeee! If you get the chance to say hello, please do so, and thank her...=)
3) Kindra is now the Shop Manager and is doing a great job! She has a great staff: Ethan, Amanda and Byren! Amanda has been with us from day one, and bless her little soul, has put up with us since then too! We are better for her! Ethan, is new to the team! Three weeks down! He brings a positive upbeat style to the morning coffee drinker! Say "Hey!" next time you're in! Byren, is an intern with Sweet Thing, for the next couple of months! He comes in on Mondays and Tuesdays, when we're closed, to help prep for the week! He gets to work with both Kindra and I, so for that, if you see him, give him a hug!
4) Props to Jose Jiminez, our final team member! Jose does all of the tasks the rest of us hate doing: cleaning, cleaning and cleaning! Oh, and did I mention he does it with aplomb, a sense of humor and style!
5) I'm sure I forgot something important, but I'll pick it up next time!

Cheers to a great day of Sweet selling! Catch ya'll soon! - S

Wow.....It has been FOR-Ever!!!

2010-04-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well, friends and family, acquaintences and all other folks who may be following our MIA blog, I thought it was high, and I do mean HIGH, time to get something posted. Hopefully, this will become routine so rumors of our falling off the planet can stop!

We made it through winter....(phew?)..... Not quite sure how much we'll have to shell out for counseling because of it, but we are still here, breathing.....most of the time.

Kindra has become a demi-god(dess) on the espresso machine and is making GF chocolate cake that will take your breath away!!!! (In a good way, of course!) I've been known to hold my own too....so....its a friendly competition to see who can produce the best of the best.... Good for all of you!!!

NEW to Sweet Thing: We now have three kinds of croissants....made in house....! Brie and Apricot, Ham, Swiss and Herbed Cream Cheese, and Butter. We are interested in finding out what other kinds of croissants our loyal fans would be interested in. So, don't be shy.....! Let us know!

The basement of our space now has....wait for it......WALLS!!! And a door! We have spent some time the last week getting our clean on, along with our good friends, Shajahan Sharif and Dawn Dall. It is now available for renting, by the hour. Until the renovation is completed, we are most interested in renting out for band/music rehearsal space. Great accoustics and no neighbors makes it a fab location for making noise late into the night. If anyone is interested, or knows of folks who are, they can contact me at 503-888-2436 to arrange to view and rent the space. It is available after 5 pm every night.....until ???? The rate is $50/hour, with monthly rates available.

We now have MALASADAS!!!! If anyone has been to Hawaii....ya'll know what I'm talking about when I say MALASADAS....!!! If you haven't, I am so sorry, but you'll just have to come on down, on Saturday or Sunday morning, and try out the delish concoction those Hawaiians have been loving on for years! If you're still not convinced, here's the breakdown: Pillow-shaped (Portugese-decent) Donut....covered in cinnamon/sugar..... We have a couple of fillings available right now.....Chocolate Cream or Banana Cream..... PLEASE NOTE: We are only making these bad boys on Saturday and Sunday morning, between 8 am and 10 am.....so come early, and come often!!! Reason: They ROCK when they are fresh!!!!! ALSO PLEASE NOTE: These will not be found on ANYONE'S diet, but we will wave our magic want over then to take away as many calories and fat grams as is magically possible.

OK....clearly I'm all over the place with this blog post! Can't wait to see you all soon!

Here's to getting a post out sometime in the next couple of weeks....as opposed to 6 months!!!

Have a great day all!

Follow Us On Twitter!!!

2009-09-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

By the way, we are now up and moving on Twitter. Our address is SweetThingPDX. We will have updates about food items and anything else that fits our fancy.

We are open!!!

2009-09-23T08:07:00.001-07:00

We're open. Really. We are. Come on down. Everything smells and tastes wonderful!

Grand opening ... ?

2009-09-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

So ... we had our grand opening. Sadly, we aren't open yet. If anyone desires to learn the nightmare that is dealing with contractors, open a bakery. Much frustration.

The grand opening was enjoyable. We had just over 150 people come through the doors. Another hundred or so were serviced with cookies and pastries at random red lights outside our front door. I think the public found that enjoyable. We are sorry we weren't able to open soon after, in order to take advantage of the buzz we created.

We currently wait for the last of the inspections to happen. A few contractor problems have caused much delay for us, but success looks immenent.

Below are a few pictures of the grand opening: a picture of the sitting area, the kitchen area, our first customer, the shop from the outside, and our logo on the window.

We're getting somewhere!

2009-06-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Life at Sweet Thing remains its fun self. We are still having back and forths with the contractor, but as you can see from the pictures the shop has begun to take shape. It's lovely, really.

Beside the contractor, the big deal right now is purchasing equipment. All eyes have been peeled on ebay, and craigslist, and whatever else could be found to find the best equipment for the cheapest price. So far, it appears we have been victorious. The equipment list shrinks by the day. Last night we drove down to Salem to pick up a fancy ice maker, then we wandered down the road to Independence to pick up a massive reach in cooler. The seller helped us load the cooler with his handy dandy fork lift. Sadly, we didn't have one when it came time to unload the contraption. It was a scary/exciting experience that involved large machinery on rusty wheels, rickity ramps, a clunky, junky pickup, and a few moans and groans for good measure. The good news is we avoided a large machinery hit and run. That would have been messy.

We also managed to find some fancy stools (or really tall chairs) for seating at the bar we'll have against the window. They weren't in perfect shape, but the price was mere cents on the dollar. It was too good a deal to pass up. So, it was decided the stools would work grandly ... if they could be repainted. Kindra has been up to her elbows in the mess that is repainting all week. She has loved every minute of it, to be sure. Except for the dirty parts. Oh well, we're all doing things we never imagined we'd be doing. Ain't it grand?!

Below are pictures of how the site looks currently.

Looking through where the kitchen will be toward Alberta.
Looking toward Alberta.
Looking toward MLK.

Coffee School

2009-05-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

Kindra and I went to coffee school for two grueling days last week. It was something to behold. The lovely lady that stuffed our brilliant minds with all the coffee knowledge necessary to run a successful cafe was a lot of fun. Her husband was the actual coffee connoisseur—he'd had successful coffee houses all over the country until he died—but she carried on the tradition well. As will be evident when Sweet Thing opens, her experience and knowledge held much value.

Also, for amusement factor, it must be mentioned that the Davison mind is also something to behold. And behold it this nice lady (Oksana) did. Heh. The first day of class she shared a billion stories with us to help illustrate the importance of what she spoke of. She had a funny habit of including more details than were necessary. I don't suppose it would have been so interesting to a lot of people, but when you have a mind like a vice details don't just skip across the surface. On the second day of class Oksana was quite shocked to hear the dreadful details of her most absurd stories relayed back to her. The situation made her state she should be more careful with the details of her stories. And, sadly, her stories were less frequent the second day.

