Today was filled with…
…Bread [duh]
…KERF readers [thanks to all who came in to visit!!]
…and Mint Juleps. [Because we can’t work too hard!]
We wrapped up day 2 as a great success – only about 5 loaves were left on the rack at the end of the day! Predicting how much bread to make and timing it to sell out the minute you close is a major challenge of bakery owning [so you minimize waste] and we’ve had too optimal days! Hope you all enjoyed the bread, Cville!
We said our goodbyes to the Great Harvest opening team today as well as mom + dad and welcomed Jason, who is staying with us through Wednesday for our last bit of on-site support.
After a handful of dinners out, Matt and I just wanted to grill out at home tonight, so we invited Jason over. Lucky for us he brought a bottle of Maker’s with him! And he’d never had a proper Mint Julep, so Matt got to work!
I don’t know where we found the energy, but Matt and I put together dinner like worker bees. Thanks to the wonderful Karen, we had shrimp, eggplant, tomato + moz, potatoes and broccoli in our fridge ready to go. Unfortunately she wasn’t feeling well enough to join us, but she brought the ingredients by. Thanks Karen!
We made caprese salads to munch while dinner roasted
And sipped a few tastes of Matt’s beers
And then feasted on a collection of grilled items
Eggplant + broc in olive oil and smoked paprika
Taters rubbed in rosemary + olive oil + salt and roasted in foil for about 20 minutes and then without foil for 10 more on the top shelf
And some smothered in teriyaki sauce and grilled to a crisp
Matt and Jason were both up at 3AM this morning and are still going strong on the porch. I got up at 6 and am about to crash! Hoping to do some reading and then rest my eyeballs.
Even though I am very thankful to have a day off tomorrow, I have to admit I’m kind of already excited about Monday. I just love working around food! I decided if our bakery sold something like widgets or computer parts I would NOT enjoy it! There’s just something about bread…
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
So glad to see the bakery’s a success and that you’re having fun! Have a great day off
Fun day!
What do you do with the extra loaves at the end of the day?
They get given away to employees and friends and if there are more, we take them to the Blue Ridge Food Bank just up the road. (Did that 2 days in a row)
Love this! Wasted food is always a sad thought.
Agreed!
I knew of a bakery in my university locale that threw its loaves out at the end of the day..was such a shame. Locals found out about it though and did some dumpster diving!
I loove grilled dinners! Shrimp on the barby is fabulous…and I love a little char on my veggies!
Here’s to a successful second day!
This post made me SMILE.
Widgets?! Hahaha! Have a great rest day ,KERFs!
Widgets… maybe if it was something like a Pumpkin/Cinnamon/Oatmeal/Raisin Cookie called Widgets, Kath would still be excited about Mondays and enjoy.
Sounds like a great two days so far!
SO awesome, Kath. I’ve been loving watching it all unfold and all the smiles
Congrats on a successful day. The people who get the leftover loaves are extra lucky!
This is definitely your perfect career! It looks like lots of work, but I’m sure it’s fun and so worthwhile!
Glad your first two days have gone so well!! Does GH do ‘day old’ bread sales?
I can’t wait to visit your bakery one day if I’m ever in Virginia
I’m almost out of the Naturally Nutty peanut butter I bought when I went to Great Harvest in Tempe!
I realize you don’t want to have loaves left over at closing, but could you donate them to a food bank or soup kitchen? I know that some places around here do that, or have in the past anyway.
D’oh I guess I should read the comments before commenting. I saw your reply above.
Yeah, luckily we have one 2 blocks away
Taters rubbed in rosemary + olive oil look awesome as does the caprese salad.
Love your tshirt: Professional Loafer. Too cute!
Being excited about work on Monday and being all jazzed up…AWESOME! It would realllllly suck if you put all this time, money, and energy into a biz and by week #2 of being open, you’d already be dreading monday’s…now that would be a bad sign. So happy you’re lovin it!
Yall seriously have endless amounts of energy!
Theres something about grilling that just screams summer and i just love it
I’ve never had a mint julep either and seeing that one definitely makes me want to try it!
Bread is so much cooler!
I can’t imagine anyone getting excited over selling widgets
I don’t think widgets or computer parts smell the same as bread …
How kind of Karen to do what she can for you two. I hope she is feeling better soon, no fun I am sure. Tell her good energy is being sent her way.
Congrats on a successful opening, makes my mouth water when you talk about the bread and goodies.
