Change, Change, Change

It's official - From Scratch & Sniff is going to be a 100% bona fide vegan bakery. As of the 1st of January, my fiance and I changed to a vegan diet and have decided this is the life for us. Not only are we cooking compassionately and promoting conservation, we're losing weight and feeling incredibly more healthy. It's fantastic!

This change in our diets left me with a problem though. How could I change my ideals and habits around eating, but still use eggs and cream and butter in my baking? I was nervous as I began to dive into the world of vegan baking. I'd tried vegan baked goods before, always with the same thought, "This is dry, dense, and tastes more like health food than a dessert." Although I'm all for health food, I believe that when we want dessert, dessert we shall eat! If I want a healthy snack at night, I don't grab a cookie, I reach for an apple, and so I began to worry that my baking would lose it's desserty qualities.

Not so! Around my birthday, good friends of ours gave me The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. What I love about this book is the in-depth exploration into the chemistry behind baking. I have learned the methods and madness behind substitutions and have tried out several of her recipes to get a feel for how each substitution works.

Vegan Blueberry-Orange Bundt Cake from The Joy of Vegan Baking

Photo by Justin Lewis, filmaperture Photography

After practicing a bit, I started a new baking notebook, rolled up my sleeves and got to work! So far I have veganized 6 of my standard recipes:

-Kelly's Oreo Truffles
-Italian Polenta Cake with Orange Marmalade Glaze
-Ginger Cookies
-Awesome Crunch
-Irish Cream Cupcakes
-Treasure Chest Cookies
-Cranberry Almond Biscotti

Vegan Treasure Chest Cookies

Photo by Justin Lewis, filmaperture Photography

Vegan Kelly's Oreo Truffles (Chocolate, White Chocolate, & Peanut Butter)

Photo by Justin Lewis, filmaperture Photography

Italian Polenta Cake with Orange Marmalade Glaze

Photo by Justin Lewis, filmaperture Photography

And so far - I've received very positive feedback and have even been told that some of the vegan versions are BETTER than the non-vegan ones! Horrah! The goal is to make them taste the same or better, and thus far I'm succeeding.

The next step - we've realized that maybe it's time for a name/branding change. Although From Scratch & Sniff has served me well for almost a year now, it doesn't quite convey the type of baking I'm trying to offer, and on top of that, there are already two bakeries in town related to kitties/animals. So I'm going through the difficulty of trying to decide what sort of image I want to convey.

Some people are telling me not to include "vegan" in the name - to try to "trick" people into ordering/coming in. Some are telling me I should not only offer vegan treats, but should supplement my stock with some "regular" baked goods. I know want to stand proud and not shy away from the fact that I'm vegan and this is what I have to offer. I don't want to return to cooking with animal products and I think there's a real market for it in Portland; there aren't any fully vegan bakeries up here yet. I want my name to reflect the goodness and simplicity of my product. At least I know these things for sure - now I just need a name and logo, ideas are welcome and much appreciated!

Follow-up to The Bully Premier

I had a blast at The Bully premier on Wednesday, October 20th at SPACE Gallery. The night started with a performance by local band South China (check them out if you have yet to hear them- they are just incredible) and then filmmakers Derek Kimball and Matt Konkel of Last House Productions premiered "The Bully" followed by a showing of their film "I Want You to Know." The turnout for the event was fantastic- I'd say at least 100 people showed up.

The night before the premier I sat in my kitchen for three hours painting sugar cookies with scenes based off the film's promotional poster.





It was exhausting, but they came out much better than I expected and my boyfriend was flitting around them all night with "ooooo's" and "ahhhh's." I packaged them up in cellophane bags tied with black ribbon.

There were 14 in all and I almost sold out :) In addition, I whipped up a batch of Ginger Cookies and Mud Puddle Cookies. I packaged them in 3's and sold quite a few, though it seemed like the Mud Puddle's were most popular. No wonder- they're covered in dark chocolate ganache! Everyone who bought from me was sure to come back multiple times to tell me how good the cookies were. This is the first "event" I've ever sold merchandise at and I'd say it was a big success! In all I raised $25 to support getting the film into the international film festival circuit.



I'd really love to do another event like this again- just have to keep my eyes open for opportunities. Since the event, I've had 2 orders placed and two more pending ones, so I've got a big baking week coming up!

