Momma said there'd be days like this...

Today was just one of those days. As I mentioned before, we are one oven down and I just cannot handle it. Jess handles these things with much more grace than I do, apparently.

We were so busy, and I went to the front to help David. Since we were an oven down, the muffins were not ready until about 7:45. I heard the beeper and rushed to the back to save the muffins from the fierce heat and….

This happened. I HATE silicone hot pads. IF you are wondering whether or not to buy them, I guess that would depend on how much you like burned hands. Yes, while they are a dream to clean, they also are about as effective on hot pans as a cotton shirt would be. So, needless to say, I burned my hand and dropped these beautiful muffins on the ground. You probably do not have to guess how unhappy this made me.

So as I was pouting about how busy it was, and how many cupcakes I had yet to make, the lunch crew came in… good thing we have a new kitchen where there is room for all of us! So I got to work on making cupcakes and cookie dough for the lunch orders.  At some point during all of this, David decided to mop the place where the muffins landed. This would normally be very appreciated, however I did not realize that this mopping had occurred and as I turned to deliver the cookie dough to the lunch girls, I slipped and fell and very nearly dropped the cookie dough, but fortunately Jess saved it (you see where our priorities are)! David came in (it was quite a ‘boom’), to see what happened. There I sat, on the clean floor, crying, with a burned hand and a bleeding knee. Pitiful, I know.

But then, Jess and I started laughing – it was such a bad morning, there was nothing else to do but laugh. I got up off the floor, went home and took a small nap. When I got back to the shop to make Libby a cake, I was feeling much better. I am pretty sure it is days like today that makes me appreciate the good ones even more.

Kitchen Remodeling... I will stick with baking.

I almost decided not to write just because it has been SO long!

Here is what has happened since our last post:

·        I graduated (WOOOO HOO!)

·        One of our ovens broke (BOOOO HOO!)

·        WE REMOLDELED THE KITCHEN (!!!!!!!)

Two out of three of those things are legendary… the other one, well David is fixing it soon!

So I could bore you with pomp and circumstance but I know what you are really anxious to hear about – the NEW kitchen!

Our kitchen was little. In fact, we had to be done by 10am so the  lunch girls could have enough space to do lunch. Knowing there was a problem, David and Stacey mentioned a while back that they were thinking about expanding the kitchen. While Jess and I were PUMPED, we had no idea when exactly this would take place so we sat back and waited (not so patiently). Then, a month or so ago Stacey told me that we were going to remodel starting THAT weekend! I was SO excited!!

We had so much to do, so I set out to make the most organized destruction plan around. Two hours later, it was done – too bad the actual remodeling was not so easy. We started by taking everything out of the kitchen. Then we knocked out the wall (well not really me).

 Next was painting, and painting, and painting. After that we started moving in all of the new toys! David and Stacey spoiled us BIG time with new stainless steel islands, gadgets, and more. We even got new waterproof, shatterproof, magnetic timers – what more could a baker ask for?

I love love love our new kitchen – and the best part is, we all had a hand in it. Although it was rewarding, I think I will stick with baking. 

Taste of Plainview and Our Hometown Heroes

As a poor excuse for not blogging in weeks, I will tell you that you that I am graduating next Saturday and the blogging will get better... please be patient...

These last few weeks were intense. (It seems that there have been more and more intense weeks lately!)I have a lot to tell you but we will just start with several weeks ago and there will be more to come. So about “that” week - Jess and I tag-teamed the week, she took the first half and I took the last half. We had so many misc. orders: a dozen cupcakes here, a batch of cookies there… but the peak was definitely Thursday – good thing we teamed up together.

Thursday the 24th (MARCH - gees, where does the time go) was the annual Taste of Plainview competition where local restaurants compete for the Golden Fork Award in different categories. Obviously we were competing in the dessert category. But that is not all we were doing on that Thursday… oh no we were catering a career fair at Wayland that lasted from 9am-1pm. So, we got there EARLY (even earlier than normal – 5am)and we started on the 75 muffins that we had due at 8am for the career fair. 7:30am, muffins done. So now we will start the 400 cupcakes for the Taste of Plainview. You know, there was a time when that would have freaked me out – but now, it is manageable and also exciting. HOWEVER, do not for one second think that I did not make a plan – a very detailed plan, by the minute of course. (Jess is used to this “type-a” behavior).

