Catering, Weird Al, and Custom Cakes
This week we had to prep for our first offsite catering job - 65 servings of two salads, two sandwiches, two desserts, two soups, two toasties, and two sides. I've done large 120+ dessert orders for weddings when we had the bakery, but never have I ever bought the quantity of ingredients, scheduled, prepped, delivered, and set up that large of an order!
It was stressful and overwhelming, but we pulled it off and I'm so proud of the people who helped put everything together. And now that we know what to expect, I'm excited for our next order. I'm looking forward to a summer filled with weddings, parties, and other special life moments where we can help bring people together!
The highlight of our Thursday came first thing in the morning. I had a woman stop in for some of our vegan brownies and she asked whether they contained any mushroom ingredients because they were for someone highly allergic. I continued to help her and she asked if I knew who Weird Al Yankovic was - of course I did, who doesn't? She told me that those brownies would be for him and he is a longtime vegan. I was so mind blown that our little shop was chosen for someone like that! I stumbled over my words as I was trying to find things for her to take back to him and she said that she would try to get a photo or a shout out, but I've yet to receive one. I hope she was telling the truth, because he was in town that night for a show! Either way, how cool for us and I really hope Weird Al enjoyed our brownies!
This week we started custom cakes again out of our bakery and they're looking really cute! Right now we can offer 6" gluten free and vegan cakes in a variety of flavors with a whole list of frosting flavors. They're all naturally colored with naturally colored and soy free sprinkles. See a post from a customer and their little mushroom cake below!
Personally, I just finished my first vegan week! I'm really enjoying the journey so far and I know everyone has been telling me the first few months are the worst, but I'm actually not finding it as difficult as I thought I would. While I'm at work, I'm trying to be mindful and make something to eat, instead of waiting until I get home and eating whatever I can. I'm also trying to include a variety of veggies and slowly start to introduce new ones. My go-to sandwich right now is avocado, sprouts, cucumber, bell pepper and a Just Egg patty - it's so, so good and keeps me satisfied until I can make a meal at home.
My grocery haul this week included some new, easier meals to make. I'm trying not to completely rely on processed foods, but they're nice to have after a 12-hour work day and I know I will stay on track with my diet. Not everything is gluten free, but I get GF as much as I can. This week I wanted to try a few varieties of vegan mac and cheese, I found some vegan chick'n and rice soups from Campbell's that are wheat free, and I finally grabbed some plant based Babybel cheese wheels because I was thinking of carrying them at the restaurant. The cheese is actually a lot better than I had imagined. Texture wise, it's very close to the traditional mozzarella and doesn't have an overwhelmingly fake taste to it, like a lot of other plant based cheeses. I grabbed more oat milk fruit yogurt from True Goodness, some ready made buffalo chick'n patties and Korean BBQ veggie dumplings. I love making the dumplings with a side of veggie stir fry and an egg patty. Yum! I will say I've noticed some small changes with my body as I'm feeling less bloated and my energy is starting to slightly increase. Overall, I'm feeling lighter and more content on the inside and am happy to keep going!