Mel's New Bakery

[M. Lucia]

Um, have you been following this thread?

In Praise of Out of Season Fruit

[melmck]

No I hadn't seen it, but I am sure there are many threads involving this topic. I have little time to even peruse forums other than pastry & baking as is. But I loved it, and the link to food routes.org.

I am beginning to figure out a few things here-- where I live, in Portland, OR the beautiful Pacific Northwest, the whole local/seasonal/organic/bulk thing is simply a way of life for a majority. (Even Safeway, ALbertsons,Fred Meyer etc have 'Health food/organic" sections.) Then I go back east to visit the family, and go shopping, to see nothing OG unless it's a fancy-ass gourmet joint.Also, 4 mushrooms packaged on styrofoam with plastic wrap!! STYROFOAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!aaaaaccckkkkkk you're killin' me!!!!! why not just put the store right next to a landfill for convenience?? sheesh! you would think at least the manufacturers could use the cornstarch kind that melt in water....come on scientists, help us out!!

anyway so I did some thinking, and if the concept of the importance of fresh/seasonal/local is new to you, chuck it in yer search engine and educate yourself. but then again, some people just don't care. that's the hard part.

I have had this battle with my own family members, it is nothing new. I aim to educate them that potatoes do not come out of a box, peaches should not be hard as a baseball, nor melon, and tomatoes should not be pinkish-white. Fish should not be frozen, buy it fresh. Read the ingredients. Learn what all those looooong words are. crikey!

[melmck]

Hello to all!

Running a business when you have a migraine, BLOOOOWS!!! uuhhhck.

Last night I seriously zested my knuckles in to the lemon teacakes. My husband said " Mel really puts herself in to her products!" blood, sweat, knuckles, whatever...

I love my customers. There are so many cool people I have come to know in this area. Thanks 'citymama' for your support and for wearing the hat with the little bobbley-things all over it!!! My regular customers make my day. That and Maximus, my dog who misses me so much he goes into hyper-wag when I come home, and immediately wants to play toys. Or lately, 'potholder' I gave him a pot holder to shut him up from barking one day, and now it's like his baby! ridiculous. and Bramble just barks her big Newfy head off.

I have been attemoting to take Mondays off, not very successful yet. Still work at least 3 hours. This Monday is a chocolate event with Dagoba, next week is Valentine's Day so I am going to open for that.

[tsquare]

Hello to all!

next week is Valentine's Day so I  am going to open for that.

←

You bet your sweet a**, you better be!

Have a profitable VD.

[chiantiglace]

I bet if there was a jewelry shop near by you'd do a killing on valentines day.

[duckduck]

Actually there's a new gold shop two doors down in the same building. I haven't checked it out to see what all they have yet. Seems like I'm always in the neighbor too late.

[Mangoe]

Hello. I have been reading your comments off and on for the past few months. I really enjoy the postings. This is real life, not the glam version as depicted on some food channels.

[melmck]

I wish I could boast a glam lifestyle! Maybe one day????

here's my Valentine's menu:

Chocolate Chambord Pot du Crème

bittersweet chocolate custard with raspberry liqueur

and chantilly crème

$4.75 each

Chocolove

heart shaped chocolate pavé with a crispy chocolate crust

and extra-bittersweet glaze

$5 small (1-2 ) $10 large (4-5)

Raspberry and Passion Fruit Mousse Cake

layers of genoise sponge cake, raspberry mousse, passion fruit mousse,

and white chocolate petals

$5 per slice $25 for a 6” square cake

Pistachio Dacquoise

pistachio meringue, bittersweet chocolate ganache,

Morello cherry panna cotta

$5 per slice $25 for a 6” round

Fresh Citrus Tart

blood orange & orange segments, and vanilla mascarpone

in a butter tart crust

$5 each $32 for a 9” tart

[Anni]

Thanks for sharing the menu! Everything sounds delish... I'll take one of each

[Swisskaese]

I wish I could boast a glam lifestyle! Maybe one day????

here's my Valentine's menu:

Chocolate Chambord Pot du Crème

bittersweet chocolate custard with raspberry liqueur

and chantilly crème

$4.75 each

Chocolove

heart shaped chocolate pavé with a crispy chocolate crust

and extra-bittersweet glaze

$5 small (1-2 )  $10 large (4-5)

Raspberry  and Passion Fruit Mousse Cake

layers of genoise sponge cake, raspberry mousse, passion fruit mousse,

and white chocolate petals

$5 per slice      $25 for a  6” square cake

Pistachio Dacquoise

pistachio meringue, bittersweet chocolate ganache,

Morello cherry panna cotta

$5 per slice  $25 for a  6” round 

Fresh Citrus Tart

blood orange & orange segments, and vanilla mascarpone

in a butter tart crust

$5 each  $32  for a 9” tart

←

Please fedex me one of each!!! Especially the Pistachio Dacquoise and the Fresh Citrus Tart.