Now the last time we made this many cupcakes it was a wedding celebration – we had six hours to make those… we had two hours to make these (please do not forget we have only two ovens). I know you are wondering why we only had two hours. Well, we had to be done by 10:00am so that the lunch girls could make sandwich platters for the career fair. It was game time. By 10:30am we had baked all of the cupcakes. I left to go to class, Jess left for lunch and a couple of hours later the career fair was completed and we met back up to load the Prius (BEST catering car ever)and get to the Ollie Liner Center to ice the cupcakes and set up our display.

As for the display, we trusted Stacey (our resident graphic design guru) completely. She came through with some great signs for each flavor in cute frames, some AWESOME cupcake brochures and some misc “stuff” donated from her wonderful mom, Cheryl. A couple of boxes, two sheets, and several mirrors later, the display was complete. I loved it.

Meanwhile, Jess was icing cupcakes in the back and Christina came in with Sonic slushes and all of the things that we forgot (of course it was SEVERAL things). She swept in and took pics as Jess and I iced and iced, and iced. One hour later, we were finished icing, Christina had taken many photos and topped cupcakes with coffee beans and peanuts, and Jess and I had destroyed the ENORMOUS and GLORIOUS kitchen at the center (do not worry, we left it spotless).

David and Stacey had mentioned that they had a surprise for us, but I never dreamed that they would get our very own hometown heroes to help us serve cupcakes! Three of our favorite officers helped us serve cupcakes for the entire event – we were honored!

About the actual event… turns out 420 cupcakes were not even close to being enough. We spread them out as much as possible – but in the end we ran out an hour before the event was over… well, live and learn. Next year, we are making 700!

At the end of the night, after everything was loaded and we waited anxiously for the results, Parker showed up with her “lil’ cupcake” apron. She is precious. (Jack was tuckered out from the festivities and slept despite the noisy room.) And then, the announcement: (drum roll please)OF COURSE they started with appetizer, and then main course, and then pizza, and then FINALLY dessert – WE WON!!! I was ecstatic! David made (okay, he did not have to nudge me very hard) me go to the front of the room and hold the beautiful Golden Fork Award; he followed with Stacey and Parker, who all made the picture for the paper. After the picture, they made me give back the award so they could engrave our name on the plaque… it took some convincing to give it up!

What an event! We were so tired and we learned so much – but mainly we learned that we have the best police department, the best supporters, and the best dessert in Plainview. So, thank you Plainview for your patronage and support – we really could not do it without you.

Getting to know you.

We love our customers.  That is much of what makes this job great. The people. We've said it before, but it's true. After working here a while, you begin to remember peoples' usual drink orders:  Mr. "Early Morning Small Latte" and his young son, "Just Drip Coffee" --props to you, dude, seriously.  Or Mr. "Medium Vanilla Latte, Extra Hot". And so you're walking down the cereal isle in Wal-Mart when you run into Mrs. "Medium Sugar-Free Vanilla," but you can't call her that. And so instead you're thrown into that awkward position of, "Should I wave, should I say 'hi'?" Inevitably, you choose the wrong one, come off creepy, and leave realizing at least forty percent of the people you serve don't recognize you without the apron. (Then there are those times when maybe you do remember their name, and come off even creepier.)

Yet with time, Mr. "Early Morning Small Latte" and his son turn into Martin and Abraham.  Mr. "Medium Vanilla, Extra Hot" turns into Pastor Steve, and Mrs. "Medium Sugar-Free Vanilla" still thinks you're creepy (can't win 'em all).

