Is there a Right Answer?

We have been thinking about & designing our graphics for the new Bakery-mobile since we bought the thing in late November. The vehicle in question is a new black Scion xB. Very distinctive shape - kind of wacky but really fun to drive. Anyway, our car design involves simple "pirate cake" logo on the front hood & back window then these kind of scenes on either side of the car.
The passenger side is supposed to have a warmer tone & slightly friendlier tone with tarts & a wacky topsy-turvy cake. The driver's side features the spaceship cakes, beaming people up inside a cone of light, amid an archetypal cityscape. Our graphics guy makes the point that the spaceship side doesn't communicate the idea of "yummy cake". And my designer says "who cares - it will get noticed & it's cool looking". So, now I'm supposed to decide whether to replicate the "kinder gentler" design on both sides or say to hell with it and go for the edgy driver's side design.
Anytime that there are multiple options, all of which seem acceptable to me, I just stop and don't make any decision at all. So, now I still have a black car with no graphics. Math is easier to understand - either your answer is right or wrong, no ambiguity (at least in the level of math I took).

So, what to do?
Nothing is not the answer, I guess...

New Cakes

Early in the week, I fritter away time (at least some people see it that way) by scanning in & editing whatever cakes "of note" we produced last week. The unique or outrageous ones end up on our website cake page and the rest just jam up more & more space on my computers. This past weekend we churned out some fun cakes - a 3 tier "mardi gras colored" topsy turvy...

A baby feet themed 2 tier...
And a wacky dinosaur landscape...

Then, once the orders go out, you just hope that the flavor, quality, execution, etc was as fabulous as you want it to be. We want the customers to be overjoyed! So, hopefully this weekend (and all the other cakes that I don't have pictured above) went to good homes with people who loved them - sounds like adoption.
This week the project to finish is our Easter menu. I'm such a procrastinator that if it is not started early (actually looking at the calender I realize that we're not even early) it will probably not get done. Just as my staff about our Valentine's Day menu... or lack of. Back to work!

Decisions, decisions...

When we rented our space, over 4 years ago, we really didn't know what the hell we were doing. I say that in the nicest possible way. I did know that I had some money - from selling the house in Napa Valley - and that I didn't want to work for someone else and that I wanted to start a bakery. What I didn't know was what we would sell, who we would sell it to, and how we would advertise. So, there were some big holes in my business plan, to say the least.

In 2005, after the 9 months of planning, purchasing and construction, we had the ability to bake things. Whoopie! But no one knew we existed. And 90% still don't even now. Being in an industrial park, our street visibility and general user-friendliness is pretty minimal. Back 4 years ago, we decided that we couldn't afford or take the risk of starting out in a more expensive, easily-findable location. So here we are, in the metropolitan center known as Sky Park Circle. I'm being sarcastic, but I must admit that I probably would have thrown in the towel years ago if our monthlies were higher. We've had time to kind of mush around and figure out what works and what doesn't. Lots of what doesn't.

The master plan is to keep an eye out for a small but visible retail satellite location, to be supplied by our big Sky Park kitchen space. As D says "someday it would be nice to have a real bakery." That way we aren't paying rent on all those square feet of sinks, tables, ovens... And in the meantime, the space here helps pay for itself with classes. So, it sounds like we knew what we were doing, but we really didn't. I'm just trying to find our niche.

The question is: how to get from here to there?

Irvine Farmer's Market Blog

On Saturday, we met a gal who is keeping a blog solely on the wonder and glory that is the Irvine Farmer's Market. Here is her link: farmer's market mash-up.

Ode to Belisle's

While in my last year of college, I trained to be a DJ at KUCI, the on campus radio station. I started on the air solely as an "engineer" (fancy way of saying I played public service tapes), then later I applied for my own show. Seeing a hole in the grunge/rock format of the station, I proposed filling a gap with a 4 - 6am Blues Show. Not knowing much about blues artists & traditions didn't deter me - I wanted a show. So, I would stumble in to the station at quarter 'til 4, an unpleasant hour to be awake.
In response to this odd schedule, my boyfriend and I developed this ritual of driving up to Anaheim and parking ourselves at a comfy table at Belisle's Restaurant (open 24 hours) on Harbor, right down the street from Disneyland, for 2 - 3 hours before my radio show. It seemed much cooler to the college student me to stay up all night than to go to bed at a reasonable hour to make it in time for this volunteer radio gig. Belisle's became a refuge for us - from roommates, from Irvine, from normalcy, from keeping decent hours. The place was in ways more important that the food itself... almost.
But now let me tell you about the food. Typical diner cuisine. Very homemade and very American. But did I mention that the portions were huge? Now this was in the late 80's & early 90's before Claimjumper & others like it broadened and diluted this format. I remember being shocked and a bit embarrassed by the magnitude of the first meal I ordered - Turkey Dinner with Sage Dressing.
The other tradition we faithfully kept was that we always ordered dessert - sometimes only dessert. I mean, what meal would you order at 2am anyway? What is between dinner and breakfast, other than sleep? Dessert, of course. And I still hold to this mantra. Belisle's made you notice their wide array of sweet options - you practically got accosted by the rotating pie case making your way to your table! The pies and cakes were immense, of course, and not refined or European, but that was what you expected. In fact, a lovely Mousse Torte wouldn't do at 3am. Chocolate Cream Pie, Apple Pie a la Mode, Carrot Cake, Pecan Pie, Pecan Sticky Buns... we loved them all. Even with a bottomless cup of coffee and 3 hours, we still couldn't polish these beasts off. But we loved trying.

Valentine's Steak

We are not particularly romantic or sentimental people anyway, so Valentine's Day is usually barely observed in our house. D & I are like an old married couple - actually we are. So, last night our Valentine's consisted of an incredible steak dinner. 2" thick Filets, wrapped in bacon & grilled. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Being in the dessert industry, I think my sweet tastebuds (is there such a thing?) are burned out. In fact, I eat sweets all day long, so the big treat for me is really fabulous steak. I'm glad someone in my family actually knows how to cook!

Cakes & Such

This week is a slow one for cakes. Everyone assumes that Valentine's Day means sweets, hence, "baked goods". Since we have been in business, Valentine's is notoriously quiet for us. I think for most couples, celebrating involves dinner out, chocolates, flowers, jewelry... So this week we are focusing on getting ready for next week. Lots of cakes on Friday & Saturday!

Last weekend, the crew created a groovy castle cake for a long-time customer's daughter. It will be posted on our site soon. The challenge is first, to design a cake that matches the wishes of the customer while still being do-able with frosting, fondant, etc. Then the second challenge is to actually execute the design, in the time allotted, to match the proposal. The cake decorating crew is improving on that front, but we do have a distinctive style - not too fussy & symmetrical. I always worry that people expect that really tight, organized look - while our designs are more loose & gestural. Back to the kitchen...