Merry Christmas!!!

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Luke 2: 8-20

our new toy

Check out our new toy!
We got a mat that lets us roll out cookies that are wood-grain patterned! This is just so cool...
See the demonstration on the gingerbread boys. Huzzah!

it's a Christmas miracle!

Oh my gosh!Oh my gosh!
We were baking our little hearts out, working on special orders, when what to our wond'ring eyes should appear... Jesus! In a chocolate batter smear!

We had thrown away a piece of wax paper that we'd been resting the spatulas on, and then there He was... the face of Jesus in the trash bin.

Elizabeth and I saw Jesus straight off, but when I showed the photos to Thomas he squinted and said, "how long had y'all been baking exactly?" Mom thinks it looks more like the phantom of the opera... I still think it's Jesus. It's Christmas, after all!

just in case...

Here's the case menu for the 23rd and 24th!

Please remember, we are a very small bakery and while we do our best to make as much food as possible, we still only have 24 hours each day and the kitchen you see IS our kitchen. We will be up all night baking the nights before, so we hope we'll have plenty, but no guarantees! Thanks!

Cookies
chocolate chip cookies
toffee bars
peanut butter cookies
ginger kips
sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles
snickerdoodles
oatmeal raisin cookies
molasses cookies OR gingerbread men

Cupcakes
prozac
plain jane
capote
pucker up
frankly scarlett
santa baby
egg nog
chocolate with vanilla and coconut topping


Christmas Hours:
Tuesday, December 23 11am-7pm
Wednesday, December 24 11am-3pm
Closed for Christmas Holiday December 25-Jan5

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

hiring soon!

We have some shifts available beginning January 6 (basic training January 5).
The position is solely customer service.

Job duties include:
-running the register
-taking special orders
-assisting customers with their selections
-keeping coffee filled and fresh
-making sure customer areas are orderly and clean
-folding bakery boxes and other miscellaneous tasks

The ideal candidate:
-enjoys interaction with people
-has a friendly smile and sunny attitude
-has a strong sense of ethics
-is reliable, dependable, and punctual

The openings are only for the days we're actually open (Tuesday - Saturday) and there are two time shifts available: 10:50 am - 5:15 pm and 4:50pm - 9:15pm/ 11:15pm Friday and Saturday. If we need to divide some days into three shifts (10:50-2:45, 2:35-7:45, 7:35-11:15 for example) we will consider it depending on the number of qualified applicants.

If you're interested in the position, please email me at eat@muddysbakeshop.com for an application with the subject heading "customer service position". Please also include which days and which shifts you're interested in.

Thanks!

congratulations, it's a...

Our new baby is about 72 inches long and 35 pounds...
After NINE months of waiting (getting fabric laminated so it's spill-proof and all manner of delays), we are proud parents of NEW BENCH CUSHIONS!
Huzzah!!!

spicy cheese straws

We've had a lot of requests for cheese straws, so HERE THEY ARE!

These are the fiery variety and they're, if I do say so myself, delicious!
If you're more of a purist and prefer no additional spices, please post below so I'll know whether I should do some of those as well.

They're packaged in a perfect size for giving away, or eating by one's lonesome and priced at $6 per bag. Enjoy!

Mom's spiced tea

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but Mom's tea is so delightful...

One of my best Christmastime memories is my Mom's spiced tea. It's a perfect blend of spicy and tangy- delicious!

I always get cold super easily, so I constantly sip on warm beverages during this season. The spiced tea is a delicious blend of spices and is quick to make. Just add 2 tablespoons of the mix per cup of hot water and stir.

We're selling sacks of it in the shop for $6.50; each sack contains 3 cups of the mix, approximately 18-24 servings, depending on the size of your mug!

Miss Mildred's Wicked Vanilla (batch 2!)

My friend Courtney makes the best vanilla extract and we've been selling it in the shop since November 19th.
We've already sold half our stock! Courtney came back earlier this week and bottled the second half, so we have more.
She also made two more batches, however they won't be ready until March 1.
In the meantime, head over to the shop; we have about 30 bottles left as of right now!
These make fantastic stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, and little prezzies for friends!

new aprons

We have some new aprons from Love for Sale!