[melmck]

well whudda ya know, Mel got her first sick days! Not fun however, due to food poisoning...no, not my own... it was actually impossible to work w/o barfing. Not cool. Monday I had a chocolate event for the Portland Culinary Alliance, featuring Dagoba organic chocolates. I was dreading it all day, I have been trying to get these dang Mondays off but so far it ain't been happening. Next week is Valentine.s But the event went smoothly, met lost of new faces and hopefully customers/supporters. And the items turned out well-- I was seriously struggling with the savory chocolate dish; I came up with seared beef tenderloin in chocolate sauce--(shallot garlic wine chipotle 74% choc, vinegar, s,p, )crumbled w/ cotija and pinenuts. It was actually quite good and I was pleased that everyone liked it. However if I am going to stay sane, I have to make the Monday thing happen. While I was sick, my minion had a taste of what it's like to be Mel. Poor dear, she was filled with murderous rage by the end of her day!!!

[melmck]

Valentine's was painful, physically. It was a great day for sales, I opened up on Monday, desserts only, and did a great business. Everything was particularly beautiful as I did a special menu which I posted a while back. And naturally, someone had to call in sick the 2 days before while I was slammed on the weekend, and trying to do this special menu. So, I worked and worked 19 hour days until it was done, I was a blithering idiot by VDay, could barely stand up and ring up sales on the register!! And the stuff was flying off the shelves, and I felt ill-prepared WHICH SUCKS I was rolling and baking heart shaped crap as fast as possible, and it was all dissaperaing. That does NOT suck. That thrilled me! Oh yeah and on top of special orders, there were 250 chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, all individually packaged, to go out as well. All this was done with me and 1 other person.

My savory stuff is finally getting some attention- potato tortes, mini foccacia, quiches, bread puddings, and the lunch menu...good stuff.

[chiantiglace]

Who calls in sick in the resturaunt business? I mean unless you have a contagious disease you push through it. I work with walking Phnemonea for 5 weeks when i was 14 as a dishwasher and didn't bother me any.

Good work Mel, way to push through it.

[melmck]

I agree completely. Fricken crybabies! Oh there's a million people out there whose attitude is How dare you come to work sick, my life revolves around how dare you don't come to work unless bones are broken, blood is massively shed, etc....chianti, I'm afraid we are Old School. When I had food poisoning the other week, I still worked 6 hours a day before I broke down into a mass of quivering jello. I can get a lot done in between puking! (nice, I know) I still put out perfect product. only working six hours is calling in sick to me!!!

[chromedome]

Valentine's was painful, physically.

←

I hear you. My *one* day person and I mixed, rolled, cut, baked, decorated, and (dammit) WRAPPED over 2500 heart-shaped cookies. It was the cellophane and ribbons that really got me down. We also did several hundred truffles, a couple of chocolate gift boxes, and over 600 creme brulees for the bloody take-out dinners.

Oh, and thanks to a timely diktat from head office, I lost almost a third of every day during this time from having to cover the cash registers during everyone else's breaks.

We're busy, by normal standards, but it feels soooo restful after V-Day. <sigh> A couple weeks' respite, and then it's Easter.

[Wendy DeBord]

I Love to read how busy you all were for Valentines, that's great!

I'm not certain bakeries in my area pick-up any extra business that holiday. I think the florists get 99% of the sales.......so it's great to know bakeries in other areas of the country do well.

I too go to work sick because it's expected, not because I want to. I'm really tired of getting sick from other employees that do the same. I recently had a cold bug so bad that I really couldn't pratice perfect hygiene. I couldn't wash my hands fast enough. I spent the whole day just washing and sneezing that what I did get done was so minimal as to be not worth working. Sneezes would just pop out of me with-out any forwarning for me to cover completely. That's gross obviously!

