Archive for the 'Bakery' Category
I still can’t believe it - it’s like the end of an era. Eugenie was our very first employee, and has had major influence on the shape of this bakery. Even before product development, there was branding, and from day one Eugenie has represented The Sensitive Baker with grace and class.
As for product development, which is really what she signed on for, what a star! The Morning Glory muffin, the Quinoa-Cranberry Cookie, the cheese that everybody goes “nuts” for on the pizza — these were all Eugenie’s creations, and remain some of our most popular products.
Eugenie has played every role in this bakery, literally from chief cook to bottle washer. She’s represented us at events, on the radio, and on TV. But it’s been almost a year and a half, and gone are the days of whipping up new taste sensations every day. Welcome instead to the world of churning out chocolate chip cookies, as many and as often as possible. Over and over and over again.
She says she loves doing it, but it’s like tying up a bird. Eugenie was born to fly.
Whatever Eugenie turns her hand to becomes infused with Quality. Here’s an example: We were experimenting with tuna salad, and every day Eugenie would make this delicious but kind of gourmet dish with, like, artichoke hearts and olives and garbanzo beans. But my father-in-law is a pretty big influence around here, too, and believe me he is not a fan of garbanzo beans in his tuna sandwich! I had to ask Eugenie: make the PLAINEST tuna salad possible. Imagine something you’d get from a cafeteria.
Eugenie wasn’t so thrilled with this directive. (Would you ask Beethoven to tone it down? He should do a little Muzak, maybe?) “I’ve never wanted to think of us as being like a cafeteria, making mass-produced garbage,” I think she said, and I never did either, but we need to appeal to everyone; from gourmets, to little kids, to the newly-diagnosed with still-sensitive stomaches.
So Eugenie came up with a dressing (no “bits” of ANYTHING) made from olive-oil mayonnaise, and fresh lemon juice, and other secret stuff. It makes the plainest looking tuna salad you ever saw, but if you eat a scoop of it on freshly toasted focaccia you’re going to swear it’s the best tuna sandwich you EVER tasted! Even my father-in-law thinks so!
Ah, Eugenie, we are going to miss you so much(!) but we wish you all the best! I know we’ll see you on Food Network one day — maybe making allergen-free birthday cakes for grateful children!
(Did I mention that the vegan chocolate cake / cupcake was her baby too?)
The question of the week seems to be, “What do you have for Passover?” Yeah. Um… Our bad, once again — We’re closed the entire week of Passover, and half the next week, as well. (We opened a can of worms when we brought oats into this place - we were essentially kosher for Passover until that moment. Not that the rabbis would allow any of our recipes — everything contains rice, which Jews of European descent don’t eat on Passover. But we wouldn’t have had to clean.) (sigh.)
Anyway, the point is, I thought it wouldn’t matter so much if we’re open Passover, since it’s the one time a year you can find a trustworthy gf-cake at a NORMAL bakery! Don’t believe me? Try this: Delice Bakery.
[Please note they're closed the whole week of Passover, too. That's what the "Chol Hamoed" bit means. The cakes are sold the week before Passover, starting April 13th.]
Kosher bakeries seem a tad slow getting on the internet (what’s up with that?), but I called:
Eilat bakery (310-205-8700) will be kosher-for-Passover. They’re closed the week of, selling GF products the week before, by reservation only. The Fairfax store (323-933-5000) may be open mid-week.
Schwartz Bakery (310-854-0592) Fairfax store (323-653-1683) will have kosher-for-Passover products packaged & sealed (be careful because they’re also selling chametz right up to the last day!); including bagels made from potato starch!
So, just to re-cap:
We are OPEN Thursday April 17th,
until 6:00 or until we run out of food, whichever comes first.
We are CLOSED Friday April 18th THROUGH Tuesday April 29th, 2008.
We Re-OPEN Wednesday April 30th.
Meet David. He’s a real sweetie. He’s our new mashgiach - the guy who makes sure everything is kosher around here. Except for the lettuce, that’s actually not such a complicated job, but he is absolutely happy to fill in wherever he might he useful.
For example, I’ll tell you a story. Last week, a woman ordered cupcakes to be delivered to her in Glendale for her son’s birthday party in school Friday. We shipped them UPS on Wednesday expecting a Thursday delivery, totally routine. Except I got an e-mail Thursday night, the woman never got her cupcakes. For the first time EVER, UPS messed up - they said the address we gave them was wrong, when it wasn’t.