Yay Christmas-time!!!

Thanksgiving weekend

There were exciting things going on at Muddy's over the Thanksgiving break! After rousing ourselves from the turkey and dressing coma, we got on our comfy jeans, picked up our power tools and paint brushes, and rolled up our sleeves.

We've done a little re-arranging and I think the new set-up will work well for everyone. We've moved the coffee station to be beside the new cold-case (which I apologize is taking so long to be functioning... making the doors has turned into a construction nightmare), put up lots of things on the wall, re-painted the bench, painted a bookcase, put up window shades, made a new eat-in table, sanded and re-painted the dirty dish station trolley, touched up the walls, built shelving into two cabinets, re-painted a wall, built three new doors for the back, painted the counter-island, and expanded the dry goods/merchandise area. Actually, that expansion isn't quite complete as the Big Ugly Cooler is still there, but once we get our new refrigeration delivered, we can finish dolling up that space.

PS. Many thanks to Thomas and Kip for volunteering to help with the heavy lifting; I appreciate y'all using your days off to help out!

another one bites the dust...

Well folks, yet another independent restaurant has closed its doors.
I wish all the best to Alyce Mantia, who has made the incredibly difficult decision to close her business, Mantia's. I really enjoyed going there for lunch, special cheeses, and assorted cooking items. Alyce is still available for cooking classes (perfect wedding shower or birthday idea!), private dinner parties, speaking engagements, etc and if you'd like to book her, please contact her at alyce.mantia@gmail.com.
Here is an excerpt from her farewell newsletter:
As you almost certainly know, many local businesses have been affected by the recent drastic economic downturn. Few have been harder hit than our independent restaurants. With costs rising, and revenue falling, many of us have struggled to carry on what we believe to be the best we can do for you, our loyal supporters. Unfortunately there comes a time when difficult decisions must be made. And that time has come for me.

It is important, now more than ever, to support our local businesses, our local people! Please remember, when you purchase a gift, to buy locally. When you go out to eat, please choose local eateries!

Christmas Menu

Here's our Christmas menu!
These items will be available December 5-24 for special order in addition to our regular menu, and will be the only items available for special order between December 18th and December 24th.

Cakes
*Prozac- chocolate cake with chocolate icing; decorated with red, green, and white sprinkles unless specified otherwise
Plain Jane- vanilla cake with vanilla icing; white icing decorated with red and green sprinkles unless specified otherwise
*Grasshopper- decorated with red polka dots
*Reindeer- special seasonal cake that is DELICIOUS! gingerbread cake with caramel icing and garnished with a holly sprig.
Oodelolly- vanilla layers with a coconut filling, iced with old-fashioned boiled icing and covered with shredded coconut
Frankly Scarlett- red cocoa cake with cream cheese icing
*Capote- chocolate cake with vanilla icing; white icing decorated with red and green sprinkles unless specified otherwise

Cupcakes
*prozac- chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing; decorated with red, green, and white sprinkles unless specified otherwise
plain jane- vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing; white icing decorated with red and green sprinkles unless specified otherwise
*capote- chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing; white icing decorated with red and green sprinkles unless specified otherwise
classic- vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing; decorated with red, green, and white sprinkles unless specified otherwise
pucker up- lemon cupcake with lemon icing and white sprinkles
*grasshopper- chocolate cupcake with pale green peppermint icing and white sprinkles
*santa baby- chocolate cupcake with pink peppermint icing and crushed candy cane topping
frankly scarlett- red cocoa cake with cream cheese icing
egg nog- egg nog cake with buttercream icing flavored with nutmeg

*these stay moist for days, especially when kept under a cake dome, so they're excellent choices if you have house-guests and want something to nibble on for a while!