I do think it's wrong to have people at work when their that sick. I think this is something that goes too far in our industry. It's one thing to take 1 day off, the day your at your worst......and then come to work once your functioningly sick. Verses coming in so sick that you can't function and your grossly infecting everyone else. I'm all for this brave hero thing to STOP! I don't want your sickness.

[melmck]

I guess it all depends, and is a case by case basis. Obviously if you are contagious, that's not good. It's a different story when people automatically assume they are contagious just because they aren't feeling '100%'.

I am not heartless and do not want to see people in physical pain. If you broke up with your bf/gf/whatever,and it's making you feel sick, I DON"T CARE.

I suffer from migraines, and have only called in twice in 6 years even when I was getting 12 a month. I have to work through it. I need to pay my bills. There has never been the luxury of resting and getting myself well. Let me tell you how much I love that advice!

In relevance to my tale, however, the fact is that there is no one to cover me. Labor is still my biggest issue. I worked Valentine's alone to save labor, because I do not get paid. That means maybe I can pay my bills. I handled it, I survived.

When I had to work with the food poisoning, not contagious, I also had my main guy out, taking care of his ex who had a horrible car accident. Thus, no choice. This is the information that I am sharing in how it pertains to my daily life in a new business. OMG< sometimes it sucks. So if the folks out there reading this see what it takes, in my honest words, it may give them something to think about. It ain't easy. I am not making this shit up.

Yesterday, was an amazing day for networking. I feel like we are on the cusp (at this point my husband said, of what failure?No jackass, success!)(you see he is a pessimist/realist, and I am the eternal optimist) I feel like things are moving forward in a good way. Now I need the cash register to be stuffed full of 20's and 50's.

[FlourPower]

If you broke up with your bf/gf/whatever,and it's making you feel sick, I DON"T CARE.

←

How true that is. The world doesn't care if your boyfriend/girlfriend/mom/neighbor made you cry before you left for work. Cookies still need to be made. Cakes still need to be frosted. Orders still need to be filled.

Oh, the drama!

Edited February 24, 2005 by FlourPower (log)

[mkfradin]

I think the definition of "sick" may be a little generational. I have a wonderful counter girl, except she has called in sick 5-6 times since Sept. That seems like a lot to me, but she's really good when she gets here, and I put up with it because frankly, she does everything else right and no one else has come close to the job she does up front. She's very young, and I think this is one of her longest term jobs.

When I worked for a (large) salary and got paid sick days, they didn't get taken unless I was falling down and only then if my work was done for the day. The work ALWAYS has to get down, regardless of who drank too much the night before or took the wrong medicine and has a stomach ache.

A little bit of bakery humor--the counter girl burned herself on hot water today at the espresso machine. No, that's not funny, and we felt bad, but she's been moping around all day, and my chef and I are looking at each other like, "she's not even BLISTERING," and telling her to keep busy and the pain won't be so bad, and I know she's just DYING to ask me to go home, and I will never let her, b/c we've all gotten 2nd degree burns in the kitchen and we just grit our teeth and get through it and be careful with the hot water. Are we callous or what??

But in all seriousness, to be around food with something contagious is, like Wendy says, gross.

Marjorie

[duckduck]

I don't get people either. I've always been one to drag my deathbed into work with me. Hey, my Mom had surgery and I've been doing meds every 2 to 4 hours since friday night and meals, laundry, cleaning up um, well, let's just say accidents, and the first day I've had someone to cover the daytime hours for me, did I sleep? No. My ass is here at work plugging away and I'm gearing up for the next three days of more and shopping on the way home. (And work is a total cluster today. I may run away screaming yet.) Life goes on. So do I.

[chiantiglace]

Lets not drag generation or age into this. I'm a youngin and have never called in sick. Hell, i've been 200 miles way after 2 straight days of partying with friends and no sleep and still managed to drive the 5 hours straight into work the following sunday. I've burned every inch of my arms and have never even walked off line, just went and got an ice bucket to coat myself and keep pushin. Hell, ive evencut a nice size chunk off of my thumb to the bone, drove down to the medical center real quick, had it stitched up with gelfoam and went right back to work.

I do know this, there never seems to be somebody to replace me. I take that seriously. I know if i skip work somebody is going to screw up my prep and area and that means twice as much work t/m. I have never trusted anybody to tke care of my job, maybe I'm a hardass, I don't know but i won't give in without a fight.

