Feeling awake again after a night at the bakery...

now that I'm used to this weird schedule and my sleeping pattern is like that of a mom with a new baby. You sleep and take naps whenever you can and somehow you get through the long days and nights.

One thing I've learned at the bakery is, you can't stay in business long if you don't venture out and check out your competitor's products every once in a while. I conducted my own expedition Saturday afternoon and visited 3 bakeries out in the Ballard area. The best part, you get to try little bit of everything, my husband like this part too because he gets all of it after I'm done with my tasting. I would take photos of the pastries, take some notes on color, taste, texture, and flavor. On Saturday, I must of had taken a bite out of 7 different types of croissants. Too much butter for one day. I didn't have a chance to get to the bread until the next day.

I brought in the breads to share with David (one of the bakers that I work with on Sunday nights) to get his opinion on the breads. He really know his breads, I observed how he checks on each loaf of bread when they come out of the oven and know by feel when each loaf of bread is done. If it looks golden brown, it may not necessarily be done, which was the case early this morning when the breads we're baking. The temperature of the oven was a bit on the high side because the breads were browning faster than he had wanted them to. To adjust oven temperature, the bread would be move closer to the front of the oven and the doors would be opened or partially open. I shared with him, when we work in the retail making sandwiches, I was taught to make sandwiches with the slices from the fuller part of the loaves of bread. So it was important for the loaves to be as full and consistent as possible so we can utilize as much as the loaf of bread without a lot of waste. The dough is weighed so every loaf of bread is the same weight, so it must be other factors that affect the size of the breads and how they bake up. Humidity is a another factor that needs to be taken into consideration. On rainy days, our breads come out as David would say "more beautiful".