Pies
sweet patootie pie- light and fluffy sweet potato pie
cocoa chanel pie- chocolate chess pie
shady wake pie- pecan pie made the good ole fashioned way
apple-cranberry pie- a tart twist on our traditional apple pie
kick in the pants pie- our most popular pie, lemon chess

Cookies and Bars
toffee bars
chocolate chip cookies
peanut butter cookies
ginger kips
sugar cookies
gingerbread men
snickerdoodles
oatmeal raisin cookies
peppermint brownies
super secret chocolate fudge squares

Muffins and Breads
pumpkin pecan bread or muffins
banana blitzkrieg bread or muffins
wheat germ muffins



Christmas Hours:

Tuesday December 23 11a-7p
Wednesday December 24 11a-3p
Closed December 25-January 5

warning: public display of affection

Please please please forgive me. I realize this isn't strictly "bakery related", but I just have to publicly gush for a minute...
Thomas Robinson is without a doubt the MOST considerate man that exists anywhere on this planet.
He makes a fresh pot of coffee for me almost every morning when he leaves for work.
He constantly helps out around the house WITHOUT being asked.
He helps at the bakery and never lets me feel overwhelmed.
He stops by Petco randomly on the way home from work just to get special treats for our dogs.
He brings me chai lattes in bed on Sunday mornings that he picks up on his way home from teaching Sunday school.
And last night, I got home from work around 10-ish at night and when I went in the back to kick off my shoes, I found THIS (see photo) on my bedside table.

Thomas = Great Guy :)

miserable failure

Well, not everything turns out as planned...
As y'all know I've been totally obsessed with the Baked cookbook (from Brooklyn bakery, Baked) and so far just about everything I've tried has been super-yummy-funtime-delicious.
They are apparently famous for their 'sweet and salty' cake, a chocolate and caramel and sea salt concoction that sounds divine.
I certainly don't blame the recipe (it's one of their best sellers, so clearly their version tastes pretty good), rather, I think I must have seriously mis-stepped somewhere along the way. Personally, I think I burned the caramel... it had a decidedly charred taste to it.
It looks good, but man, did it taste... well, NOT good.
Even I make mistakes in the kitchen!

sweeeeeet!

Ok, new experiment is successful!
Keep your eye out for our November special, in the shop starting November 11!

Sweet Potato cupcakes with Marshmallow icing

My testers at Fox 13 and MIFA were so helpful in getting feedback to me. These are moist and yummy and taste just like Thanksgiving!

Huzzah!

Election Day

I just wanted everyone to see how cute our tray of Plain Janes looked yesterday!
I had SO hoped to have toothpicks with photos of McCain, Palin, Obama, and Biden on them, but alas, I don't have nearly that much free time...

This month's Real Simple question of its readers was "What are your hopes for this country?"
These are some of my favorite answers:

"I want the young people of America to realize and understand the sacrifices their grandparents and forebears made so that they could have the freedom to speak, write, and worship as they choose." -Laura Youlios, California

"Mindfulness. Be mindful of the impact everyday activities have on others, the earth, and ourselves. Even the smallest things have the capacity for a big impact. Be mindful of yourself, your surroundings, and your audience before taking action." -Kelly Megill, Pennsylvania

"That people will slow down to talk to each other face to face and not rely so much on virtual communication." -Kanesha Baynard, Colorado

wedding bells!!!

Congratulations to Susye and Nick!
In case you missed the excitement last week, two of our customers got engaged last week... Nick proposed to Susye in Muddy's!!! We've all been swooning over the romance of it all... cupcakes AND a ring!

Laura, one of our resident badass bakers, wrote adorable letters on the cupcakes, "Marry me Susye?"
Nick brought Susye to Muddy's, where he'd already placed a special order for cupcakes asking her to marry him, and he asked at the counter for a flavor he knew we didn't have that week. Anne (who had been previously made aware of her role) said "oh, have a seat and let me check in the back for you!" and brought out his order to him and he asked Susye to marry him! (She totally said yes).

We've had our goodies used at weddings and even in a proposal, but this was the first proposal actually IN the shop. Huzzah!!! Congratulations!!!!!!

Susye was sweet enough to email me a couple of photos from the big event. Thanks Susye!

garden update

Ok, some of you early (and oh so loyal) readers may remember my attempt at basil and rosemary this summer... and my claim to a deadly black thumb.