Inspiration from someone who knows her stuff

There are times when my job frustrates me to no end, but sometimes there are moments that certainly do make me smile. One of the trustees on our board is one of the founders of Bon Apetit magazine. She started it when she lived in California and took it from a little monthly newsletter to the magazine we know and love today. At first glance, this little woman in her 70's looks sweet, quiet, and unassuming. But having worked with her over the past year and a half, I've found her to be fiesty and passionate about everything she puts her mind to.

We were standing by the subscribers' entrance before a concert last week and I mentioned to her that I'm looking to move, but need to find a place with a kitchen that can handle my under-the-table-on-the-side-baking-company. She had no idea I'd started a baking service and her eyes lit up immediately. I told her of my dream to someday own a little bakery in Portland and she waggled her finger at me and said, "Someday doesn't come soon enough. Do it now!" I talked about my anxiety over my lack of "professional" experience, i.e. I haven't been to culinary or pastry school nor have I worked for a bakery. She touched my arm and looked me straight in the eyes saying, "Hunny, some of the very best chefs I know are the ones who learned it all on their own. They bring passion to the plate and that makes all the difference."

And I know she's completely right. There's no reason to hold myself back all because I didn't attend some prestigious pastry school. I'm learning day by day whether I'm in the kitchen or not- inspired by others' creations, by my surroundings,through relationships and interactions with the artistic people I'm surrounded by, from watching other successful small business owners, by the people I love giving me constant encouragement. It will happen.

Anyway- have a cookie! You know you wanna :)

Sweet memories

Yesterday as I was baking, I was struck by how calm and content I am in the kitchen. I think it's in large part due to the fact that I'm reminded of my mom. My mom passed away in 2007 and ever since, I'm reminded of her most when I'm in the kitchen. What's funny is that I rarely cooked with her, but I loved watching her navigate the kitchen and come up with new dishes. She wasn't really a baker- in fact she hated how exacting baking can be, but she loved to experiment with new dishes.

I didn't really start cooking and baking until I moved out of the house. Occasionally I helped my mom bake muffins or a cake here and there. One of my most vivid baking memories is of my brother and I on a snow day off from school. I must have been in jr. high and he was probably still in pre-school. We were home alone and bored, watching snow pour down outside. I suddenly got the idea that we should bake a cake, but since my mom rarely baked, we didn't have the supplies needed at the house. So my brother and I searched the house for every last piece of change we could find, bundled up in our warmest clothes and snow boots, and trekked through the snow to the Clemens Market down the street. When we came home we baked a sweet pineapple up-side-down cake and surprised our parents when they came home from work. My brother and I joke because my mom was quoted in the newspaper when she was interviewed about her cooking as saying, "My daughter Christina likes to bake cakes on snow days." I guess my one and only snow day cake left made a good impression on her :)

So yesterday I baked a half batch of Shorties and a full batch of Treasure Chest Cookies and now my kitchen is full of cookies. I need to pawn them off on people because I cannot have all these cookies sitting on my table! Both batches came out well but I'm still getting used to my new oven. This is an old building and unfortunately the floors are a bit slanty so I've been noticing some of my baking coming out...slanted. I find it helps if I turn the cookie sheets about half way through, but it certainly is a pain. Oh well. I don't think it's going to get fixed any time soon!

It's a rainy day here in Portland...

The Portland Farmers Market is today but I'm feeling deterred by the rain so I'm going to stay home and do a little baking. I've been working on baking all the products I'm offering through From Scratch and Sniff so that my boyfriend, Justin Lewis of filmaperture Photography, can take professional photos for my website. My co-workers and friends have been showered with cookies because it is certainly dangerous to keep batches of cookies around the house! So far, Justin's been able to shoot the Ginger, Buzz Buzz, Mud Puddle, Linzer, Sugar, and Oatmeal cookies. He's planning to edit the shots this weekend so I should have them up on the website by Monday!

It's funny, you'd think it would start to feel like a chore, doing this much baking. But I find I'm at my happiest when I'm working away in the kitchen and I literally lose track of time. I just submitted an application to the Building Of Song Festival for a vendor table, so hopefully I'll be baking away to prepare for that in July. Though I must be crazy because my "real" job is in full swing by that time and I'll be putting in 90 hour weeks for the duration of the summer. Hopefully I won't regret this...

I think I'll bake a batch of Shorties today. They're delicious little crunchy shortbread cookies drizzled with milk and dark chocolate, YUM! Perfect for a rainy day :) I'll post pictures later.

For now, I'll leave you with this: I was at A.C. Moore doing some baking supply shopping and came across, perhaps, the most frightening cake topper I've ever seen. Creepy, right?