Today was crazy wonderful!! We had so many people in the store that we sold out of all the breads but Cheddar Garlic by 4PM!!! Next week we’ll have to make double 🙂
I had a few bites of bread + granola in between customers. They are hard to document, but they are my sustenance!
And then Matt and I closed up shop.
He studied the week’s sales while I counted the cash and worked on reconciliation and Quickbooks.
I’m telling you, there is NOTHING worse for a number cruncher than inaccuracy and I feel that’s all we’ve had all week! We’re still learning our fancy registers and their strengths and weaknesses, and I’m so frustrated with this part of the day! It should be my favorite time (because I love crunching numbers…and granola..) but when things are off, it does not make me happy one bit! Every single day something goes wrong. Today we had a power outage and just general stuff. We’re also waiting for a better reconciliation spreadsheet from GH, and one we have that the bookkeeping side should be easier.
But after a nice bike ride home, we had just the relaxing Saturday evening. [I cannot believe it is Saturday!?!!!]
My mom’s childhood friend (and the son of the man who baptized me when I was a baby) lives just north of Charlottesville and works in the wine business. He stopped into the bakery this week and gave us a bottle of Cabernet Franc from his very own winery, Castle Gruen!
His last name is Grueneburg, so the label is a twist on that, as it means Green castle (I think!). [And cool since we used to live on Gruenewald Lane!]
We enjoyed the wine so much – I love Cab Franc!
We took a while to debrief on the porch swing. Things are going well, but we have a lot of systems to tweak and little things to make the bakery better.
Then we feasted.
During this busy time, dinner tonight was courtesy of the Copper River Salmon Flavor Sampling Club! Copper River’s spokesfolks sent me this beautiful piece of fresh salmon on ice yesterday, and it was perfect timing for dinner tonight. Of all the salmon varieties, King (aka Chinook) is my very favorite. It seems to be the most succulent of King/Sockeye/Coho and it’s the one I look for on menus. It also has the highest omega-3s of all salmon species!
I absolutely LOVE wild Alaskan salmon and grill servers to find out whether their salmon is farmed or wild. There is no comparison in flavor, nutrition or sustainability from farmed to wild.
Tonight’s fish was absolutely incredible. We seared it in olive oil to form a nice crisp and then baked it at 400* for about 15 minutes until it was cooked through in the same stainless skillet. On top: Pestos with Panache Strawberry Basil was such a fun and delicious pairing!
On the side we served leftover brown rice that we stir-fried in an egg and combined with lots of smoked paprika
And leftover Karen coleslaw
Simple easy, thank goodness!
SO EXCITED TO HAVE A DAY OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
for a person that has worked at the front desk of a business, if the drawer comes up short, don’t automatically place blame on the cashiers….i got written up…twice….and come to find out, it wasn’t my fault (which i knew in the first place), the register was messing up. not that you would do this, but just fyi. glad you get the day off! relaxxx!
Oh I didn’t mean I’m blaming employees!! It’s more about the reports – gift cards, “non-sales revenue” – it’s more the register I need to learn about
oh i know, i’m just saying!! haha you’re too nice to do that! 🙂
One summer, I had a fabulous time working as hostess at an upscale restaurant right on the river in my hometown. It would’ve been the best job ever … except that I was responsible for reconciling everything and sorting tips at the end of the night. Argh. I never got consistent numbers that summer. But the social aspect of meeting diners and hanging by the bar was such fun! I know you’ll get it worked out in the next week, Kath!
In my vast retail experience (food, coffee and home goods) I can say that it is very common to the registers to be off, either because something was rang in wrong, or someone gave back the wrong amount of money.
It is always frustrating, but not uncommon.
You definitely deserve a day off after such a busy busy week! 🙂
Sockeye/King salmon is my favorite too! It is so unique and flavorful! I especially love it sashimi style at sushi restaurants! So buttery and delish!