I have BIG, and I mean truly HUMONGOUS, news. I succeeded wildly this year. Maybe it was all the good vibes from y'all, but my basil was like super-enormous mutant ninja basil. At its highest, it stood about 5 feet tall. Booyah!


check out the earlier post here for a photo right after I'd planted... oh yeah... it wasn't a total success. The blueberry bush committed suicide about 4 days into the dirt. Sigh. I guess I can't have everything.

should go without saying...

Please, no writing/coloring
on the furniture...
or on the walls, the floors, or any place except the designated orange chalkboard area.
If you must use markers and crayons, please just ask us for some paper; I promise we'll give you some.
Thanks!!!

twenty questions

We would love to hear from you!

Muddy's has been in business for 7 months now and we'd like to take the opportunity to survey our customers to see how we're doing and ask for y'all's ideas.

Please visit this link to take our twenty question anonymous survey. It really helps us out to know what y'all are thinking, wishing for, etc. Some of our best ideas so far have been customer inspired, so please speak up and tell us what you want!

Thanks!

Thanksgiving menu

It's getting to be that time!
"What time?" you may ask...
"Time to start planning for Thanksgiving!" I answer.

The following menu items are the only items available for special order pick-up on Tuesday November 25th and Wednesday November 26th. By having a limited menu for the holiday madness, we'll be able to accommodate more of your orders and fewer of you will have to hear the words, "I'm so sorry, we're booked".
That said, please be sure to get your order in as soon as you know what you want, as we will have to cap the orders at capacity.
Thanks!

Cakes
Prozac... $30 chocolate cake with rich chocolate icing
Mopsy... $35 carrot cake seasoned with ginger and cream cheese icing
Here Comes Trouble... $35 vanilla cake with caramel icing

Cupcakes
prozac... $18 dozen chocolate cake with chocolate icing
plain jane...$18 dozen vanilla cake with vanilla icing
capote... $18 dozen chocolate cake with vanilla icing
classic... $18 dozen vanilla cake with chocolate icing
pucker up... $18 dozen lemon cake with lemon icing
mopsy... $18 dozen ginger-carrot cake with cream cheese icing

Cookies and Bars
chocolate chip cookies... $6 dozen
peanut butter cookies... $6 dozen
oatmeal raisin cookies... $6 dozen
toffee bars... $7.20 dozen
classic brownies... $12 dozen

Pies
sweet patootie pie... $20 sweet potatoes and spices
punkin' pie... $20 pumpkin and spices
shady wake... $22 Southern pecan
johnny appleseed... $25 double-crust apple pie
cocoa chanel... $20 chocolate chess

Misc
wheat germ muffins... $12 a dozen
pear pecan muffins... $12 a dozen
banana blitzkrieg bread... $12 for 8 inch loaf

squeaky clean

We just switched our janitorial service and WOW, these people are fantastic!!!
They do lots of restaurants, doctors' offices, and other commercial spaces, but they also do homes. I highly recommend them!
Delia Bennett is the owner and her number is 216-7380.

happy chickens and happy cows

The summer contest was lots of fun and we got some great submissions. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Y'all have voted and the crowd has spoken...


In a tie for first place are drawings from Emma Reynolds and Elizabeth Summitt.

Second runner up is Ragan Lessley.

These winners will each receive a ten dollar gift certificate to Muddy's.

Yay for happy chickens and happy cows!

get baked

Anyone who knows me knows that I read cookbooks like they're novels and my collection of cookbooks easily rivals my collection of real books, which is saying something. Jane Austen and Julia Child have equal reverence on my shelves.

That said, my new obsession is the debut cookbook from the Brooklyn bakery, Baked. Kudos to this dynamic duo, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. The book itself is exquisite in design and my new copy is already riddled with dog-ears and post-its marking my next-in-line recipes to try out.

Tonight, on my night off from the shop no less, I just HAD to try out the banana espresso chocolate chip muffins. Heaven!!! I won't tell you how many I ate, just that I consumed 3 glasses of milk while eating them...