Still there are the customers you really get close to, whether it's Ashley Cox, coming in to work on her screen play (and for her toffee-nut "fix") or to order cupcakes for her daughter's sixth birthday (Happy Birthday, Olivia!). Matt Smith, coming in for his daily dose of caffeine, or just to hang out with the family--his daughter Olivia, sneaking around the counter, hoping Alex might possibly have an extra one of those cookies.  The Olsens, meeting up for lunch or a mid-afternoon cup of coffee (and chai). (Steve also does his fair share of sneaking around trying to get extra cookies...we've got our eye on you, Steve.)  Josh the skateboarder, probably our most polite customer, and we think he's super cool, even though he usually only gets an orange crush (you rock that kickflip, dude!)  Or our good friends the state troopers, always polite, always genuine, always good tippers.

As baristas and as bakers, even on our busy, crazy, maybe-I-might-pull-all-my-hair-out days, we still love you guys. You help make the Brew what it is. Thank you.

Girl Scout Cookies and Cupcake Wars

Have I ever told you that we would LOVE to be on Cupcake Wars? Well, consider yourself informed! Jess and I have made it our goal to be on Cupcake Wars… and well, win. Now we know that the competition can be steep – so we have been practicing. This week is one such practice session… GIRL SCOUT COOKIE CUPCAKES!

Mal - helping me bake
on her visit to Plainview

Girl Scouts are awesome, and although they do so many great things for our communities and environment, they sell me cookies making them worthy of all badges in my book (also making them better than Boy Scouts, sorry guys). But this year, I was very sad to realize that my number one Girl Scout Cookie Supplier, my sweet cousin Mallory, was no longer in business. Bummer… well I had to settle for the troop in front of Hastings for my Thin Mint and Samoa fix… and my Tag-a-Long and Lemon Crème fix…

As I was demolishing a box of Thin Mints (there really should be more in a box), I realized that they would taste AWESOME in cupcakes… AND THEN I decided that so many of the cookies are cupcake worthy… AND THEN I decided that we would make it like a Cupcake War challenge! BRILLIANT!

So of course I called Jess (she loved it) and an hour later we met at the Brew and planned each cupcake, testing flavors and ideas… we were so excited. We decided that we would recreate the cookie, in cupcake form of course, and then serve the cupcake with a cookie so that everyone could compare tastes - we were ready.

Here is what we came up with:

                Monday: Thanks-A-Lot - A vanilla shortbread cookie with a vanilla cupcake, milk chocolate buttercream and topped with another vanilla shortbread cookie.

                 Tuesday: Thin Mints - A chocolate mint cupcake with a chocolate cookie topped with chocolate mint ganache .

                Wednesday: Tagalongs - A peanut butter cookie with a chocolate cupcake, filled with a creamy peanut butter filling, topped with chocolate ganache.

                Thursday: Lemon Cremes - A lemon-vanilla cupcake with fresh whipped cream infused with lemon, topped with a vanilla shortbread cookie and fresh lemon glaze and lemon zest.

                Friday: Samoas - A vanilla shortbread cookie with a vanilla cupcake filled with fresh caramel, topped with chocolate ganache and toasted coconut.

So we had the plan and all we needed were the cookies and so I posted on good old facebook how we needed cookies - almost instantly we had people calling in and stopping by and messaging that they had our cookies - WE HAVE THE BEST CUSTOMERS! A short thirty minutes later we had cookies and were ready for Monday!

It is Friday, and as I sit here blogging, I hear several people comment on how they not only liked the cupcakes, but also how much they tasted like the cookies. I think this challenge was a success!

 - alex

sometimes the solitary voice...

Fade in.


Lightning lacerates a starless sky.


Its momentary illumination betrays the face of a young woman, her pale skin a stark contrast to the night.


She shivers as the icy wind whips the hair across her face and rips at the edges of her long coat.


Her trail weaves an intricate pathway through the cold, oppressive landscape of towering concrete and steel.


Suddenly, the sound of her footsteps is stolen by a crash of thunder.


Fear rips down her spine as a large figure emerges from the darkness just feet from her destination.


She refuses to slow her pace, yet her heart quickens with every step she takes.


"Wait." A deep voice. Throaty, still almost sultry.


