Oh We Are So Back
Alayna here. We’re back for volume 9 of the sweetest email in your inbox.
Today we’re talking about my favorite tips for staying organized in the kitchen and one final chance to place your Valentine’s Day cookie orders.
Let’s sweet talk.
Baking Bites: Tips for the Everyday Baker
Now I’m no professional pastry chef, but as I’ve grown my business and read countless books about baking, I’ve learned some tips and tricks to help make baking at home more enjoyable. So, welcome to my new series, Baking Bites, where I share my favorite home baking tips! Whether you’ve always loved to bake, or want to flex your baking muscle more, you’ve come to the right place.
My very first Baking Bite for you is simple and free: Begin baking with a clean kitchen, continue with a clean kitchen, and end with a clean kitchen. Now, let me explain. When I started baking for my friends in college, I was using a tiny, shared kitchen on our dorm floor. Half the time I was using a cereal bowl to mix up dough, a set of measuring spoons with only a 1/4 tsp attached, and a sheet pan that had seen some things aka mostly frozen pizzas and a lack of dish soap. I didn’t worry much about keeping my space clean, which resulted in flour on the floor and melted butter dripping on the counter. A mess, I tell you. My RA was none-too-happy, until I smoothed her over with warm peanut butter cookies.
Now that I am wise and mature beyond my years (lol), I have found one of the best ways to make baking relaxing and enjoyable is to keep my space clean. I always start my baking for the day by cleaning the kitchen if it isn’t already. I load the dishwasher, clean the counters and take out the trash. I focus so much better when my space is tidy and organized. Then, (after a good hand washing), I take out all the ingredients I need for the recipe (this is called mise en place-French for “putting in place”) and I hop to it!
Here’s one half of my set-up. All my ingredients are pulled out, as well as my kitchen scale (my #1 recommended baking tool. Get the link to this specific one here #ad).
In this picture, you’ll see the rest of my ingredients and my recipe binder. I put all the utensils I’ll need on a plate. Setting these out before you begin helps you avoid digging in a drawer for a spoon while your mixer is spewing out flour. After I use a tool, I put it back on the plate, which helps minimize the clean up.
You’ll also see my scrap bowl here. This is where any bits of trash go during the baking process. Butter wrappers, egg shells, empty chocolate chip bags, all of it goes right into the scrap bowl. This keeps me from running back and forth to the trash can multiple times. When I’m finished baking, I simply bring the scrap bowl to the trash and empty it. I like to make my space as efficient as possible, and this scrap bowl really makes me feel like I have my life together!
Next, keeping the kitchen clean. While I am mixing up my recipe, flour will inevitably come flying out of my mixer, or I spill a bit of egg white when cracking. Instead of leaving all the mess to be cleaned up at the end (I used to do this!!), I clean as I go, wiping up excess ingredients or spills as they happen. This keeps my work station cleaner and more organized, which leads to a lower chance of messing up the recipe. And it just feels GOOD! If you think you work just fine in a messy space thank-you-very-much, well, I simply challenge you to try it a few times and see if you notice a difference.
Then, once I’m all done with my baking for the day, I immediately clean up the kitchen. This is probably the hardest task for me to do, but I have found it’s the most crucial to my sanity. I know that if I tell myself I’m just going to take a little break on the couch, that little break will soon become an hour nap. By the time I haul myself up, my motivation is FAR lower, and I’m more likely to leave the cleaning of the kitchen for Future Me to figure out. But inevitably, Future Me is never happy about this decision. Future Me wants Present Me to learn. Present Me needs to treat Future Me with more respect. Have we exhausted this analogy yet?
Now I’m not perfect at this, but I find that when I follow this pattern, baking feels peaceful and calming. Most importantly, mistaken happen far less often. No fancy equipment required, just a little tidiness. Try it out for yourself and let me know how it goes!
Last Call for Valentine’s Day Orders!
Valentine’s Day is one week away! Whether you’re celebrating with your family, friends, or the love of your life, I can guarantee they want delicious, homemade, fresh-baked cookies. Not only can you order a heart-shaped cookie cake or the raspberry almond cookies, as seen above, but ANY of the cookies in my Winter Cookie Collection are available! You can mix and match to your heart’s desire. Our availability is just about at max capacity though, so place your order asap! The final day to place an order for Valentine’s Day is Sunday, 2/9.
This Valentine’s Day, my husband and I are making homemade pizza and you can bet cookies will be involved too. Imagine topping a chocolate chip cookie with a scoop of ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream???? If that doesn’t get whoever you’re with to fall in love with you, kick him to the curb because he’s not worth your time!
I’m sure you have a million things on your to-do list this week, so check something off by placing an order.
Francine’s Sweets in the Wild
Our barre3 pop-up is almost here! I’ll be at the studio on Thursday, February 13th from 4:30-6:30pm! Since that’s the day before Valentine’s Day, it’ll be the perfect time to stock up on treats for all your loved ones! We have completely SOLD OUT of our pre-order availability! Incredible! But don’t worry, I’ll still have a variety of cookies for sale, even if you didn’t place a pre-order. We’ve sold out twice in a row now…can we make it a third??
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