Click here to get the Baked cookbook; it really is so beautiful, the goodies so well photographed, and the recipes so delicious that it would make a fantastic gift for any kitchen denizen.

dog cookies

Arf! Arf! Yip! Yip!
Ok, a lot of you have requested dog treats and Thomas has been hounding (pun intended) me to make them after visiting several out of town bakeries that offer them.

I made my first experimental batch this week and in all honesty, I think they're only okay. They are a bit flour-y and while Phineas and Dixie, my babies, happily crunched on them, they were a little suspicious at first.

These were flavored with chicken broth and gravy, but there's a peanut butter recipe that looks tasty so I think that will be the next experiment. I'll keep you posted and let you know when they arrive in the shop!






Phineas, post-snack ---->

hand soap... literally

I know this is random, but does anyone else think these baby hand soaps are both perverse and hilarious?

Ellen, Thomas' MIFA work colleague and new member of Love for Sale, has apparently been strategically placing them around friends' and coworkers' domiciles and cubicles... this is both disturbing and clever.

Thank you, Ellen, for my baby hand soap... I think.






For your own bag of baby hands, visit this link.

St. Louis bakery bonanza: the final installment

Ok, wrapping up our mega-bakery tour of St. Louis...

Hartford Coffee and Bakery
We found this little place completely by accident after leaving the last lacrosse game of the tournament (in which our menfolk, Thomas and Whit, fought valiantly) while we were making a U-turn to get back to the hotel.
This little place was CHARMING! I love corner spaces and this was in the corner space of an old building smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood- super-high ceilings, old wooden floors... loved it.

The girl behind the counter couldn't have been any nicer. We got iced lattes, a pumpkin mini-bundt cake, a turtle cookie, and dog treats to take home to the pups. I loved the turtle cookie the best but the pumpkin bundt was delicious as well.
www.hartfordcoffeecompany.net


The Cupcakery
...aka the super adorable tiny shop in the totally hip Maryland Plaza. This was one of my favorites. The cupcakes were simply presented and yummy. They didn't rely on gimmick-y toppings or super-complicated flavor combinations; these were just good, old-fashioned delicious cupcakes.
When I called Saturday afternoon to ask about hours, the girl who answered the phone was cheerful, helpful, and super-polite (I'm a sucker for good phone manners) and when Thomas and I went to the shop that evening they were all upbeat and happy to answer my questions. Every customer left there with a smile on their face and licking their lips.
Thomas and I indulged and got a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing and a lemon cupcake (my two favorites of my own shop) as well as a cakewich and an unbelievably delicious ENORMOUS oatmeal cookie and icing sandwich... like an A-List Little Debbie on steroids.
The Cupcakery is trendy, yes, but also completely un-pretentious. I highly recommend stopping in if you're ever in the St. Louis area!
Also, one of the owners, Erika Robertson Frank, is apparently from Memphis! Yay Erika!
www.thecupcakery.net

Thank you for joining me on the virtual tour, please put your seats and trays in their upright positions...
See you next time!

St. Louis bakery bonanza part deux

Ok, let's continue our magical mystery tour of St. Louis bakeries...

Dad's Cookie Company
Dad's is a family-run bakery and has been ever since it opened in 1938. I'm totally envious of the cool architecture and the mosaic tile floor, although not such a huge fan of the dank darkness. The place seems a little musty and the lady behind the counter wasn't exactly a bundle of sunshine, buuuuut then I tasted the cookies.
These are an old-fashioned, crunchy cross between Scotch shortbread and those decadently delicious Swedish butter cookies you get in the blue tin. We tried the coconut stars, Scotch oatmeal (delicious crumbled over Hagen Daaz vanilla bean ice cream, by the way) and caramel-dark chocolate popcorn. Mandy raves about the popcorn and Thomas' favorite was the coconut stars.
www.dadscookies.com


Jilly's Cupcake Bar
Whoa, Nelly. This place is INTENSE. I was frankly intimidated and awed by the enormous cupcakes all over the place. These are cupcakes that 3 small children could easily split at $4.25 a pop. Don't let the price put you off though; seriously, the cupcakes are almost as big as a slice of cake and in my professional opinion, quite appropriately priced.
We tried the bee sting (honey and lemon), s'murtle (like a s'more crossed with a turtle), and a carmelita (lots of caramel and chocolate). My favorite was the bee sting; the s'murtle and the carmelita were just too rich for my blood (especially after the amount of sugar I'd already consumed!).
The service was friendly and the place was really cute and super-trendy. This was Mandy's favorite place on the tour.
www.jillyscupcakebar.com



Part three... coming soon!

