Hello dear friends!
Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye and I, for one, cannot wait...it is definitely way up there on my "favorite holidays" list. Speaking of lists, we hit the ground running at the beginning of this week with a massive to-do list to prep for the big bake day this coming Saturday. There are a gajillion pies to bake, cakes to assemble, cupcakes to frost, cookies to decorate, tarts to fill, quiches to put together, and pastries and breads to shape...and that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's our last big push before the end of 2022 and we go about all this work always with gratitude that you chose us to bake for your family this year!
I don't know about you, but I am definitely a New Year's resolutions type of person and I recently got to thinking about what my resolution for this coming year will be. We won't get to it on the personal end but for my professional life, my resolution can be described in two words - community building. I think over these past years, the C&C family/community has really expanded and the relationship we have with our customers is continually growing and evolving...but I do sometimes miss the days when it was just me and my oven in my old rental kitchen distributing subscription loaves twice a week and teaching bread baking classes on the weekends. I used to "build community" in a much different and more personal & intimate way than I do now, and I want to get some of that back. I don't have dates set yet, but I am planning to start working on my resolution with bringing back my group bread baking classes in 2023.
Until then, we have been slowly stocking the store with all bread baking essentials (pictured above) such as heritage wheat flour perfect for artisan loaves, proofing baskets, linen couches, scoring lames, and, of course, our very own C&C sourdough starter. If you are needing a last minute gift for the bakers in your life, may I suggest you check out our offerings! We also have plenty of goodies that complement bread such as honey cream spreads, nut butters, and a variety of artisanal jams that we are sampling in store this week.
The Christmas preorder deadline is coming up shortly and there's not very much left on there. BUT if you didn't get an order in, don't fret - this coming Saturday, we are planning to have a bountiful spread for you guys so I hope you're planning to make a stop at the bakery to pick up some treats! There will be challah loaves, cupcakes, tarts, lots of pastries, cookies, and I'm sure there will be a few extras of pies and such that we end up with for the shop after fulfilling the online preorders. Here are some friendly reminders that I hope ya'll keep in mind as you stop by this weekend:
Christmas pre-order pickup hours are 8am-2pm on 12/24. Christmas Eve is typically a busy day in the shop as we are serving all our walk-in customers alongside the pickup of all the preorders. There is also a busy breakfast service going on at the same time. We have a small shop and not a ton space. Please be patient as we try to serve everyone as quickly as possible.
Please have your Order # with you to expedite the pick-up process. You can find your Order # on the confirmation email you received after placing your order online. There are hundreds of orders to sort through and we will not be able to search by your name or item description.
We will not be accepting phone preorders for shop goods. We are planning on baking up tons of goodies for the shop but these are first come, first served only and we will not be reserving anything if you aren't at the shop in person to place the order.
Holiday hours. We are taking Monday off in observance of the holiday so our weekly prep schedule is pushed back by a day next week. So we will be closed on Tuesday, December 27th, and will reopen on Wednesday to our regular hours of operation. On New Year's Eve Saturday the 31st, we will be closing early at noon.
So with all that said, if I don't see you this weekend...all of us at C&C hope that you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season and wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Much love,
Jojo