We don't mean to scare people. It's just the way we are. Ask Grampa.

The second day was practical exam day. We made every hot drink on the menu before lunch, and every cold drink on the menu after lunch. We also were required to try every drink we made for experience sake. Ugh. A coffee high is so much more insane than tea drunkeness. We were wired for hours. We got the making of the drinks down on the machine Oksana had, but the machine we have is different. Hopefully we will get it up and running soon so we can adjust our tactics to suit it before openning. That will be fun.

These are all the cold drinks we made. Look at all that waste! But after consuming all the hot drinks in the morning, who could blame us?

Here is Kindra excitedly foaming milk. Don't scald it! Ah, just perfect.

Me acting like he's pulling a shot. I missed out on getting my picture taken while the real action happened so we had to make do. As you can see the espresso machine cleaner is sitting on the counter. Obviously not the beginning of the day.

2009-05-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

Here I go again.....Everyone hold your breath!

The last few weeks have been quite a ride......and have prompted me to put some thoughts together to post on our blog. This is only the second blog entry I've posted....thank goodness! We would have far fewer avid readers were I to post more often. Kenny does a much better job of entertaining than I will ever be able to do, and for that we can all be grateful. Nonetheless, I felt the need to subject you all to my (less than) literary prowess in order to thank everyone for their support this past while.

January 2009.....yeah, that month. Remember? It was supposed to be the month we opened. Unfortunately, for the collective sanity of our Sweet Thing crew and loved ones....that was five months ago!

Late June, early July 2009....the new "norm", the new target date range, and hopefully, the last opening date we'll have to give out.

So, without further ado....thank you all for bearing with us as we've journeyed through the tangled web of oh-my-goodness-are-you-kidding-me?-set-back-infused-grey-hair-inducing-FUN that is creating something from nothing. The shop will be something to behold, I'm sure! Not only for those who are anticipating our opening, but especially for those of us who are privy to the melt downs, late nights, sweat, blood, tears, and joy, that have gone into making the dream a reality!

Here's to the next few weeks and to not losing our tenuous-one-tired out-weak-little finger-hold on something that (sort of, but not really) resembles sanity.

All for now.....let's all go get some sleep! I have a feeling we're going to need it!

Shawna

Tea too

2009-03-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Our focus is pastries and coffee, not tea. We will have tea, though, and it will be good tea. Kindra's been in communication with Matt, the owner of Townshend's Tea Company. His teas are fantastic and locally made (hardly a dozen blocks from our shop, actually). We will offer eight teas to begin with, but if we get mass requests for more, or different kinds, we will adjust that.

The loan is still in the works, but I have seen evidence (communications) of its forward progression. This is good. More evidence of successful certainty is that Shawna ordered a "Coming Soon" banner for the store front. That should get there in less than a week. Then everyone can drive by and say, "Hey, I know that place!"

Also, Marty, our fantastic chef wanted to be trendy and miles ahead of the curve, so he has looked into possible ways for us to offer our customers nutrition information on our products. His actions (and emails to the right people) has landed us the opportunity to be interviewed by the AP. The reporter wants to research eateries that offer nutrition information when they aren't required to by law. We need to get back ASAP about this lest the reporter dredge up another exciting start-up to question. Hopefully, though, national exposure will be ours.

This sure is fun...

2009-03-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

We have a lease, yes. For proof, there is a picture of the draft below. We currently have two experienced lease people giving it the once over to assure that those of us not well versed in legalize did not miss something significant. But, as of the moment, it looks perfect. The location also has begun to look like an inhabitable building of late. If you drive by, you can see people working, and we recently noticed the building actually has windows in it now! Fantastic.

At the moment we don't have any problems. We have finally managed to rummage together all information required for business loan requirements. That was nothing to scoff at. The rigmarole required for such would make climbing mount Everest look enjoyable. Sadly, though, I shudder to think that our dealings with bureaucracies has just begun. Thankfully, Dina (our manager) has experience with such insanity. That fact is most wonderful and welcome.

Martin (our chef) has been hard at work creating menus and prices. He is very experienced and very talented. He knows what he wants and he knows what he needs. With such precision on our side we cannot fail. We have become anxious to open if for no other reason than to be able to sample his wares on a more regular basis. =)

Our menu will not be immutable—several things about it will cater to the excitement of mystery. The main idea has been the consideration of world holidays—we plan to make specials associated with world holidays. We aren't settled on a frequency for this plan. It could be hectic to have a new recipe every day when we are just starting up, but perhaps as we become more established the frequency can increase. Each special will be texted to customers the morning they are made, and once they are consumed it's, "sorry Charlie," for the late comers.

The exciting part of this plan is there is pretty much a holiday for every stinking day of the year. How could it not be fun to make something for a, "Mother Goose Day"?

Rolling Along

2009-02-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a little more excitement. Things are rolling along. Perhaps in a little while longer we will have rolled the edges off our square wheels and might roll more smoothly.

Stuck in a Rut

2009-02-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

Sweet Thing is in a lull at the moment. The economy stinks right now, and that fact has caused lenders and landlords to be skeptical little devils. How to drive them forward to believe in our vision is our predicament at the moment. There are many hopeful signs, but none-the-less it has been a cause for stress... which is never a welcome thing.

We have looked at another space over near the pearl, but just a hair off the beaten path. It's a brand new building with lots of square feet. We were promised a fair deal and even more if needed. We like it, but wonder how much excess work it will be to market our brand when we are not on a main thoroughfare. Who knows? All we know is that the Alberta and MLK space is pretty much the perfect space for a new bakery. Hopefully something will work out soon -- we are getting anxious.

Last night it was mentioned, "you guys better have a dollar menu!" Ha! I don't know how feasible that is, but it's a good thought. Maybe if we made mini pastries... hmm. Anyway, the point is, all suggestions are considered around this joint. We plan to be successful and that doesn't happen without listening to our adoring public. So suggest away... but do be aware I don't subscribe to that dumb saying, "there are no dumb questions." Yes there are. And yes there are dumb suggestions. So no doggy log biscuits please. =)

Cupping

2009-01-31T17:56:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, Sweet Thing's management and family got together for an official coffee cupping. Talk about your snooty individuals. We were encouraged to be discriminant and determine which coffee was preferable over another. We are not normally encouraged to be discriminant, so it didn't come easy. None-the-less the caffeine slurping was pleasurable.

For a cupping, a few ounces of freshly ground beans are put into a small cup. Steaming water is then poured over the ground beans. The gritty concoction is left to brew for four minutes and then the cupping begins.

First, the individual is encouraged to get his or her nose down next to the lip of the mug and embrace the aroma that wafts from it when the surface is broken with his or her spoon. When the intoxicating aroma is fully comprehended, the individual then tastes the coffee. He or she sets a spoon on the surface of the coffee until the spoon has coffee in it, then the spoon is brought to the mouth and a fantastic slurping sound is made as the coffee is dispersed to every area of the tongue.

