Nee's Cupboard LLC

Many people feel that baking is going to the grocery store, buying boxes, going home, opening them, adding water, stirring and throwing the mixes in the oven for a few minutes while you sit and wait for the timer to go off. OOOOHHHHHHH, were that true! LOL!!! My kitchen is my “comfort zone”-my peace and relaxation. If I’m stressed, worried, aggravated, not ‘myself’–I bake. It “grounds” me.

I need to make lists: What type of market? What is the theme? What can I bake to match the market/theme? How will I decorate for this event? Annnnnddd….what do I have at the house to be able to make those things “happen” and what do I need to purchase?

For vendors, market season is just now getting under way. I spend hours scouring my local web pages, looking for viable markets to apply for. Then, I break out my giant date book(calendar/planner/organizer/journal) and make plenty of notes…what weekends am I available? How far away is each market? Price? Traffic (attendee count?) And sooooooo many more questions that I need to answer before I make final decisions. I spend quite a bit of time filling out applications. (afterwards, I am constantly checking emails to follow up on). If I apply to a new market area that I’ve not been a participant as of yet, I need to submit pictures of my setups from prior events that I have attended. Many market hosts “vet” their events-make sure that they don’t have 6 bakers making the same items at the same event-thankfully. We each have our own qualities, recipes, etc. but, we do not all want to be on top of each other. There are plenty of market spaces to go around.

Now that the “hard part”(not really) is out of the way, time to get to the nitty-gritty. Once the lists are made, applications entered, approvals are finalized and paid for (in advance-naturally- to procure your position), it’s time to gather groceries. I bake with premium ingredients and search diligently for the best for my clients. I spend the day ordering supplies, shopping for quality ingredients that yield my desired results and ensuring that I have everything needed. When I get in the kitchen, I do not want any interruptions-and certainly have no desire to disrupt my stringent schedule to have to run back out to the store.

*Day 1: Coffee. It’s the magic potion that gives me the ‘will to live’! (just kidding-sort of!) Then, relaxing music-I usually start with Beethoven or Vivaldi. Post on social media sites. Scrub everything from top to bottom. Every week, my kitchen gets an “overhaul”. I want to make sure that all things are pristine for my endeavors. Once this is completed, I ensure that all recipes and ingredients are present and accounted for. I start by preparing dry ingredients for my recipes, as this expedites things. Great preparation lends to adhering to a strict baking schedule. If I am making sourdough, I also feed my starter(s) to create a great culture for my delicious variety of breads. My cookie doughs can get prepared, sealed and refrigerated-I don’t bake until the day before the market to ensure the freshest products possible for my clients.

*Day 2: Coffee! Mozart. Post on social media sites. More cleaning. Then, back to making more dough mixes. I can also make my croissant dough and my cinnamon roll dough. They are both prepared, sealed and refrigerated as well. Don’t forget to ‘discard'(to my refrigerated starter) and feed again. I want the best activated starter for my sourdough.

*Day 3: More coffee! Music choice-Casting Crowns. Post on social media sites. One day until “Baking Day”. More cleaning-I can never clean enough! I double-check my recipes, doughs that are already prepared in the refrigerator, ensure that I have everything else in order and continue with mixes. I take the croissant dough out to give it a few more ‘turns’ to ensure proper lamination (layers of dough and butter created by rolling and folding my dough). I do this at least twice on this day, taking care to not overwork the dough-who wants hard croissants? Next, I’ll start my sourdough batch(es) and let them rest, covered, overnight in the refrigerator.

I also make sure that sometime between Days 1-3, my table linens are freshly washed, dried and rolled (to be wrinkle-free). Then, I make sure that my menus are finalized, designed and ready to print. I personally do not print until all of my items are baked-just in case ‘life happens’ and I am unable to bake everything that I wanted for the upcoming market-I used to “beat myself up” for not being better, faster, perfect. Now, I give myself grace-as I am only human and can only produce so many items at a time….I mean…I only have 2 arms and hands!! LOL! I have raised 4 children (and at times, have appeared to have had 8 arms-but as I grew older-all of those extra arms have disappeared). Just when I could REALLY use them!

*Bake Day: Here we go!!!! Upbeat music-changed constantly throughout the day-depending on the energy needed. MORE coffee-of course! Post on social media sites. One final cleaning to start the day extra early. Feed my starter again (because I will likely make MORE sourdough). Out comes the sourdough that has rested overnight in the fridge. It needs plenty of time to come to room temperature before I work with that. Cinnamon Roll dough/Croissant dough-same thing. All of these prepared doughs can just sit off in the corner, slowly “waking up”, coming to room temperature.