I’m going to mail order some salmon now . . .
yup, welcome to owning and running your own business. usually when your drawer is short or over it will even itself out at some point, so it’s rarely a big deal. things aren’t going to go 100% smoothly and those are some of the joys of the process. you’ll learn a lot!
There was Cheddar Garlic leftover?! Man, I missed out! I sincerely hope somebody took it home!
Your last line=how I felt Thursday afternoon. BUT I must say I can’t wait for Monday!
Enjoy your day of rest – you definitely deserve it!!! I can’t believe you sold of almost everything by 4 – you must be doing a lot of things right. I also can’t believe that Cheddar Garlic was the leftover flavor. I think that’d be the first one I’d want to try!
Love the swing pics 🙂
It is frustrating not having numbers add up. We encounter it a lot and tax season is a nightmare…it does get easier over time though.
Have a great day off!
I wish I liked salmon. Maybe I’ve just never had it cooked properly. Looks amazing
I admire you guys so much for taking on the challenge of owning your own business. My boyfriend mentioned to me tonight that maybe I could own a business in the future (he has a few ideas of what it could be!), but I don’t know that I could ever handle the stress of it all! Hope it all evens out for you!
Sorry to hear that your number have been off! You will get there.. it is all a learning process. Business seems to be realllly bumpin though since you are selling OUT of your yummy breads.
okay so my daughter and i read your blog faithfully and i have written in before about how we eat your oatmeal now ( we make it and love it). well we live in oklahoma and are 2 hours from a great harvest and it is in tulsa, oklahoma, we drove there today and had sandwiches and loved it so much! i had the dakota bread and my daughters and husband had the honey wheat. everything tasted so fresh and good:) so now when you talk about any of the foods we can relate because we saw it all for ourselves. we also drove over to whole foods and we are fixing to get one in oklahoma city:) cannot wait for that! now if we can just get a great harvest here in oklahoma city that would be the best! we just love your blog so much and cannot wait to see each update:)
diana from oklahoma
Yayyyy!
You and your husband are so adorable!! Wow, I’m surprised something called Cheddar Garlic Bread didn’t sell out. I would’ve bought some!
You two look tired and so happy! It has been fun following you in this very exciting process! I am impressed with your dedication to us, your loyal readers. So I thank you for letting us go along on this very fun ride. Enjoy your Saturday night!
I’m always so amazed at the wonderful easy meals you come up with. That dinner looks AWESOME. Best of luck with figuring out the bookkeeping, I can imagine that would be frustrating!
Happy weekend! 🙂 Go play! You earned it!
That is my FAVORITE way to cook salmon! Crisp on the outside, perfectly cooked on the inside 🙂
Can’t believe Matt is still standing…he works SO hard. Hats off to both of you. I’m sure your business will be a great success.
Your posts are so inspirational and informational! I love your daily eats! ou’ve motivated me to start my own blog. I’m hoping to complete a race per month for the next year. Hope you check it out!
Namaste!
Hi Kath,
I have to tell you I was on a mission today! I traveled 30 miles to go to the Farmers market because Great harvest Bread Company was there! I kept reading your posts and looking at the yummy bread, I just had to have some! I was so excited, like a kid in the Candy Store! I bought Woodstock, low carb Wheat and Oregon Herb! OMG! I had the Oregon Herb with dinner tonight. I toasted it on the grill and used Trader Joe’s Honey Apple Butter on it! So good! Tomorrow’s breakfast will be Woodstock bread with drippy peanut butter and banana’s. I can’t wait to go to bed just so I can wake up and have some bread! Thank you for sharing your stories! Wish I had a Great Harvest bread Co near me! Maybe you should open one up here in Northern California? Have a great rest of the night!!
We’re not opening another GH – running one is the fun part!! 🙂
So glad you liked it.
I don’t blame you for being excited for your day off, you two deserve it!
I’m always so inspired that you cook such wonderful meals after such long days 🙂
Kath!
I saw your smiling face on weather.com in that Open Sky ad!