Quite amusing, actually. Yes, there was a little gagging as a few errant coffee grounds pummeled unsuspecting uvulas, but overall the event caused little harm. A little enjoyment was even had!

In the process, our forced discrimination determined three brands to be our favorites. When we get our espresso machine up and about we will then have the final judgment to determine the overall winner.

After the cupping the party moved on to a meal. An Italian meal, to be exact. After all the coffee tasting we needed something to overwhelm our palates.

What A Zoo!

2009-01-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

In places of unknown, fears are elevated; emotions run high; tension attempts to tear apart all that has been put together. During such times it is essential that life, purpose, and sanity not be neglected. Overwhelming support is key in such a miracle.

Sweet Thing has been in the midst of pushing through first phases of "ideating" to apparent physical achievement — many contract meetings and emails have led to many design meetings, which, sadly, have led back to more contract meetings and emails. We love our place — it is perfect for traffic — but we would like some allotment for bumps in the road. Who wouldn't? How many people expect to get things perfect on the first attempt. So, that is the why of our intense correspondences: Sweet Thing WILL be successful and a good lease agreement is a vital step.

On another, happier, note Sweet Thing's management has begun its weekly meetings. The first meeting was simply to provide assurance of job descriptions and to provide assignments for each to accomplish before next meeting. There is little more exciting than actually using physical things (i.e. people, hard copy documents, etc) to produce progress—virtual and imagined progress looses its comfort factor after a time.

Tonight will be our second manager's meeting. Assignments solutions will be related, ensuing ideas pitched, and final decisions promulgated within the organization. It is very exciting. We have a very talented and productive team!

Tomorrow Sweet Thing's management will meet again for a blind cupping. We have five brands of coffee that we have looked into serving at the shop and tomorrow we will test them all together. The hope is that through this process we can narrow the field down to two or, at most, three brands and then (when we actually hook up our espresso machine) we can compare the coffees as they would be served in the shop. For some of us this is a completely new experience and we hardly know what is required of us, but we are slowly learning to become snooty connoisseurs.

At some point in the near future we plan to roast our own beans, but in the beginning, simplicity dictates, that would not be possible with minimal employees.

So, Sweet Thing still exists, yes, and is more real than ever. We will have updates from the meetings with new ideas and such. Opinions are more than welcome—as was stated earlier, "Overwhelming support is essential in such a miracle."

Below, for you enjoyment, is the platter that Martin (our pastry chef) prepared for us as an introduction to his wares. Quite fantastic.

Meetings and such

2008-12-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

Last week we met with the land owners. We got a lot of information and a lot of promises and a lot of hope... but we didn't have a lot of progress. It turns out we have a problem.

Yes, we are in the process of changing spaces. The space is a better location, but we will not have the outdoor seating we were hoping for. But, if everything works out (which, we have no reason to believe it will), we may get something even better than outdoor seating. We will not share what that may be at this time for fear of jinxing the endeavor.

We will meet again with the developers this week or next week, depending on schedules. That meeting should determine, for sure, the terms of lease, square footage, and so forth. That will be a happy day.

And then the week and month following should be a lovely combination of stress and progress.

We're moving forward... really.

2008-12-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

It may seem as if nothing happens around here, but, honestly, we actually work hard. Our two largest obstacles (floor plan, and lease) are close to being realized. We received an initial floor plan before turkey day, which Shawna immediately marked up and returned for updates. We expect an update any day now. The wretched part about the floor plan is that the estimates the designer gives us hinge entirely on the terms of the lease... which, obviously, we have not obtained yet.

Today we did get some reaction concerning the lease. A fellow with significant clout at the developer was spoken with and a time set for a lease meeting. This has happened before and resulted in a canceled meeting. But this time it is with a different fellow. Hopefully a different result will ensue. Once that is complete it's off to the bank to beg for money, and then off to find some willing contractors to make quick work of our little plot.

Yesterday, we had a rather festive time. In the evening a pastry chef we are, so far, well pleased with dropped off a platter of his wares that we might get an impression of his baking style. Mmmm. Fantastic. It's amazing how we randomly run into all these fantastic contacts we have.

All in all, things progress. There is so much stinking paper work involved with every dadburn process it gives one urges to harm things. Overwhelmed is a pretty normal feeling these days. If we just keep our heads about water, though, we should be good.

Ugh.

Many Updates

2008-11-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

It has been ages since this blog has been updated, and for good reason—there has been little information to share. For the past month all has carried on in a boring manner—we baked and grocery shopped. That's pretty much it. Now however, things are moving rapidly. It is time for the build-out to be kicked into gear, and who knew there were so many intricacies involved? The city and county have honorable goals, I'm sure, but those goals inhibit progress above anything I've witnessed. So, a lot of the work is simply to learn what hoops to jump through.

A few weeks back we finally got our design fellow in to see the building. He took measurements, asked questions, gave advice, etc. He is currently engaged in preparing a preliminary restaurant design for us. Hopefully we will have it soon. Once we get it we then need to review it and decide on any changes. Then it all happens again. Until we are satisfied. Good luck with that, huh?

Once the floor plan is done we will be able to move forward with city and county permits. These are extensive processes that involve many signatures, many agencies, many pointless documents, and, after all seems complete, many weeks of dumb waiting. Ugh. If our government was more efficient in its processes I doubt it would be the largest employer in the nation. Sigh.

It appears, from talks with the developer of our building, that build-out completion is no longer targeted for late December. It seems the grueling process will drag on until late January now. Disgusting. We already have our business cards made, too! But what can you do?

Another bit of news is that we no longer deliver to Bikini Coffee. This is a twofold blessing (though it wouldn't seem so): first, we didn't make enough products to actually turn a profit; and second, Bikini's management's form of communication was hand-penned notes written on various coffee shop paper products. Phone calls were not returned. Emails were rarely acknowledged. Essentially, we now will save money and headache. Not that it wasn't nifty to have a customer, but, honestly, some things aren't worth the effort.

So, now it's all effort on build-out and OLCC (which is another governmental pile of pooh we shall not venture to describe for lack of time in the day). The first and most essential thing is the floor plan which we hope to have this week. Once that is in hand the ball begins to roll whether anyone is prepared for it or not.

An update will come when we get the floor plan.

By the way, our business cards are amazing and fantastic!

Eerie Silence

2008-10-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, for the great expanse of nothingness. All loyal readers have probably been lost due to boredom. We will try to rectify that situation, but help may be needed.

With the election upcoming and the economy flying into the side of the mountain I think several folks have been a tad distracted of late. A ton of blogs and vlogs I frequent have failed to update in the last two weeks. It's a mite creepy. It's like everyone has found a cave to hide in to await the end of the world. Except celebrities. There seems to be ample trash on them. What a weird world we live in.

