Curious Where I've Been?

Hello!

A sad and short little story what's been happening with me. Skip ahead if you're not interested ;).

I have been missing in action the past months, as many of you have noticed and were kind to email me. Thank you so much. Sorry I have not been able to reply to everyone.

My mother took a terrible fall in January and it was all downhill for her until she passed at the end of April. She needed my sister and I to take turns living with her. During that time, I almost died myself.

I was rushed by ambulance to a bigger city. I no more got home to heal and she passed. It was nearly a month-long ordeal to physically settle her estate…all while trying to heal myself.

Before it was settled, my husband and I moved to another community down the road. One month later, and we are pretty settled in. Things are looking up and bright again.

Like the subject line of this email says, ‘Off to a great start’. Even though this periodical is about back to school cookies, it feels like a great new start for myself, even though I will greatly miss my mother. I do know she is rejoicing in Heaven with our Savior Jesus Christ.

Sorry for the length of that. Onward to back to school cookies…

Today's Highlights

1. your question, my answer

2. cookie cutter flips

3. back to school inspiration

4. business sense, marketing yourself

5. business tips

Your Questions, My Answer

Q: How do I make sugar cookies eggless?

A: A very good replacement is aquafaba, which is chickpea brine. No worries, it is simple. It is the liquid from canned chickpeas. Use 3 tablespoons for every egg. It will bind just like an egg in any recipe.

Do you have my sugar cookie recipe yet? Get it here, for free!

best-sugar-cookie-recipe.html

Cookie Cutter Flips

Since back to school is the theme of this periodical, here are some flips I created:

-baby bottle—bottle of glue

-mug—child’s lunchbox

-capsule—paper clip

Sorry, if you have an email with just HTML, you cannot see the photos.

Take me to Cookie Cutter Flips galore! ...or you can tap on the photo

Back to School Inspiration Photo

Professional PICO + Review

Shop Gotta-havs! *Update

I wanted to re-do Shop Gotta-havs! I have recently begun working on it again. If all goes well, you should start seeing it go live in about a month. Fingers crossed!

Business Sense: marketing yourself

1. Those times of the year when your orders aren’t up to par, like deep summer, you could hand out something personalized with your bakery name/logo. Yes, it will cost up front, but it is marketing and getting your name out there.

2. If you are trying to get your business name out there…

One target audience you may be thinking about is realtors. As having history of being a realtor myself, keep in mind this audience stays quite busy. I have had many realtor customers and it is hard dealing with ‘their’ schedule. A constancy of going back and forth through texts because they are late, or even days late. That being said, I have stuck with a handful of realtors who are spot-on and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

3. Connect with any and all custom shops. Do they make signs? A calligrapher that does wedding invitations? Since you do custom work, those places are perfect to trade business cards with. Of course, give them some sample cookies! Connect with them on Facebook and grow that relationship.

Business Tips

1. Did you know that there is an increase of baker’s lungs and COPD for bakers? I know it is a nuisance, but when you are measuring and mixing flour, please take precautions and wear a mask. Little by little it adds up in the lungs. The Occupational Cancer Center states “Flour dust…can contain contaminants including fungi, endotoxins, chemical additives, and insects and mites [27]”.

2. One thing I have pretty much always done is adding an extra cookie or 2 in the customer’s box. It’s something they appreciate and adds value for them. OR, you could marker it that way: Sold in a baker’s dozen!

3. I have a thick rubber mat on my kitchen floor. Today I was mixing royal icing colors, black being one. I grabbed the bottle by the lid. I thought I screwed it on. Nope. The bottle dropped and landed on my, (did I say WHITE), rubber mat.

Fortunately, my cabinet door under the sink had a bottle of that foam dawn. I instantly yanked some paper towels down and sopped the black food coloring gel up.

It naturally smeared with the paper towels.

I grabbed the dawn foam and heaped the spray on it (about 10 inches wide by 10 inches). I let it set for a couple of minutes then used more paper towels. Guess what? That alone did the trick! I can’t believe it. I just knew I would have to throw the mat away. Whew!

Pepper Blair's Space

"Confidence is fuel for the journey to a dream."

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It's great to be back! Blessings,
Nita

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