Cooking - how things are going

For a while now, I've had two dreams - to start a craft business and a bakery business. In my mind, I thought the craft business would be first as its easier, and the bakery would come later, but it seems like the bakery is coming along first.

I send Bill to work with desserts once in a while for him to hand out as the two of us alone have a hard time eating large quanities of desserts before they go bad. The people at work have been asking for a while for me to make them dishes, and I finally got enough requests at once that I relented and began baking for them.

It's not a bakery by any means, but it serves as great practice.

I learned how to make blueberry pie last week. My first attempt was pretty great honestly, I was really happy and it got rave reviews. Bill says the couple who received it still talk about it to others often. Then I got an order for blueberry cobbler - something I've never made or eaten. I sent out my first one with good reviews but I wasn't happy with it enough. I ended up making my own creation this week, a mix of cobbler and crumb pie. I sent it off today and the couple who got it just called Bill at midnight to let him know how much they loved it.

I'm now faced with a few challenges. I have SIX orders for different cobblers I never made and a cheesecake. I also have a future order of 4 cobblers for a baptism.

Because I'm not lisenced, I don't call myself a bakery and I technically "gift" by baked goods instead of selling them. But, I'm still getting my supply cost back and a little extra. It's mainly fun practice and everyone wins. It's not big enough, of course, to be concerned with running into legal problems though, as while it's taking off, it won't take off above $600, where I'd need to report taxes and get a lisence. That I'll save for down the road.

It's exciting, and I'm hoping my baking skills will flourish from this exercise. It's only been two weeks and I've already made my own recipe up and played with it until I was happy. I wish I could grasp cooking as naturally as baking seems to come to me. Hopefully it will down the road!