Sweet Thing, however, does not desire to hide. Yeah, the economy is essentially toast for a while. And now may not be the optimal time to begin a business. But Sweet Thing has banked upon our country's inherent love of sweets and its desperate addiction to coffee. It's nuts what people will sacrifice in order to maintain their daily ration of sweets and coffee. Not that we are complaining.

This week will see headway in shop layout design and, soon thereafter, the beginning of construction. We have a design sketched, but official measurements and cad drawings will be taken and created this week. Shawna's dream is becoming more real—it will officially be on paper soon. We'll see how well that translates to reality. No doubt it will translate well... the time required to do so is the only thing in question.

Shawna has been in talks with potential clients. It sounds like one will be on board after the first of the year and the other (hopefully) before. We are a young company. We have one client. We are not expecting to gross a million in a month. But none-the-less, after the enjoyable creation of a spreadsheet, it appears one more customer could put Sweet Thing into the black. Impressive.

Bag O' Muffins

A while back we took a delivery to Bikini and on the way back to the car were accosted by a drunk Australian. He stood on the street corner engaged in jovial conversation with a few of his inebriated buddies. We stood at the street corner also, and silently waited for the light to change that we could traverse the street. The man, in his happy, drunken state, fixated on the contents of the clear tote we carried.

"Are those muffins?" He asked. (Now, you must recall this man was Australian. So, despite the normality of the words written here, the speech was not normal. As is the case with the Australian dialect, all vowels have somewhere between 5 and 25 vowel sounds per vowel. Imagine a man attempting to speak with a two inch marble in his mouth. That would sound about right. I will not attempt to regurgitate the speech in writing as it attacked the ear. I will leave that to your imagination.)

The man did not wait for our answer. He continued on in exuberance. "It's a bag of muffins!" For some reason muffins excited him. In his excitement he did not realize that a bag is a sight different from a tote. We'll forgive him though. The man then excitedly ran out into traffic. He waved his arms frantically overhead. His cigarette glowed with the motion. "Everybody stop!" He continued in his dreadful accent. "Bag o' muffins coming though!"

We obliged the idiot and crossed the street. Had shock not affected our sensed we would have granted him a muffin, to be sure. Sadly, our senses had been affected and thanks we did not proffer. It is doubtful he desired thanks, though—his posse's raucous laughter trailed us all the way to the car. They thought it was a grand lark.

Perhaps this visible muffin business is a marketing tactic we could utilize at a later date.

This is all for now. There is little to scrawl about these days as things appear to have adhered to some sort of schedule and have become mundane to say the least. So, if there is anything I've failed to touch on that you want to hear about please let us know.

A Couple More Things

2008-09-22T10:04:00.001-07:00

Just a quick entry to say a couple things.

Yesterday the message was relayed to us from a co-worker of a friend. Said co-worker (who happens to be female) shared that Bikini Coffee in downtown Portland has the best rice krispies. Ever. And they are so big.

Fantastic. We can now begin our official adoring-public count. I'm sure the count is larger than those who actually comment on the goods, but we shouldn't assume too much―it makes us look conceited.

Also our logo is finished. Here it is in all its glory. Pretty, huh?

Seattle Coffee Fest

2008-09-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Coffee Fest was something to witness. All kinds of booths hawking all kinds of coffee related items strewed the fourth floor the of the Seattle convention center. Bakeries, coffee suppliers, coffee roasters, cafe designers, tea suppliers, smoothie people, energy drink people. Ugh. It was endless. There was even a glycerin insole booth. Everywhere one turned there was a smiley person with some sort of energetic pitch ready to accost.

At first the experience was freakish―too many happy people in one place is unnerving. We soon understood why the energy in the place appeared endless―several booths were handing out free shots of espresso. Ugh. Needless to say, we soon joined in the sickening glut of energy. What fools.

One booth had an aura of listlessness, though. And ironically, it was some energy drink booth. Amusing. A bleary eyed fellow with silver hair to the shoulders and a short beard stood behind the booth. "You wanna try this natural energy drink, dude?" His torpid appeal would have lulled a rabid dog to sleep. He was a stereotype straight from the seventies.

"Sure." We might as well try it. One can never get enough energy, right?

His left eye, half covered by a droopy eye lid, twitched as he handed us a sample. I don't recall his exact words as we took the samples, but I'm sure it went something like, "This is healthier than blueberries. It makes you feel better than a Guns & Roses concert. And it grows on a fifty foot tall tree, dude." Or something like that. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was informative.

There were two things we did while at Coffee Fest that were especially useful. First, we watched a documentary on the history and reason behind Cafe Feminino―the place Shawna wants to buy our coffee from. It was very interesting and nice. The coffee may be more expensive than others, but I'm sure the fuzzy feeling that comes from helping out impoverished folk is worth the cost.

The second useful thing we did was taste My Chai's blends. The teas were fantastic. If the syrups are half as fantastic then we made a great decision for a supplier.

As was mentioned, we sucked down shots of espresso, smoothie mix, and chai tea all day long. And through necessity of perusing all booths before leaving, we also managed to skip lunch. Too much coffee and too little food is a great combination for crankiness. We were all a bunch of cranky-pants by the time we finally began the journey home. Thankfully, everyone slept the three hours home. Well, except for the driver. But he enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Anonymous Alcoholic Needed

2008-09-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

A week ago the task was given to locate and obtain the best vanilla possible. Vanilla is common in baked goods and Sweet Thing is not interested in mediocrity, so for the best we searched. According to reviews of many baker people on many websites, the best vanilla extract was found. A sample is currently on its way here. But through the research required to find the best vanilla extract, it was discovered that one could make his or her own vanilla extract if desired. Who knew? It was also discovered that real vanilla extract is at least 35% alcohol (37.8 -- or something like that -- is optimal). This fact would require us to purchase vodka in order to create our own vanilla extract. This brings a blaring fact to light: we know nothing of vodka.

Internet information only gets one so far. As far as what makes a good vodka beats me with a stick. So if anyone out there has made vanilla extract before and wouldn't mind granting advice, we would be thankful. Or if anyone just happens to have vast amounts of vodka knowledge on hand, that may help too.

Yesterday we took a field trip to Rose's Equipment here in Portland. It is a big honking warehouse of new and used restaurant equipment. We wandered through three stories of really big ovens, refrigerators, and sauna-sized mixers and wrote down items we would need. It was a load of fun. For some reason ridiculously large things intrigue people greatly. After we had completed our tour, our salesperson introduced us to a nice fellow with James Dean hair. This big-haired fellow walked us through how he could help us with kitchen design, equipment placement, etc. Rose's employees really made us feel they could help us and would go out of their way to help us. Customer service is a powerful thing.

Today we are going to finally set up the business bank account. Woohoo. That makes us more official than before. Grants and loans will be completed soon after and then we'll really be rolling.

