You Can Do It!

This past week was an adventure in baking. I had agreed to sell my goods at a local craft fair, and I knew it would be a learning curve figuring out how to bake a massive amount of bread and other goodies, all to be sold in one day. I am one person. I had never done this large of a bake before, but I was confident I could do it.

I did my best to plan and organize my week by making lists, shopping in advance, calculating the timing of bulk fermentation and bake times—all the necessary things. I thought I had this! Then, one small thing I didn't account for was the changes in the weather. Temperature and humidity affect dough, and it got warmer this past week.

On day one, my starter rose much faster than anticipated, meaning I had to get the dough going much earlier than expected. I did all the appropriate actions to prepare my dough for a bulk ferment, which is the most critical step in sourdough, and let it do its thing. I went to bed and woke up at 2:30 in the morning to a voice saying, "Check your dough!" I went into the kitchen and the dough had pushed up the lids of the bulking containers. This was 24 loaves of bread, and it could all be ruined!

At first, I was going to attempt to rescue everything by myself, but I quickly realized I wouldn't be able to, so I woke up my wonderful husband and asked if he would please help. The remarkable man that he is, he woke up and helped me shape the loaves and get them all in the fridge for their cold ferment. We finished at 4:30 a.m.

I needed some encouragement, so I reached out to two of my friends who are also starting micro bakeries. They lifted me up, encouraged me, and said, "You've got this, Hope!" I needed that!

Day two and three were equally hectic, but I managed to bake 34 loaves of bread (there were more, but they weren't up to par, in my opinion), four dozen blueberry muffins, and 5 loaves of carrot cake. My Friday started at 3:30 a.m. and ended at midnight. My husband helped me package, load, and set up for the craft fair on Saturday.

The craft fair was so much fun, and we did amazingly well, selling all but one loaf and a six-pack of blueberry muffins. Did I make a ton of money? No, I didn't. But I had the satisfaction of knowing that I did it! I am my own boss, and success or failure is all on me. It was great to hand out samples to people and witness their reactions to more unusual loaves like the Double Chocolate (most were amazed!). Meeting other vendors was great fun, and knowing I had accomplished my biggest bake ever was wonderful.

If you are facing a challenging situation, you don't know how to accomplish it, and feel like you should give up, reach out to those you know will encourage you and help you in your journey. Have confidence in your abilities even when you don't feel confident. Shoot for the stars! Enjoy life! You can do it!