What a wonderfully successful day!
Congrats! 
It’s so good to see you enjoying the work you do; wish you both success and happiness!
Since we are not close to you guys I may have to go to the local Great Harvest and get some cookies….they are the best!
What a delicious looking dinner!
And congrats on your bakery’s succcess…knew it would be
So glad everything is going well with the bakery. Very cool!
I’m a longtime reader and it’s been amazing to see your life from one phase to the next.
I’m the same, I don’t care what exactly I’m doing, i just like being around food!
i’m curious if you can keep using “bread” in every post title for all of june!
I would also LOVE to work around food! Hopefully, someday I will be able to!
That’s awesome you are enjoying your job so much! I hope I can say the same thing one day!
congrats on all the success with your bakery! i would definitely love to work around food and BREAD. so much fun!
Congrats on a great 2 days! Are you closed on Sundays?
Yes, one day off for loafing
Hahaha… oh dear
It’s so awesome how much you’re enjoying it all!
Get some good rest on Sunday!
So glad to see you’re happily taking days off
Its so nice to hear that your really enjoying working at the bakery! Its so nice to hear when someone is in a job that they love to do!
Your grilled dinner looks delish!
I am so happy for your successful first two days. I am encouraging my Aunt and Uncle to visit. I stopped by a Great Harvest in Connecticut this weekend. Its about an hour away but well worth the trip. Such good bread. I know exactly what you mean. There is something so special and fullfilling about making and sharing food!
Wishing you well in the coming weeks!
That’s so great that you enjoy it so much. You may not want to cut back to part-time.
Your dinner looked delicious. Is the bakery closed on Sundays or is it open every day?
It sounds like you’ve really found your perfect job. You’re so lucky you’ve found something that makes you smile everyday.
Enjoy your day off today!
Congratulations on your opening! It looks and sounds wonderful. It must be so gratifying to see your hard work pay off. Best of luck in the future!
do you guys have spreads at your bakery? I was at a Great Harvest in Fayetteville, NC and I bought a cream cheese type of spread to take home with my bread that they sold there…it was delicious!!!
Not yet!
It was so great meeting you yesterday, Kath! Your store was amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us and give us those great recommendations. We had an amazing day. Congratulations on a great opening weekend!
It was so nice to meet you guys too!! I didn’t realize you were an RD!! Come back and visit soon
As a Kentucky girl I must point out Maker’s does not a proper Mint Julep make. You need Woodford Reserve!!
Congrats on the bakery. It looks amazing!!!
i like the way you think!
It was so nice to meet you yesterday, Kath! Thanks for posting the photo.
Allison and I also had a great time at Jefferson and Zocalo – thanks again for the recommendations. Great job with the opening of your GH!!
Hey Danielle! I didn’t realize you BOTH were RDs!! How cool!! So glad you got to Jefferson and Zocalo. Did you get the pepper dish!?
What do you do with extra bread at the end of the day? Where I live, I’ve seen bakeries sell it for 50% off (i.e. half hour before closing) or charitable organizations pick it up at no cost.
Oops! I didn’t read your replies before posting.
Working with food and plants is my favorite! Retail us fun when you have a steady flow of customers and work to do.food biz is usually minimal complaints, unlike clothes or hardware.
Those shrimp looks delish!
I love that you are excited about Monday already! You are in the right profession then
It would be great to use the extra loaves for individual bread puddings too!
woah your dinner looks rockin’. YUMM! I love grilled food in the Summer!
Kath! Long time no see/hear! I am so happy to be reading (albeit backwards) that your are baking away. Cheers to you and Matt on a successful bakery opening.
Miss you in Montana… the snow is finally melting off the mountains. Soon we will be taking that treacherous road back up to the reservoir and the falls you didn’t get to see.
Think of you!
PS: My lack of grammar and spelling capabilities in the above statement are 100% the work of my extremely exhausted brain. I blame the baby in the making. Yep. The stork will be visiting us around Thanksgiving. We are currently feeding it REAL food – in honor of you. Oh, and I am typing this while eating fresh bread in Great Harvest – Bozeman.
CONGRATS Janna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I tried grilling shrimp for the first time the other week and it was undercooked
Any suggestions on how you get them just right? Yours look delicious!!
Love your blog!
Stephanie
You just need to leave them on longer!!
My best wished to Karen. Hopes she’s feeling better soon