Shawna keeps her focus wonderfully. She has a vision and works toward it constantly. Some of us have the ability to fraternize with doubt when there is no visible progress. Not Shawna, though, there ain't nothin' gonna get in her way. Thank goodness for people like her. Now that mammoth sized equipment has been seen and floor plans are in the foreseeable future, even doubters have begun to share her elation.

Tomorrow we will take another field trip up to Coffee Fest in Seattle. It's actually a three day event, but who has three days to blow? We hope to get in on three classes and learn everything about the coffee industry as we tour through all fifty billion exhibits. Sounds reasonable to me. We'll see, though.

I love baking!

2008-09-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

"I hate baking." Kindra's body slouches at a dejected angle as she kneads the scone dough. She pauses and turns to her auditor. "I mean, baking's not so bad, but when you do the same thing day after day after day it gets kinda old. I can't wait until we're doing coffee."

This was Kindra's sentiment after two weeks of baking the same recipes day after day. Now, however, if she wishes to complain it will have to be on account of something else—she has plenty of new stuff to bake all of the sudden. Shawna has been in talks with a new catering company in town. The company does the food stuff, but wants to contract out the desserts. A perfect customer.

So Kindra is busy today creating recipes that would work well for what the catering company desires. Apparently it wants mostly little desserts. Dainty. Not big honkers like we are used to producing. New recipes. New pastry sizes. I'm sure Kindra beyond elated.

It has been decided lately, concerning Bikini, that Sweet Thing will no longer deliver baked goods on the weekend. Apparently no one eats pastries on the weekend. Or maybe all these men that frequent the shop during the work week are not so keen to do so when their family is with them? None-the-less nothing sells on the weekend and who are we to defy the laws of Supply and Demand? If nothing sells we refuse to deliver. It's nice, too, because it gives the baker Saturday off.

On a more pleasant Bikini note (Kindra would argue that possibility) the scones have been selling very well. They even sold out a couple of days! That's wonderful. The scones are extremely tasty and apparently people are finally beginning to learn this. Took them long enough.

Below is a part of Shawna's cake, a blueberry scone, the greatest thing since sweet bread (ham and cheese Pan), a pineapple-coconut muffin, and "fun with chocolate."

Lots of People

2008-09-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

Is it December yet? Phooey. When Sweet Thing opens its shop life will be grand. Until then its Shawna's kitchen. Not that it isn't beautiful, but it isn't as exciting as possible.

This weekend was full and hectic. Family, friends, investors, and just random interested people were all around. Several folks were blessed enough to be able to taste the most wonderful baked good ever made (no I'm not biased, it's really good) -- the pineapple upside down muffin. Its sticky, gooey goodness delighted all. Gramps thought it was okay too.

Group tours of the soon-to-be shop were given, too. Not that that act was rewarding in anyway... unless you have an imagination. It is a big building with lots of dust. But I'm sure when Shawna's imaginations are realized it will be a very beautiful place. It has fantastically tall ceilings and cement floors. Past that any description wouldn't be accurate for the final plans haven't been completed yet. Suffice it to say it'll be the best designed bakehouse/coffee shop ever. Bar none.

Stan and Morgan came yesterday and brought along their sweet-tooth enthusiasm. Ideas flowed from them like odor from a bakehouse. Unbridled. Enticing, but not necessarily fulfilling. Just kidding, some were excellent. The best idea heard from Stan's scone-hole all weekend was the simplest one: sell goods at the Portland Farmers Market. Grand plan. There's a few hoops to jump through -- apparently a farmers market is not an example of perfect competition (it has barriers to entry) -- but we're looking into it. We aren't necessarily looking to make millions at the moment (not that we'd complain about such), just get our name out there. So a plan like Stan's is good.

It was mind boggling to realize how many people follow the evolution of Sweet Thing. We definitely do not lack for support. I only hope we can accommodate the massive crowd that will indubitably attend the grand opening in December.

La Marzocco

2008-08-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry, folks. Didn’t mean to leave everyone hanging for so long. Hopefully we can have a couple updates this week.

It is official: Shawna has purchased an espresso machine. She got a smashing deal on a La Marzocco. Yeah, impressive. Thankfully I’m not in charge of coffee... I’d never heard of the brand. Apparently it’s the Rolls Royce of espresso machines. Don’t I feel stupid.

The machine is a chunk—it weighs 250 lbs. It’s larger than your average kitchen appliance, too. So, due to lack of room elsewhere, we have been forced to store the contraption at Ma and Pa’s until the shop opens. It’s in a safe place and it has Dad pretty excited, so it shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience. Fact is, Dad stole the machine’s manual the day it arrived and proceeded to read it that evening. Odd duck, that Dad. (This trait obviously has nothing to do with his vast mechanical knowledge which has time and again saved us from our never ending mechanical pickles. Obviously. Just a personality trait. No sense the rest of us attempting to emulate.) He thinks he should store the machine in the kitchen. Ha! And Mom can use the floor for counter-space? Not Likely.

We’ve received mixed messages concerning customers’ thoughts of our products. One day we hear they want breakfast stuff. Another day we hear they want a product we made for a short time in the beginning. Very strange. Perhaps the messages being relayed to us only reflect a very minor populace? Probably very likely. Perhaps when Sweet Thing actually opens its own shop we will be able to use customers’ vocal statements as field research. Until then, though, a guess is as good as relayed information.

Kindra has created some “new wares”. She is anxious that they would be tested and reviewed. Hopefully that can be done soon. Wouldn’t want to keep her in suspense too long.

This will be all for now. We would have pictures but have somehow managed to separate blogger from camera. Hopefully that situation can be rectified before this blog becomes a bore. Apparently words don’t excite everyone to the extent they do me.

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate.

2008-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's been hot. 100+ isn't so bad, but when you are baking all day and lack air-conditioning it's hot. Kindra thinks it's hot. She insists several times an hour it is hot. Her continuous reminders help to distract the mind from the heat (that was sarcasm). It's hard to feel clean when one sweats profusely all the day long. But, as in every situation, there is a lesson to be learned here... we just aren't sure of what it is yet.

Yesterday, Kindra decided she was bored with the chocolate krinkle cookies. She's made them the same way for a good two weeks now. That would bore anyone. So she added a flare: she dumped chocolate morsels into the chocolate krinkle cookie dough. Ug. Talk about death by chocolate. If chocolate has addictive properties (as some folks maintain) these double chocolate gems would render a person an addict, no doubt. Addicts are okay, though... as far as Sweet Thing is concerned. We'll take all we can get.

It looks like we have ourselves a fancy coffee machine. Now, all we need is a place to store it for three months until the shop opens. Fun. We got a smashing deal, though, it'll be worth it.

Today was the first day the ham and cheese pan was available at Bikini. Hopefully it found itself in a refrigerator or was sold quickly. Cooked, cured ham doesn't go bad quickly, but all the same, we do not desire to give someone food poisoning. We long to avoid the situation Kindra expressed so eloquently this morning: "Someone's gonna get food poisoning, sue us, and we'll be shut down before we even start up!" Our rosy outlooks keep up our spirits.