Keep smiling and have a lovely day off tomorrow.
mmmm bread and granola – i just BAKED granola BREAD!
Phew you must be beat! You are one busy lady!
Sorry to hear about the numbers not adding up — when I worked in retail management I HATED when the register didn’t add up right — things not coded properly, coupons, etc. It was so frustrating so I feel your pain!
Hey Kath…
I was just looking at the website for my local news station and there you were on and ad for OpenSky!!
Enjoy your day off tomorrow and I’m sure you guys will get the kinks worked out soon.
You’re dinner looks so delicious! That salmon has me salivating and thinking about the buttery and rich fish. I love that shot of the wine glass with the exposed background!
And congrats on selling out!!! Of course your beautiful breads are a big hit 😀
So much to say…my husband has business associates and friends in the Copper River area and we have been sent salmon by them….omg, to die for fish. You are so right. Yours looks amazing!
And gifts of wine from friends who work in the wine biz…oh yes, I need friends like that!
The numbers being off an inaccuracies and the little details driving you nuts? I am the same way! And money is never a little detail, of course 🙂
Enjoy your day off!!
I am sure that you both could use some R&R!!!
I am sure that owning a business can be mentally and physically draining at times, but very rewarding as well 🙂
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
I used to get so worked up in my accounting class when the numbers didn’t tally up so I can only imagine your frustration as it’s to do with real life!
I am SO bad with numbers- I don’t think I could ever run a business for that reason!
Enjoy your day off it’s very much well deserved.
I’m curious…isn’t farmed vs. wild sort of a grey area when in comes to salmon? From what I understand, if we all ate wild salmon, we’d deplete the population. I may be wrong! I’m interested because instinctively I’d go for wild…it seems more in line with my ethics about how the animals we intend to eat are raised…but then again, it certainly doesn’t seem to be all that earth-friendly to wipe out entire populations of fish! Does anyone know more about this issue?
I think the answer falls under the “everyone should eat less meat” philosophy. I’m not quite sure though – I hadn’t looked at it that way.
That salmon is beauuuutiful! I can’t believe they sent you samplers — one day, one day
Glad to see you two get some R&R!
Whew- you guys have had a challenging week, but great for sure. Soak up tomorrow as much as you can– you guys totally earned it 🙂 Have a lovely day off!
Enjoy your day off…you deserve it! I was looking something up on dictionary.com today and saw this come up as the word of the day. Maybe you’ve already heard of it, but it made me think of you, so I thought I’d share:
kerf
\KURF\ , noun;
1.A cut or incision made by a saw or the like in a piece of wood.
2.In mining, a deep cut a few inches high, used to undermine a portion of a coal or mineral seam.
3.The act of cutting or carving.
….it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be included in that definition!
wild salmon > farmed salmon.. ’nuff said!
Such a big + exciting week for you guys!!! Sounds like things went super smoothly and I’m sure you’ll get all of the money-counting things in order soon. To be expected at first, I would think. So wish I could stop by!! Our local GH makes a gluten free bread that looks amazing. I’ll have to try it out sometime!
I’ve had the GF bread and it’s the best I’ve ever tasted!
Have you had the GF pizza dough? I’m thinking of buying it when my BIL comes to visit since he has celiac disease.
No, but if it’s Great Harvest I’m sure it’s good!
my thought exactly! we tried the regular pizza dough last weekend. it was fabulous!
Have a wonderful and well earned day off!
Everything about this post makes my mouth water. Cab.. my favorite wine. Salmon.. my favorite fish. Bread.. my fav food. Love this!
That salmon looks amazing!!!
Copper River salmon is the best! I get mine fresh caught by my husband. :-). We love it and are happy to live where we can catcgph our own. That sauce looks amazing on it. Enjoy your day of R & R
I had GH bread for the first time today (I know, I know, have I been living under a rock? It’s especially heinous because I have one right here in my town!) – Blueberry Cream Cheese, I think it was? Absolutely deeeelicious! Y’all enjoy your day off, you deserve it!