[chefpeon]

Lets not drag generation or age into this. I'm a youngin and have never called in sick. Hell, i've been 200 miles way after 2 straight days of partying with friends and no sleep and still managed to drive the 5 hours straight into work the following sunday. I've burned every inch of my arms and have never even walked off line, just went and got an ice bucket to coat myself and keep pushin. Hell, ive evencut a nice size chunk off of my thumb to the bone, drove down to the medical center real quick, had it stitched up with gelfoam and went right back to work.

Ah, I remember those days. I used to be able to pull crazy stuff like that too.

Mr. Young-un, I want you to clip and save what you just said up above there. Tuck it away

in a safe place. Then say, 20 years from now, take it out and read it. Bet you'll say, "How did I DO that? And why can't I do it now?"

That's where I'm at. You "gotta work through-its" will find out one day there really isn't much

reward for martyring yourself. You know what you get when you work your fingers to the bone? Bony fingers.

Coming to work when you're really sick sets a bad precedent. It doesn't help you and it doesn't help your co-workers. You're more likely to make mistakes. You can spread your sickness to others in your kitchen.....and snot dripping out of your nose does not make for tasty filling in your brioche.

Now I'm not talking about the occasional sniffle......that's nothing. I'm talking about drop-down fever, puking your guts out, feel-like-ya-wanna-die kind of sick. To come to work like that is just stupid.....and unfair to your co-workers.

Now, if you decide that you want to party all weekend with the buds, and had no sleep for 48 hours.......I expect you to "work through it".......I don't expect any excuses for bad decisions!

I know being an owner is different. There's a lot more at stake. If you decide that you need to work and they haven't even closed the casket yet, then go right ahead.....I just hope you don't hold your employees to the same standard, because it's unrealistic and unhealthy.

For the record, I RARELY report out......especially because if I do, the baking doesn't get done. I'm the only baker. It's only if I'm deliriously sick that I call in sick, and I do so with an enormously guilty conscience. In other jobs, it has always meant that one of my pals has been saddled with extra work and most likely, overtime. Staying home sick is NOT FUN.....since you know when you go back, there's a lot of fixin' to be done for just being gone. You KNOW you'll be in the weeds.....so you just lie there......trying to enjoy "Jerry Springer" and all those ads in between aimed at people that SHOULD be trying to get a job.......but arent. It's pure mental

and physical torture, I tell ya.

Just a couple of months ago, shortly before I had to leave for work, my cat got attacked by a coyote. He was actually carrying her off in his mouth, but my husband chased him down and

actually managed to get the coyote to drop her. She was in bad shape.....bleeding from the nose and mouth, but it was WAY early in the morning, and there was no vet in town open yet. I took my cat in to work with me (in her carrier, in the office), and while I'm baking the morning pastries, I've got the cordless phone cradled on my shoulder, desperately trying to find emergency vet help........

I'd say I'm a pretty good employee, all-in-all.

[chiantiglace]

I have never had a sickness at work that affected other people. Usually affects me mentally. Lightheaded usually. I have very bad allergies so i take allegra and don' suffer nromally from external symptoms. So when im sick it usually goes unnoticed. When i hd phenmonea I suffered from back sasm and muscle tension. I still managed to swim 4 miles of sprints a day andgo to work, i ust put it out of my mind.

[Wendy DeBord]

I i ust put it out of my mind.

I always thought that ability to "put it out of your mind" was something I inherited from my Father who had all his remaining teeth (about 10) pulled out prepping for dentures with-out any pain relief what so ever before or after. If I get busy I can totally forget I'm in pain until I stop, I'm real good at mind over matter with pain. But when yuk is running uncontrolably out of my nose (and eyes crying) it's gross.

Sooooo, now I know it must be something we all learn in this industry. So much for genetics.......But don't we all agree that pain is one thing and sickness is another? Who know's when your infectous?

P.S. I got a couple good laughs out of your post Annie.

[melmck]

hell, we haven't even touched down on women's pain/discomfort during menstruation! or enodometriosis, in my case. hefting a 55# block of butter when you have a tumor the size of a grapefruit is super cool. sorry, dudes, you are out of the loop in this one! I have had employees, and not neccesarily when I've been the owner, that just automatically call in when they get their period! "I have cramps!" so fucking what, we all do!! and some of us have way worse problems so take a fricken Pamprin and get back to work.

I had open surgery in 1993, nice 7.5" scar down my gut. I went back to work after 5 weeks, and thought I would be doing "light duty", hell no, how about full extra-hard duty!! I have to say that even though it was excruciating and I would go home shaking, I healed faster.