Tonight Shawna will concoct one of her famous cakes--the first one to be sold under the Sweet Thing name. From the sound of things it will be quite fancy. But then again, what does Shawna make that isn't fancy? We'll have pictures of it later.

Kindra thinks we should keep a vlog, too. She says a blog doesn't capture the wonderful spontaneity and idiocy of our personalities. Talk about burning people out. Maybe one or two videos here and there would be interesting, but all the time would be out of control. Our random outbursts of song, and witty comments can sometimes be a direct result of sleeplessness. A person whose faculties properly function would be mortified by such inanity. We'll see.

Chow Chess & Near Death

2008-08-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Just a couple items of interest to keep everyone feeling included.

Shawna's apartment possesses one refrigerator with an overhead freezer. Not small by any means, but only one. When one fridge is needed to house 10+ pounds of butter, gallons of milk, bricks of cheese, pounds of ham, chilling cookie dough, etc, open space can be difficult to come by. But, if we learned nothing else from our mother, we learned there is always more room in the refrigerator. The act of creating space in a plum-full fridge takes great strategy and cunning. We won't be outwitted by a measly package of food.

Many rearrangements are necessary through the course of the day. It's fun and exciting. We call it Chow Chess. Of course, life would be 48.5% simpler if we had more fridge space, but then we would be robbed of a beautiful opportunity to exercise our listless brains. Sudoku ain't got nothing on Chow Chess!

And then we have excitement, too.

This morning Kenny was kind enough to lend a hand as Kindra assembled the muffins. In the process (in order to make a long self-justifying story shorter and truer, we will abridge it now) Kenny was viciously attacked by a rabid pineapple-can lid. It's hard to know why it happened for the lid was unprovoked. Yet it happened.

The jagged lid cut deep.

Kenny grabbed his thumb and winced.

"Ooop! That's a deep one!" His manly downplay of the incident was remarkable.

Blood covered his hand and dripped into the sink. He ran cold water over it.

"Kindra! Help! It's a gusher." Kenny appealed for help, or sympathy, or anything to ebb the tide of blood that cascaded from his wound. "It's a raging torrent!"

"What do you need?!" Kindra's voice joined Kenny's at an excited pitch.

"Does Shawna have any band-aides?" He looked at the wound. A third of an inch--hardly the band-aide type. "Actually, I don't think a band-aide is gonna do it. Does she have any super glue?"

"I don't know!" Was Kindra's frantic response. But with a phone call to Shawna, Kindra soon procured some super glue from the fridge. The sticky solution was dabbed on the wound and blown on feverishly (some maintain this act quickens the drying process). At last the torrent was subdued and peace came again to the kitchen... no products were harmed in the process.

Canned fruit ain't good for a person. Just ask Kenny. He's pushing for all fresh all the time... even if it does require the use of a twelve inch knife. It's gotta be safer than a rabid metal can.

Our days-on-the-job-without-an-injury sign has been reset to zero. Safety is still not a concern. But stupidity is something to worry about.

Breakfast anyone?

2008-08-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

It has recently been brought to our attention that a portion of the customer base has inquired about breakfast items. We currently do not have an item in that category. So, in order to accommodate the most people possible we have considered what might be a tasty, simple treat Sweet Thing could add to its menu as a breakfast item. The group-think on this topic exposed many a generic idea like, pancake cookie, egg muffin, etc. You know, the usually.

Then a brilliant idea made its epiphany to Shawna.

"Do you remember when we were in Mexico?" As she voiced her idea all in attendance knew it was to be grand—the thought was more than simply, "outside the box", it was outside the country!

"Uh, yeah. What about it?" A chorus of confusion begged her to continue.

"We went to that little bakery place called El Panama. They had these little sweet bread things the size of a sandwich stuffed with cheese, ham, and jalapenos. Remember?" She beamed in her brilliance.

"Not as well as you apparently."

"Well, they did. And they were excellent. We should make something like that." She looked around for signs of assent.

"Sure. Sounds yummy."

A recipe was soon obtained from the deep recesses of the internet. It was tested and found fabulous. Since a baker is in artist the recipe has its own personal Sweet Thing touch and is even tastier than originally thought possible. The entire first batch was consumed in a day. Another batch will follow today, and, hopefully, will be available for public consumption tomorrow morning.

All this because of a trip to Mexico.

And Kindra thought it was crazy to call a trip to a distant land "Research and Development". Psssh. Her skepticism is since tempered.

Ramblings... I think we're getting tired

2008-08-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Friday was a blast. Things have come together grandly (I'm suppose to say that). We just got a look at the last tests for the logo that Tamara sent and it appears it is finished (how much longer do you suppose we can keep teasing that?). And our menu has stayed the same all week! It appears we are getting the hang of things.

One thing has changed a little, but it is more of an evolution than flat out change—Kindra has been tweaking her white-chocolate-coconut-oatmeal cookies each batch and slowly forms the perfect cookie. We appreciate her discriminating palate because others who have tasted each batch have found them all fantastic. But there is a big difference between fantastic and perfect... apparently. Part of it is aesthetic as well—the evolution is obvious to the eye, too.

Friday evening we sauntered on down to the walk/run/bike path that runs along Marine drive. Exercise is necessary to sanity and had been sorely lacked this week. We figured we wouldn't waste time, though, and brought along a couple of metal bowls in order to pick our fill of blackberries that lined the path. Kenny and Kindra, given the task of carrying the bowls to the berry patch, decided maybe people wouldn't be to keen on watching weirdos deface the beautiful berry patch on the beach. So, their brilliant minds conceived a fool proof method to transport the bowls without raising the suspicion of passers by—don the them as caps. Obviously, such an action for such a purpose is ridiculous beyond measure, but that was the point—it was funny. Really, it was. Really. Well... you had to be there, I geuss. Evidence of the lunacy is placed below in picture form... it's titled "Pot Heads".

Some of the berries were put to wonderful use. Shawna arose early this morning and made black berry scones. They were amazing! Sadly, as employees of the bakery we are only entitled to small peices of the fresh products. (We didn't get pictures of those. You're gonna have to take our word for it. They existed.)

Other things of note:
—Jon got a lead on a nice coffee machine for a fantastic price. The guy's amazing. He looks up coffee machine and merchandise sales for fun. It seems to have been useful to us, though, so we are glad of it. We will make an offer on it this week.

—Someone gave us the tip that Trader Joes often sells homemade products. We looked it up and found it to be true. We have put in an inquiry to start selling Kindra's amazing cookie dough to them. We still wait for a response.

Slow Day

2008-08-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot to mention today. We are currently attempting to get everything all squared away business-wise—Quickbooks set up, logo perfected (props to Tamara Smith on this), target stores, business plan perfected, etc. All little stuff with lots of importance.