Previously, there would be nothing I could do. Glendale on a Friday? Don’t even think about it!
But last week David had come to the rescue on a more than a few deliveries & errands - his very first day he’d rented a truck & picked up 1,000 pounds of flour from Authentic Foods, while I went and got a root canal. (Truth.) So when I called the woman to confirm her address, I told her, “We’ll bring you the cupcakes tomorrow before your son’s party.”
And David, indeed, delivered on my promise. Here is what the woman wrote to me later that day:
I am so thankful that you did what you committed last night. You complete the party of my son. May God Bless Your Heart…
Maria M., Glendale, CA
Hey, it’s only been two months since we started serving lunch. For us, that may be a record of some kind, to get it all finalized and published in such a short amount of time. So, as simple as it is, we are proud to present… (drumroll, please…..)
These are incredible but we can’t sell this batch. Stupid me; I asked Guadalupe to make them out of the vegan cookie dough, and then I told her to put an egg wash on them. (What was I thinking?) But we’ll have more next week and the week after, boxes of 4 for $8. (I know it’s outrageous, but they are a lot of labor. Be grateful they ARE vegan - the price of eggs seems to have doubled in the past two weeks, so eggy ones would be even more!)
My suggestion always is to buy the cookie dough because not only is it half the price (1.25 pounds for $15); making the cookies becomes a great family activity, the memories of which will last a lifetime.
(Has anyone seen my violin??)
In brief: The good news is, we’re turning into fairly decent gluten-free bakers. The bad news is, even though we’re making more stuff, better, faster, our prices are going up. And no matter how much we bake, we still seem to sell out every Sunday afternoon!
Full Story: Elaine Monarch of the CDF once called to tell us she’d been traveling and speaking to other GF-bakers on the east coast, and she wanted us to know that gluten free baking is hard. It was an surprisingly thoughtful thing to say, and such a relief to hear that it wasn’t just us, but that even Mr. Ritts might have found this job a challenge at first.
Elaine’s encouragement kept us going through many a tray of gummy focaccia!
We are so pleased to announce that we (finally) got a real
“seal of approval” from the Rabbinical Council of California.
Of course we’ve been kosher all along, but until now you only had MY word on that. This way The Sensitive Baker can market our products to more than just the five kosher celiacs who actually know me!
Hurray! Dylan is a freshman Art Institute of California at Los Angeles, where he’s specializing in baking and pastry work. Around here he is a Jack of All Trades, jumping from prepping lunch items, to baking cookies and muffins, to all the various miserable tasks people torture interns with. And yet, he does it all with a smile!
Welcome, Dylan, to our bus. The seats are filling fast and I think we’re about ready to take off!
Starting this Monday (January 14th), there will be a “sensitive” lunch at our bakery from 11:30 - 2 pm! We have a simple menu… but, it’s a start! We have a few tables and chairs for you to enjoy your food outside, or you can take it to go if you’d prefer. Here is our current menu:
Soup or Chile of the day with two breadsticks.
Sandwiches (egg salad, tuna salad or almond butter and jelly) on your choice of bread, with a side of housemade coleslaw.
Vegan pizza with our signature cashew-tahini “cheese”. There will be a few toppings available daily.
Vegan macaroni and “cheese”.
The food tastes great, but the best part is that you can be guaranteed that everything is 100% gluten and dairy free and is prepared in a dedicated GF/CF facility!!! Check the blog every week for updates on the menu and don’t hesitate to call in with your order and we’ll have your lunch ready when you arrive.
We’re looking for a full time dishwasher/prep-cook at $11/hr, and an intern from a cooking school (unpaid) for a few flexible hours a day. If you love working in a kitchen and want to be part of an exciting new venture which truly helps people, then please call Sandee at (310) 815-1800 or write gf-bakers@thesensitivebaker.com with a resume attached.
MUST BE LEGAL!
*$11/hour isn’t much but there’s room for advancement. And we do get lots of appreciation! At the end of the day, we at The Sensitive Baker all go home feeling like we made a lot of people very happy. That’s a good feeling. As they say in the commercials: Priceless.