If I am baking any gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan items, they get prepared and baked first. I want to make sure that these items are baked, cooled, packaged and boxed before I open up anything made with other flours, dairy products, etc. to avoid cross-contamination. Yes, I take this very seriously. I want to make sure that I have a little bit of everything for everyone at every market. I do not want to leave anyone out. I used to make many of my GF items with almond flour-until I had a potential client need GF, SF, V AND nut-free. I hadn’t thought of this-not exactly sure why, but I am able to work with my recipes and tweak them to ensure that I continue to cover all of my bases for the benefit of my clients. If I am baking anything with pecans, almonds, walnuts, peanuts or pistachios-these items are made last-again, avoiding cross-contamination.

It’s not even 8am…more coffee!! It’s time to roll, cut, shape and proof cinnamon rolls and croissants. While these are proofing, I start scooping, panning and baking cookies. Constant scooping, panning, timing, turning and swapping pans on shelves in the oven to make certain that cookies are baking evenly-nothing raw, nothing burnt. Just baked to perfection-or as close as is humanly possible. They need to cool properly on cooling racks so that I can get them packaged in-between bakes, turns, pans and shelf swaps.

Now, it’s time to cut, weigh, shape and proof my sourdough. While this is resting/proofing, the croissants and cinnamon rolls need to be baked. These can be cooled and boxed, while I continue with cookie dough. Am I making Macarons, Biscotti, Pretzels and other items? Chocolate-covered Pretzels can be made two days or so before the event. Macaron shells can be made beforehand as well, kept in an airtight container, then filled the day before.

It’s almost dinner time-totally forgot to eat-just driven by ‘making it happen’. Grab a quick bite, wash dishes (a constant clean as you go mentality makes things go smoothly), and back to baking, packaging and loading the 4Runner with the tent, the tables, the table displays, chair, the cart, POS system, battery packs, table lights, finalizing the menu/price list and printing. If there are new items, ingredient labels need to be prepared so that I can print and attach the day of market as I set up my displays. I usually do not get to sleep until about 1-2am and need to be awake in about 4 hours (if I’m lucky enough to fall asleep when my head hits the pillow-my mind is usually still going a hundred miles a minute).

*Market Day!!!! When I awake, I need to finish any last-minute details that I might have forgotten-more often than not- and finish putting products in the vehicle. Make coffee! Grab water and time to ready myself and away I go! Once I get to the venue, I check in at the designated ‘checkpoint’ and find my space. Then, I move as close as I can to unload everything I need into my giant rolling cart/wagon. Park the 4Runner in the parking area and back to my designated space for the day. Up goes the canopy/tent-sometimes a real struggle (have you ever tried to put one of these things up?!? It can be a real chore, even if you have enough people! LOL!)

Up go the tables, on go the tablecloths/table runners and then display equipment. Now, for the goodies! Print ingredients labels, add ‘baked with love’ stickers, build eye-catching displays, decorate, and double-check everything-again. Time for pictures and post on all social media sites. Take a few minutes to meet surrounding vendors and make connections (I try to visit as many vendor booths as possible-you never know who you’ll meet and what you’ll see). Opportunity lies around every corner! I settle in, meet and greet my clients and just have fun!

It can be quite demanding. It is often challenging. It’s most definitely exhausting. But it is always rewarding. I love to see peoples’ eyes light up, the smile when they see something that they like, and when they bite into one of my products and I hear the “MMMMMMMMMM!”, watch their eyes close while they do that little “happy dance”, knowing that something that I created-brought back a wonderful memory, a comfort, a satisfaction. THIS is why I do what I do. It makes it all worthwhile. Nothing creates connection, comfort and contentment like great food.

Quick Overview:

1. Set yourself up for success in a variety of ways. Set your schedule and keep a calendar to stay organized. Figure out what you’ll need for each market and prep everything that you can possibly do ahead of time without compromising quality.
2. Figure out what works for you and stick to it.
3. Streamline your routines.
4. Take plenty of pictures: procedures, measuring, mixing, baking and finished products. You’ll need these for when you post on social media, advertising and menu boards.
5. Remember to eat, drink lots of water (& coffee!) and rest when needed.
6. Enjoy and never forget why you are doing this.

I hope that you enjoyed a look behind the scenes of preparing for market. There are plenty of other things that go on, like emails, photo shoots, videos, detailed social media posting, recipe testing, family goings-on, etc., etc., etc. I could go on and on, but I promise I won’t. I am thankful that you are here to share in my journey.

If there are certain topics that you’d like to read about, have questions or just want to connect-feel free to send me an email at nees.cupboard@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you or you can add a comment below, I’d love to hear from you!

We’ll talk soon friends!

With love,

Renée