Just a side note: the logo is looking very cool. We have nearly worked poor Tamara to death with all of our nit-pickiness (and desire to see a thousand different alterations!), but she is coming through grandly. It will be fabulous when complete. Business cards will come soon after.

Some folks have kindly offered suggestions for possible customers. For this we are thankful. Not that we don't do a thorough job of considering all possible options, but to omit is human (or something like that). So thank you to all who have given their suggestions. If y'all want to leave more customer suggestions for us to contemplate on the comments—or via email—feel free.

Here are a few fun pictures with little relevance to anything. There's Lyle Chowin', Happy Kindra Bakin', The Infernal Inventory List, and Goodies.

More Fun

2008-08-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

We are official now. First payment was received this morning. Woohoo! We're rolling in the dough! Now, if we can round up a few more customers maybe we can make some money too. We are working on it. We'll be over our heads soon, no doubt. That's the hope anyway.

This week has been relatively uneventful. Hence the lack of blog posts ("It's been dullsville." Says Kindra). But just for the sake of an update here are some happenings.

Highlights:

Heat Stroke
It’s been hot here in Oregon. At least hot for this place—Tuesday cracked 100℉. Such heat was acceptable to the cold-blooded type, like Kenny, but most poor Oregonians found the heat gruesome; completely undesirable. Shawna’s Apartment/current-bake-house is not air-conditioned. So, Kindra found the heat more undesirable than most Oregonians. Heat can take a toll on a body. Kindra endured remarkably, though, for one so feeble. All baked goodies were completed as normal. The weather has calmed down today, so it looks to be more enjoyable.

Kleptomaniacal Stupor
Today, Shawna and Kenny stumbled out of bed for the early morning shift (deliveries at 5:00 AM). Kindra got out of the early morning mayhem, but she deserves some respite. On the way to Bikini coffee, Kenny and Shawna were waylaid by a ridiculous Portland scene: the Morrison bridge was drawn to allow a tug-boat—no higher than 25 feet above the water line—to pass beneath. All traffic had to wait impatiently for the puny inconvenience to pass. 5:15AM is not a time of the day most people deem patience worthwhile. The thought was proffered during the stoppage that, perhaps, the Morrison bridge should be taller. “Pshhh!” Said Kenny. “That’s insane. Portland would never see the sense in making it taller.” He rolled his eyes. “Why don’t they just empty the river a little. That’d done fix it real good!”

The bridge finally reconnected and progress commenced.

The pastry delivery went well. The pastries were arranged in a pretty manner, the day olds were stowed in the tote, and proper signs were made. As bleary-eyed and bumbling as Kenny and Shawna were, all appeared in order. Orderly exit was made and the trip home commenced.

On arrival at home Shawna asked, “Have you seen my keys?”

“Nope.”

The rustle of searching through a messy Volvo ensued. The search availed nothing.

“I left them at Bikini then, I guess.” Shawna moped.

“I’ll have to go down there later and pick them up for you... or send Kindra.” Kenny offered his solution. He then gestured toward the tote in Shawna’s arms... and the towel (that belonged to Bikini Coffee) that rested thereon. “We could barter with them.”

“What?” Shawna was confused.

“We could trade them straight across: their towel—which you’ve somehow come to possess—for your keys.”

“Oh brother.” Shawna shook her head as she understood the situation. “Perhaps I need more sleep.”

“Perhaps.”

Updates, Fill-ins, and Pictures!

2008-08-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Friday and the weekend were little more than a blur. More insanity. More fun. Thursday, because of a revamped menu (hooray for greater efficiency!), Kindra and Kenny were given a day off... at least from hours on end of baking. Other fun projects were undertaken in the down time, for idleness is does not encourage a better self image.

First was the receipts. Each carefully examined and distributed in the proper piles to await entry into QuickBooks. Then came the recipes. Somewhere around fifty million, give or take ten-thousand-five-hundred-and-seventy-two, strewed the table in Shawna's apartment. Kindra began to dig through them slowly. She stopped on certain recipes long enough to copy them (by hand) onto a piece of paper for more convenient storage. This process would have sufficed, surely, but us baker people are progressive folks—we love technology—so we determined there had to be a better way. So, to the ruling deity of Google we proceeded. There in Google's sacred search pages Kindra found the efficiency tool she need: a recipe database that did everything except tap dance on the KitchenAid. She was excited.

Common recipes are now in the database. When new recipes are developed, they too will be entered. They can be searched, grocery lists can be formed, alternatives found, and convenient recipe cards printed. There are still millions of recipes to be sifted through, but that happens a day at a time. We have what we need and, thanks to Kindra's discovery, have it all in an efficient manner.

After the recipe fun it was requested we develop a grocery list that accounted for current inventory. To do this we first needed to decide what each recipe required of each ingredient. Then we were to extrapolate from there in order to prognosticate approximate weekly needs. This wasn't such a difficult task, it simply consumed time. The next part though, comparing what was needed to what was on hand, was not so simple. The recipes called for cups, but items were purchased in pounds; teaspoons were needed, but items were purchased in ounces—you get the idea. To convert liquid cups to pounds is relatively simple—a set formula is applicable—but to convert dry cups to pounds is quite another task entirely. And who new there were three teaspoons in a tablespoon? It makes perfect sense... if you're a three toed sloth! It was yoga for the mind. We prevailed in time, though, and the process broadened our relatability with others: we now understand the term, "pulled a brain muscle".

Friday resumed baking normality.

Here are a few pictures from the week:

Finally......the weekend!

2008-08-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Or, so you would think..... Weekends are supposed to bring sleeping in, walks in the park, breakfast out, afternoon naps, and the random farmer's market or new restaurant adventure. However, however, those seemingly "normal" weekend rituals are all but forgotten in our fog of delirium.....and somehow....(How, in the world, did we arrive at this oh-my-goodness-I-can't-believe-I-want-to-do-this place?)....replaced by 4:00 am wake-up alarms, piping white chocolate mousse into tart shells (A tremendous feat at 4:15 am, just in case anyone was wondering, or cared.), not tripping over each other in our attempt to move pastries and their carrying vessels out the double doors to the car (At which point we realized my trunk was too small.....lol....(no one has ever told me that before...lol.), moving all to Kindra's car, trekking downtown and filling display cases, wandering home in a sleep-deprived stupor....and crashing....only to wake up a couple hours later to get all things ready for tomorrow..... Oh, and just so all concerned know.....this is a tremendous step-up from a couple days ago. Efficiencies have been made, as Kenny so eloquently detailed yesterday....and we're hopeful the coming days will bring more.

OK....so....definitely rambling here.....I better move my (little) trunk....and get to the grocery store for some missing ingredients before I become one with the kitchen. Kindra is taking today off.....(in order to push impending insanity out another couple of days) and so I will get to enjoy a full day of cooking.....as she and Kenny have been enjoying while I blissfully (gag) work my day job and sit in class.

