Greetings, BF followers and fellow foodies!
I’d also like to extend the warmest welcome if you are new to us. The intent of this post is to summarize our very first market year (2018) and fill you in on our radio silence since market season ended in 2018. Our start at Perennial Wellness’ Health Expo, Sheridan, MI (left) gave us a taste for meeting new people and creating goodies omnivores and herbivores alike would enjoy.
Mount Pleasant, MI Farmers’ Market offered us an unforgettable season of adventure, learning, and community. We attended (almost) every Thursday to sell our veganized cupcakes and various, fun additions to our menu (here on, it is implied that everything we produce and sell is vegan). I had a blast creating danishes, a variety of artisan breads, scones, and doughnuts to offer our market patrons.
Becoming friendly with Excel spreadsheets and trying my hand at hand-drawn signage (right) were two things I didn’t foresee myself doing starting a home baking business. But I was surprised at how much I enjoyed (yes, enjoyed spreadsheets) both! Excel is still a little intimidating, but mind over matter, right?
Throughout the many challenges of our first market year, my favorite outcome is the relationships we have formed- both personally and within the Mt. Pleasant community. You guys are awesome and without you, we wouldn’t be here! (OK, so another fave is I found out I could hoist up an entire 10×10 ft. tent by myself… But if you see me trying, don’t be afraid to offer help- I will take it.)
Many changes took place within our family life in 2018. We purchased our house in Blanchard, MI a few years ago with the intention to sell it for sweat equity. I cried (we all cried) when it was time to leave it- it was so beautiful and it was our HOME- but we wanted to stay true to our purpose. Pictured left is where all the BF magic happened. We finally sold our house in December 2018. After a family death, we chose to move near Jackson temporarily (my hometown) to be closer to family.
After much deliberation following our move, I deleted the Blanchard’s Finest Facebook page. The purpose this served was to increase family time and mental clarity. We have since developed an IG account to catalog favorite moments, and hope to use our website as a routine method of communication (check us out @blanchardsfinestvegancupcakery). FB may be back in our future, though I am not certain
Currently we are working to make brand new the house we are living in (we seem to gravitate toward DIY home reno projects), and along with it getting an oven that works (yes, you heard me right- OUR CURRENT OVEN DOES NOT WORK!!!). How can a baker bake without an oven to bake in, you ask? Well, she can’t. Unless she wanted to create a cookfire outside in the freezing temps (which this baker does not). Our new range should be delivered this week (fingers crossed, because it’s been three months now), and on to new and greener baking pastures I will be.
A post on the 2018 recap wouldn’t be complete without an honorable mention of my beautiful- inside and out- friend Alexandria. She drove hours, spent hours, and lost hours of sleep time to help me in countless ways. If you visited our stall, you probably saw her a time or two!
As a new market season is dawning upon us, I have started devising a calendar of BF events. My hope is to have it posted in April- so stay tuned! Thank you all for your continued support and love. We can’t WAIT to see you.