Can I Get a "B?"

B: second letter in the alphabet, first letter in the official name of my bakery dream.

That's right kids, I've given this a lot of thought (and agonizing, OCD-style, flip-flopping, second-guessing consideration).

There is going to be an official name change. 

Cake Lore is SO MUCH MORE than cake. 

My dream is big and as it slowly materializes, I realize I need a name that is going to let me explore more than cake.  I am a baker - of fantastic cakes, yes - but also of bread and rock-your-world pastries. 

I make a serious cream puff, my friends. 

So this is it.  I'm announcing an official name change.  Cake Lore is getting married.  She is marrying bread, and her new initials start with "B!!"

BAKE Lore: Beautiful Cakes, Nourishing Breads, Decadent Pastries

C'est moi:). 

I'll be migrating this whole kit and kabboodle soon. 

STAY TUNED!

The Baker Who Plans...Bakes Longest.

I am beginning to understand why so many bakeries fail.

This is not just about beautiful cakes or sugar flowers that look real.

My first gum paste iris

This is about business.  It’s about money.  It’s about time and energy and research and planning and counseling. 

There is no way you can just jump into a full fledged bakery.  Well, I mean there is.  It’s like my English teacher used to say – the paper is due on Friday.  You don’t HAVE to turn it in on Friday, but if you want the points, if you want to pass the class, you’d best bust your butt and get that paper in her hand ON Friday.  But it’s up to you.  Because there is such a thing as free will.

I have the freedom to be a total idiot and put the cart before the horse.  I have the freedom to take my time and make wise decisions.  After all, a bakery risks far more than my grade in Classic Literature.  It risks my emotional well-being, my reputation, my time, my dream, and most importantly, the livelihood of my family.

 

Make no mistake, I love to create beautiful cakes.  But I’m not doing this for my own amusement.  I’m doing it to hone a marketable skill, one that will possibly pay for braces, cars and universities.  I’m doing this because I love my family and I am compelled to reach for something more than I can grasp.

That is why I am researching FDA regulations, Health Department codes, forcing my introverted self to network and  in the meantime doing everything I can to keep my skills fresh and my butter cream smooth.

If I don’t plan, I will fail.  If I do plan…I still might fail.  But I am compelled to try. 

Now…where was I in that ISDH code book…appendix B?  Subarticle 28…ah yes…

Gratituesday

What a day this has been.  I've been all over the map, joy, hope, anger, despair, remorse, relief, grief and now...gratitude.

A blog I frequent, Heavenly Homemakers, does a little something called "Gratituesday."  I'm joining in today, because I need to remember why I'm grateful.

Amidst other tragedies, literal tragedies, in our family today, I lost a big cake order.  The iris cake is a no-go, and all because I have yet to go through the costly process of becoming a certified, state-approved food handler.  I've been working on that particular aspect of my dare-to-dream bakery, but it just hasn't happened yet.  So far, there's been no need.  Every order has been a friend, and my friends have never been serving my cakes at places that require certification.  This was the first time my unofficial status has cost me, and I let it get to me.

After seeing me mope around the house for an hour or so, my husband, dear man, disappeared to his man cave only to re-emerge not long after with a list of reasons for me to stick my chin up and hope.

1.  He called the health department to find out what I needed to do to get my own kitchen up to code.
2.  He put a call in to the inspector at the health department, to set up a meeting for me
3.  He called my parents, asking them for help, and they are generously working with me to get that certification course under my belt.
4.  He called our local business guru to find out where there might be a kitchen already at code with an owner who'd be willing to work with me on rent/bartering.
5.  He filled up my bike tires.  (This is unrelated, but I am nonetheless extremely grateful for it.)

The older I get, the more I am touched by that kind of love...serving love.  I'm grateful for my husband today, for my parents, for the Lord, who saw me crying like a little kid in my living room today and sent me some good news. 

I have felt God's hand pulling me toward this dream for a long time now, and it may be time to make Cake Lore more than a blog and a little word-of-mouth, under-the-table hobby.  I'm grateful for the encouragement I received today - here's to renewed hope and God's sweet love! 
 
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!