Yay 🙂
So nice for you to be able to visit with Dean and get some great wine. Dinner looks yummy. A lot of businesses close their registers a couple of hours before the end of the day, so at closing time, the doors are locked and you are walking out. Say, after the lunch menu close at 3:00, close out for the day, and immediately re-open the register to run through 3:00 the next day. You are essentially getting the same 24 hours. Maybe after some time passes and you find it really only takes 30 minutes to close out, gradually back that time from close out closer to 30 minutes before closing time–the last 30 minutes of the day isn’t going to make that much difference for that day’s actual numbers…especially for the savings in frustration and luxury of walking out the door at closing time.
Wow, I never thought of doing it that way. Something to think about! I’ll have to see if any other owners do that. My guess is there wouldn’t be time to close at 3pm since we’re so busy then, but it would be nice to leave right at 6
“Grueneburg” means “green castle” – you are right ^^ So happy the bakery is off to a great start!
My goodness that salmon looks thick and delicious…what a perfect sear you got!
I love salmon! Food looks so delicious 🙂
I’m the same way. I love working with numbers but if there’s ever an unknown reason for them to be off, it drives me half insane. Don’t worry though, it’s only the first week of being open. It will all flow together. 😀
looks like the perfect dinner to have after a long day!
I had to take a first year business class for my nutrition degree and I found that I loved the number crunching, but it was so annoying when my numbers didn’t balance. So I can totally relate to your frustration! And it must be a thousand times worse since you’re dealing with a REAL business and not just a fake business case. 😛 I’m sure things will become easier with time though.
Hi Kath,
I have a question that has nothing to do with this particular post but I’m really hoping that you help! I am a brand new lover of muesli and if my memory serves me correct, you have written some posts about it. Will you help me get to those posts?
Thanks!
Here’s my page on overnight oats: https://www.katheats.com/favorite-foods/overnightoats
The thickness and color of your salmon is amazing! Salmon is my FAVORITE fish to eat!
My two sons are fisherman for Copper River Salmon! They both finished college and then back to fishing. They love the lifestyle. Work hard, then travel. Glad you enjoyed the salmon.
urgghhh I know what you mean – I do our budget….for 2 State Parks – it has to match perfect, bad thing is – we have a few hands in our pot, and some of them do not like to send me receipts!! Talk about headache – it’s every month trying to track it down! BUT I must admit I love crunching the numbers 🙂 (we use quicken, which I believe is like quickbooks – lovely reconciling woot)!! your food looks YUM!
Question for you Kath. My dad loves salmon but never eats it unless it is farmed. He does this because he feels that eating wild caught salmon is depleting the natural salmon population and the fish are actually not as common as they once were. He has spent a lot of time traveling and has always seemed to know about food sources and sustainability. Can you explain why wild caught is better so I can talk to him about it? I actually don’t even eat fish, but I know salmon is one of his favorite meals and yet he never orders it. Thanks!
This is my go-to resource on seafood info and it says to avoid farmed
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=17
Salmon is one of my favorite foods but I never make it at home.
Coming from a commercial fisherman, wild salmon is where its at! in alaska you see bumper stickers that say things like, friends dont let friends do drugs; dont eat farmed fish!
Cheddar Garlic is my favorite bread! I’m shocked that it didn’t sell out. In Burke, VA, if we didn’t make it to the store by noon it would be gone. That and the Challah bread. There was also this bread they made in the summer… red white and blueberry (I think)… it was awesome!
Enjoy your day off today! Y’all deserve it. I hope the pebbles in the road become less obvious in time. Happy Sunday!
That salmon is gorgeous! I need to find a source for wild chinook. Yum!
I can’t think of someone who needs a day off more 😉
That salmon looks amazing! I agree that there is no comparison between farmed and wild salmon…
I visited the Castle Gruen winery a few months ago! My roommate’s parents live in the area and took us there – I looooved their red wines!
I am obsessed with the Copper River Salmon! YUM!