A couple of months ago, I had been asked to interview for an article in the upcoming (now current) issue of Northwest Quarterly magazine. It's always a great opportunity for a small business to have extra help in getting the word about what we do in our little corner of the world so I gladly said yes! I didn't know it at the time but apparently it was meant to be for a profile piece as I had been included onto their "25 Most Interesting People" list and it was certainly a pleasant surprise when the final article materialized. Part of this process also included me going into their office to answer questions for a video piece they were shooting as well and when I was asked "What are you most passionate about?", I was caught off guard.
I think when folks ask me this question, the expected (and easy) answer is that I'm most passionate about baking. And, of course, I love baking and creating delicious treats otherwise why would we be doing all this. However when I was put on the spot, the first thing that came out of my mouth is definitely the truer answer when I really think about it. I'm most passionate about creating community around what I enjoy doing which is baking. I love my team and getting to work side by side with these really awesome people as we bake is when I have fun. I love trying new recipes and baking different things because I want our customers to eat them and enjoy them. I loved the fact that I talked about a pavlova story last week that led me to baking them (pictured above) which led to people trying them for the first time and writing us about what they thought of it. The action of baking has allowed us at C&C to create a micro-community within which we can have connection and conversation with each other.
Each week when these newsletters are sent out to our ever-growing subscriber list and each day when new people discover us online and click "follow", I realize our C&C community expands a little and the new folks may not necessarily know who this random person is showing up in their emails and Facebook feeds. So I thought I'd include my picture from the article here so ya'll can put a face to a name and maybe if we see each other at the bakery, I can say hi and chat with you! I'm not always up front at the bakeshop during our service hours as I'm probably mixing up dough or whatever back in the kitchen but I see you in other ways and know some of you well just through baking for ya. I wonder if Kennedy has gone out of town when he doesn't come in for his weekly unglazed scones. I know something's not right with the world if Janet doesn't get a quiche on Saturday. And I may have to send out a search party if Joan doesn't come in to get her daily cup of decaf! I'm slowly learning whose daughters are getting married soon, whose birthdays are coming up, and who lives out of town but makes it a point to drive all the way to Rockford to see us. This is the best part of C&C for me...and I'm excitedly looking forward to getting to know more of you in the coming days, months, and years.
Anyway, onto this weekend's menu plans! The preorder menu is now posted on our website so you can go check that out to place orders if you'd like. For bread this week, we are planning on baking our Organic Country Brown as well as our Everything Bagel sourdoughs. The Country Brown is a bread made with a mixture of white wheat, whole wheat, and rye flours. For the brunch option this week, we will be making a Ham/Spinach/Mushroom/Gruyere Cheese Quiche as well as offering a Take & Bake Sausage Maple Bread Pudding. The last time we made these was at Christmas so some of you might still remember them. If you haven't tried them, the Take& Bakes come fully assembled but uncooked so the instructions to bake them up in your home oven are included. Scones are back in full force this week with 5 different flavor options. There are lots of buns, croissants, and other sweet/savory pastry options though available as well this week - you can see the full pastry lineup on our website's shop page.
Until next time,
Jojo