Fear clutches her. Her breath catches in her throat.


"A lady shouldn't have to get her own door."


In a haze of relief, she steps, foggy eyed, into the the warmth of the coffeehouse where she works.  Standing dazed in the doorway, she regains her wits to turn and find the man has disappeared into the darkness.


She makes her way through the unfamiliar faces to the kitchen.  Finally, her body begins to relax. The smell of coffee and recently baked cookies serves as a greatly-needed relief after the pressures of the day. Even in the aftermath of Valentine's day, with cupcake and (homemade) truffle orders that were stacked sky-high, she still finds relief mixing up a batch of homemade chocolate chunk brownies. "I love my job," she thinks to herself as she moves toward the cupboards and begins arranging various ingredients on the table.  Looking down, she notices a slip of paper underneath the mixing bowl.  Moving it aside, she slides the paper out to find it is a letter--no return address.  She tears open the envelope to find a small slip of paper inside:


"Flash news: You are not the only place in Plainview that makes homemade truffles."


She turns the page over. Nothing on the other side.... 


The thing is, she and her baking partner had spent the few days before Valentine's day hand-making truffle...after truffle...after truffle.  A tedious business. But also a delicious one.


Due to some information they had formerly acquired, the girls knew that the candy store in town did not make their own truffles. So, naturally the two assumed their bakery was the only place in town that did, and advertised as such.  Apparently they were mistaken! Somewhere within this concrete jungle that is known as Plainview, cloaked in secrecy, lies another homemade truffle lair.  Yet the operator of said lair remains unexposed, unrecognizable to the public eye, and he (or she) has been affronted.


Another clap of thunder rang out, causing the lights to flicker.


An involuntary shiver shot down her trembling body.  She drew in a deep breath, debating her next move and considering the past week's events.  You know, perhaps this is somehow linked to the severed horse head that somehow found its way into her bed earlier this week....


(*title a quote of frank miller)

 - jess

A Day in the Life...

It is never dull around here, but some days are even crazier than others; this was one of those days.

After arriving at the Brew at 5:45am (IN THE 1 DEGREE WEATHER), I started with the usual baking: muffins, kolaches, scones, quiche, biscuits… and then I started on the first catering order of the day: a dozen cupcakes for some jurors (is that legal?). Well along with catering order number one, due at 8am, came catastrophe number one: Jose. We like Jose around here, mainly for laughing purposes, but just the same we like him. Anyway, he was late. This made it nearly impossible to get the cupcakes out on time; in fact, David had to stall a little while I finished icing the cupcakes! BUT, everything turned out fine and I assume all went well with the court case.

After the catering order, I realized that we still needed cupcakes for the shop, so I started on those and after finishing our Enjoy cupcakes (vanilla with our chocolate buttercream), I was finally caught up and ready to relax… or so I thought. HA!

Let’s just say we have a crazy friend around here these days. She is great; except for when she is telling us that the Russians are listening to our conversations via satellites hovering over the shop,(consider yourself warned). Well anyway she was in this morning laughing out loud at (you fill in the blank), and having a grand time. After finishing her muffin, I went to pick up her plate and she informed me that it was good but she “NEVER USES A FORK TO EAT A MUFFIN AND IS NOT STARTING NOW”. Duly noted. A while later she got up, put on her coat, and left, telling us “Au Revoir, sure wish I hadn’t killed my cat”. She is a hoot.

So I decide to sit down and blog… (it does not happen often enough…)well just as I started writing about my day, David walked by with baby Jack – I could not resist. So I took the baby and we walked around the shop, just me and Jack. Jess came in not long after and we all three went to the kitchen for some planning – Jack loved it (although I am fairly sure that Parker likes to bake a little bit more…)

An hour later, after making a baking chart for the week, an enormous grocery list for our suppliers, a “we-need” list for David (he loves those)and a cupcake menu for the week, I look up and it is definitely time for me to go to class, and on my way I thought about the craziness of the morning – but it is days like this that I reevaluate my job and love it all the more. 

 - alex