Hodge

Guiding Question: //Would I like to run a bakery?//

Liz Marden's bakery is temporarily closing between May 16th and June 1st because they are moving locations. I was only able to work some of the days because the other days I had tests or the bakery wasn't open. So I was unable to get the full 80 hours, but I definitely have enough hours that I can answer with conviction my guiding question.
 * = Date ||= Location/Activity ||= Number of Hours ||
 * = 5/1 ||= retail- front of store ||= 10:30-5 ||
 * = 5/3 ||= baking/decorating ||= 7-5:30 ||
 * = 5/4 ||= baking ||= 7-6:30 ||
 * = 5/5 ||= baking ||= 7-7:30 ||
 * = 5/6 ||= baking ||= 7-7:30 ||
 * = 5/7 ||= baking ||= 7-8:30 ||
 * = 5/8 ||= baking/retail ||= 7-3 ||
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 61 ||
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 61 ||

Journal (all three): Some of the things I am learning to make are buttercream icing, cookies (oatmeal, choco chip and snickerdoodles), all cake flavors, foccaccia and other breads, whoopie pies, chocolate cake puffs, scones, pies, and a heck of a lot more. Wednesdays are the cake days- anything due for the weekend we churn out on this day. Saturdays are the busiest days with the most orders due then, so friday nights are a bit hectic. The days are VERY long- averaging around twelve hours per day. If I were higher up (meaning I knew how to do more things like decorating and placing fondant on the cakes) then I would probably be working a lot later. A lot of the recipes are found somewhere in the bakery, but a LOT of what I have been doing requires at least short term memory in order not to forget the cakes in the ovens, etc. My last Sunday I learned how to pipe the borders of the cakes for the display (still wasn't ready for wedding cakes quite yet) and arrange the flowers on the top of the cake.My morning routine consisted of taking the cookies and scones out of the freezer to thaw before they were baked in the ovens. Earlier in the week, such as tuesday and wednesday, I would look at the sheet which showed the orders for the week and what cakes I would have to make. Then I would start making a bunch of cake batters, such as vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, and carrot cake. My job was to figure out what sizes of cakes (ei: square or round, 6", 8", 10", etc.) and weigh out the cake batter in the pans accordingly and put them in the ovens for their appropriate amount of times. Some of the weddings wanted both a cake and cookie trays, and I learned some presentation/arrangement tricks for the cookie and pastry trays.Working in retail, at the front of the store, consisted of me taking customers' orders, boxing up their orders, ringing them up, and giving them change. If the customers were picking up cakes, I would run to the freezer to grab their cake order by matching the number on their order to the number written at the top of the cake's box.

In response to my guiding question, I would have to say no, I would not like to run a bakery because despite the fact that it's a lot of fun, it consists of a lot of hours per day and it seemed very hard to schedule anything for days when you were working. Lunch was never at a consistant time, it was whenever the bakery was less busy or cakes were in the ovens. But I loved working at Liz Marden's and am really happy that Liz Marden allowed me such an insider's look into her bakery and let me jump right in baking.I was able to follow my plan of action pretty well for what I would do during the day but because the bakery's decision to move was one made in a moment, I had to condense my time at the bakery to get in all my hours.