All's well....we're doing great.....still breathing.....no complaints.....just a new "norm" emerging from the wreckage (at least it feels like it) that was this past week. Maybe its me who feels like the wreck....? Well, anywho....off like a herd of turtles......

If anyone is reading this get your behind down to Bikini Coffee and buy some pastries...oh, and coffee. Move!

Out!

Shawna

P.S. Here's to a fab day of Kitchen Olympics.....

And So It Goes...

2008-08-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, due to the malasada-sleep-disruption, brought fun in the form of long hours of work on few hours of sleep. What a privilege! Shawna, ever industrious, chose to maintain her day job until the bakery is more established. So, Wednesday, after initial delivery of Tuesdays goods, Kindra was elected boss in charge of all things kitchen-wise. Thankfully, Kindra was an adept baker―she was familiar with the recipes and knew what came next. She ordered. Minions obeyed. All went grandly.

Highlights:

Spatula Debacle
"I'm sorry." Said Kindra. "I don't mean to sound bossy." Her diffidence appeared. But she had been a super boss so we consoled her. Each day her confidence grows.

From 3am until 5pm baking persisted. Monotony did not. Interjections of excitement were added to the baking rite and ensured monotony's absence.

Kindra, a believer of employee empowerment, had given her minions charge of the concoction of sugar-cookie crust. The minions, not familiar with the nuances of a KitchenAide, poked and prodded the machine as a tamer with a lion. Ere long the mixer turned calmly and they spooned the dough from the bowl walls as it turned. The endeavor appear a victory.

"We need to turn it up to get everything mixed in proper like." Said minion #1.

"How do I do that?"

"With the lever on the left hand side."

"Ah! I see! Okay here goes." Fearless minion #2 pulled the lever toward himself. The mixer sped up slightly.

"Oh no! My spatula!"

"Shut off the mixer!" Minion #1 gestured wildly toward the mixer... and everything within twelve feet. Very helpful.

Minion #2, though, grasped the idea quickly and pulled desperately on the speed lever. His anxiety had apparently clouded his judgement for the mixer immediately revolved at a dizzying speed. The spatula was sucked from his hand and thrown from the bowl. The projectile streaked across the kitchen, a doughy goo in its wake.

"Oh no." Minion #2 pouted as the mixer was finally brought into subjection. "That was not what I was going for."

"No kidding." Minion #1 agreed. "Lemme Finnish this."

Minion #2 acquiesced.

Go get... and another thing... and one more thing...
More goods and supplies were needed soon after baking began.

"Kenny, we need more brown sugar. And while you are at the store..."

A list being properly dictated, Kenny left for the store. Once he had obtained what was needed, he returned. On his return he was met with one more item his original list lacked. Back to the store he returned. His second return from the store offered him a slight respite from travel―about two hours―before the lack of another item was discovered. To the store he returned yet again.

Around 3pm all items appeared destined to extinguish if the hectic bake schedule persisted another day. So in preparation for the morrow Kenny and Lyle concocted an official list and went in search of a real store. They found one: Cash & Carry. Now that was a real man's store. 50lb sacks of flour, 50lb sacks of sugar, and who wouldn't want 14lbs of pickled pigs feet? If you think Costco is a bulk store then Cash & Carry must be the bulk store for mammoths. The shopping experience was unrivaled. You couldn't imagine what's available in 20lb increments. But the sheer volume of items wasn't as exciting as the low prices of the items (per unit). It was grocery shopping at its finest.

The end of the day
The work finally accomplished, Kindra and her minions propped up their weary feet and rested. More experience had evolved the baking process further Wednesday. Efficiency had grown. Schedules more perfect. All seemed in rhythm. Tomorrow promised to be simpler. And then the news came: menu and amount needed adjusted yet again. Ugh.

In The Beginning...

2008-08-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 27th day of July won't soon be forgotten in Sweet Thing lore. Sweet Thing has begun its remarkable existence in a clunky, but tasty manner. “Nobody is perfect”, the saying goes, and apparently that includes us. We confronted frustrations, from recipe disasters to attitude abrasion (not really, I just said that to be funny). At the end of the day, though, we still stand. It was a good day.

The Highlights:

Ton Cake Muffins
An applesauce banana muffin. Sounds fantastic. As it baked its aroma intoxicated. When pulled from the oven it was a vision of dreams (who doesn't dream of food?). When pulled from the pan, however, a problem was observed: the so called muffin lacked fluff. It was as dense as a wet pup. It could be dropped from a great height and not lose a crumb. When swallowed it clanked upon touch-down in the belly. Thus Kindra termed it, Ton Cake, and good for little other than a paper weight. It was amazing, really. If we had been scientists instead of bakers this error could have led to some great discovery. Alas, we are simple bakers so the tragedy had to be tossed. I'm sure our dumpster-diver friend—who passes through our neighborhood on a regular basis—appreciated the delicacy. It wasn't complete waste.

Malasada Malady
Woohoo! Malasadas! The greatest use of potatoes known to man. Shawna knew this baby was going to be a hit. She wasn't aware of the pleasure involved in the construction of such, though... at least not when it occurred at 3am—an hour all sane humans rest their baffled brains. All preliminary tests proved malasadas to be a fan favorite; a saliva inducing delight. 3am, though, has a way of finding the storm cloud in the silver lining. As we bumbled about the kitchen in drunken torpors the assembly line slowly took form: Kindra pored over the vat of boiling oil, Shawna stuffed and bagged the fried wonders, and Kenny helped out as directed with mind of mud and tongue of tune.

Observers would have thought the circus was in town as we struggled through the process.

“Yip! Yip!” Kindra began our morning dialogue. “I probably should have gotten a pair of rubber gloves like dad suggested.” She flailed her arm. “Who knew he would have been right?”

“Crazy, huh?” Kenny said.

“Oh dear.” Shawna's addition began thus. “We only have 40 minutes to get these out.”

Silence ensued as assiduousness prevailed. It didn't last. Kenny, never one to allow tension to maim his good spirits, began to belt a beautiful refrain (by beautiful we mean atrocious).

“If you're happy and you know it clap you hands! If you're happy...”

“Do you want to burn in oil, Kenny?” Kindra nipped the thistle in the bud. The girls giggled. Apparently the image of Kenny writhing in hot oil was comical.

Thus the morning progressed.

Malasadas are yummy. We are not sure, however, the sleep deprivation they require is worth the health risk. They also do not keep—they get mushy ere a day is done. It looks like they are to be axed from the menu for now. At least from deliveries.

At the end of the day
We've learned some things. Number one, baking is hard work and time consuming. Especially when we account for errors in judgement. We have also adjusted the menu. We've scaled back portions, too, according to sales data (as reflective as they are after one day). All in all, things are calmer now. People get more sleep. There definitely appears to be less stress. It's amazing how stressful unknown is. Now that we have more knowledge it's all fun and games.