St. Louis bakery bonanza part one

Thomas, Whit, Mandy and I headed up to St. Louis for the weekend for a) Thomas and Whit's lacrosse tournament and b) major bakery "research".
Whew. Can I just say, I actually ate enough sweets this weekend that I didn't even want to TASTE another sweet for DAYS after coming back from St. Louis... Of course, this lasted all the way until Monday...

Black Bear Bakery
This place is an anarchist bakery. Like, for real. It's an autonomous collective (does anyone else think of Monty Python- Holy Grail when I say that?) that is anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist. There were anarchist pamphlets all over the place and they had sandwiches with names like "The Insurgent" and breakfast plates called "St. Louis General Strike of 1877" and "French Revolution".
Yes. Really.
We braved the somewhat sketch neighborhood to try their neighborhood brunch (self-serve array of ginger cinnamon french toast, buckwheat pancakes, sliced tomatoes, scrambled eggs with veggies, roast potatoes and kale, etc) and it was crazy delicious.
We also tried a walnut brownie, chocolate oat bar, chocolate cupcake, raspberry oat bars (heaven!) and chocolate peanut butter cookies that the super helpful guy at the counter told me are only sweetened with maple syrup. They rocked. I also got some brioche that had been made that morning.
When we came in, there was a guy singing "I am My Own Grandpa" and we were in luck; we got to hear the whole thing. The two workers (partners? collective members? comrades?) there were nice and helpful.
The bakery gets a lot of it's produce from neighborhood gardens within 2 miles of the bakery, which is really great and believe me, those sliced tomatoes were so thick and red and juicy that it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they were picked that morning. If you visit Black Bear, be sure you have cash or check- they do not accept credit cards. I felt extremely foolish for even asking as soon as the words were out of my mouth... I mean, it's an anarchist bakery, of COURSE they don't accept credit cards.
Anyway, if you're in St. Louis, it's definitely worth stopping in for the peanut butter chocolate cookies, the raspberry bars and getting to go to an anarchist bakery.
www.blackbearbakery.org

Hmmm... I think continuing with the tour on this post will just be anti-climactic, so I'll post more about the St. Louis bakeries in a day or two!

Help Wanted!

SOS!
I am seeking help in the bakery for the following times:
(note, these are not the shifts, merely the hours I need people, so if you want to apply for part of the time on a particular day, that's cool) I'm hiring for both customer service positions as well as baking positions.

Tuesdays: 8pm-midnight (baking)
Wednesdays: 2pm-midnight (customer service and baking)
Thursdays: 2pm-2am (customer service and baking)
Fridays: 8am until 3am (customer service and baking)
Saturdays: 5pm-midnight (customer service)

If you think any of the following are totally awesome, please apply for a job at Muddy's!
a) being covered in flour and chocolate
b) getting to know some really cool customers
c) helping people get their daily sugar high
d) squeezing icing out of a tube into adorable swirls of buttercream goodness

For an application, email me at eat@muddysbakeshop.com

Thanks!!!

while you were out...

If you
ever wonder what we do when y'all aren't here, here's an example:

Lucinda asked "have you ever seen anyone just eat a whole cupcake... in one bite?" None of us had, including her, so naturally a dare was born.
We figured it wasn't for real unless there was icing and sprinkles, so we doctored a poor, slightly over-baked cupcake base that we were going to have to throw out anyway and watched in fascination and giggles as Lucinda contemplated how best to embark on this culinary dare.

We debated the merits of icing first versus cake first versus going at it from the side. Finally, after much contemplation and loads of snickering, Lucinda just did it... and Amanda, Laura, and I were doubled up in laughter as she tried to fit an entire cupcake in her mouth in one go.
Oh you know, a normal Friday night at Muddy's...

Cake Wrecks... my new guilty pleasure

Ok, this site illustrates why we don't do heavy decoration on cakes...
Thomas sent me this link earlier and I feel that it's IMPERATIVE to share it with everyone.

This is an Entire Blog devoted to cake decorating disasters. I have laughed so hard today that my spleen almost exploded. It's now listed under our links to awesome and you can also visit it here.

My hat (or neon wig) goes off to Jen for her diligence as the cake wreck police.

A side note: I do not mean to malign my fellow bakers; I make my share of mistakes. In the words of Jane Austen, "for what do we live but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?"

we've been jammed!!!

"Some moment of every summer finds me all out of canning jars. So I go to town and stand in line at the hardware store carrying one or two boxes of canning jars and lids, renewing my membership in a secret society. Elderly women, and some men, too, will smile their approval or ask outright, "What are you canning?" These folks must see me as an anomaly of my generation, an earnest holdout, while the younger clientele see me as a primordial nerdhead, if they even notice."

This is an excerpt from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which I just finished reading. Actually, I highly recommend it and would loan you my copy, but it's already promised to about 6 people!

I love canning. It's a guaranteed sense of accomplishment that you can eat for months afterward. Obviously, this surprises no one who knows me.

My recent adventure was strawberry preserves and rastrablaberry jam. Dad and I washed and stemmed the fruit, hovered over the pot as Preston and I stirred and skimmed the foam (cackling like MacBeth's hags just for kicks), boiled the jars and ladled our finished product into their new homes before re-boiling the filled jars to double-sanitize. I cut fabric for the tops and printed labels and voila! We are now selling them in the shop!

I plan to make more with blueberries and peaches and other summer fruits as they reach the zenith of their respective seasons.

Right now, available in the shop, are strawberry preserves and also rastrablaberry jam (raspeberry, strawberry, and blackberry). There's a limited amount, so don't miss it!

nashvegas

I'm so sorry that's it's taken me awhile to report on my trip to Nashville!
First, thanks to EVERYONE who sent me some suggestions of bakeries to stop into. It really helped out a lot!
I ended up visiting 2 (actually 3, but one was closed or relocated or something) and had A BLAST! Here's the verdict:

Gigi's Cupcakes
Wow! It was packed but they kept the line moving quickly. Also, I've never seen icing so high. I mean like a beehive of icing. Mandy, my friend and co-market researcher (it sounds way more professional to say we're market researching than to say we're eating our weight in sugar and butter), and I actually had to use a fork to remove about an inch and half of icing just to get to taste the cake. Seriously.
It was quite good (although probably, and I NEVER thought I'd say this EVER, a little too much icing for me) and I apologize profusely that I didn't think to whip out the camera until we'd pretty much made an enormous mess of our haul. Four people, two forks, and a box of cupcakes... not a neat endeavor!

Sweet 16th
OMG. I am IN LOVE with this place!!! If you go to Nashville any time in the near future, you MUST go here. We got a huge variety of things to try, you know, to make sure we did an adequate job researching, and ALL of it was good.
My favorite things: little baked dog treats to take home to Dixie and Finny, the macaroons, the 'brookie'- combination brownie and cookie, and Best of All... the GRITATTA. Holy grits and eggs, Batman! A gritatta is the creation of "Al", whom we met while there, and it's basically a base of grits with an egg fritatta on top... all combined into one lovely and delicious creation. I've been having gritatta dreams and fully plan on making some of my own for a decadent Sunday brunch.
I got to meet the owners, the Einsteins, and they could not have been any nicer. Now THIS is a neighborhood bakery. They had a small space, a small menu, and huge smiles. They use locally roasted coffee just like us (while ours is Ugly Mug, theirs is Drew's Brews) and they were so nice as to send us off with a free package to try out! We traded contact info and they were so enthusiastic and encouraging of my budding business.
Whenever I go to Nashville, I will DEFINITELY be stopping back in for more treats, more gritatta, and a great cup of Drew's Brews. Awesome spot!
Visit Sweet 16th here!