Thoughts

Some days at the bakery when the dishes are piled up, I've burnt the second batch of the same cookie and I just can't seem to manage gravity - I think I could just walk out. And then most days, I see the faces that are becoming more and more familiar and realise how much Nana's really is a family. We all have good days and bad days and no matter what, family is always there for you. I can't believe I've grown so attached to this place in the short amount of time I've been working here.
Yesterday Doug was talking to the repair man (The door came off the fridge- we'll call that a bad day!) and he said some of the nicest things about me and made me realise how truly lucky I was to be working for him. He gave me my first job in a bakery, he started my apprenticeship for me I really do owe the beginning of my career to him. Thank you for everything Doug.
The funny thing is when I was looking for my first real career job there were two bakeries that stood out to me. One that made elegant desserts and cakes with real butter, my dream job. Then this bakery which made sugar free items and no butter. I thought going into the bakery I wouldn't want to work there. I applied to many more, but I was hired at both of these places. I absolutely disliked the fancy place! Turns out the one place I didn't think I wanted to work at was my dream job. Doug has a quote "Everyone deserves a cookie." And it's so true, when someone comes in who has an allergy and can finially eat something from a bakery or have something made especially for them, seeing the joy on their face makes it so worth it and gives me so much pride. One year ago I had no idea what kind of baker I would be and now I believe I've found my place!

Loczki Day at Nana's

Today, Fat Tuesday, we celebrated by making over 1000 Loczkis at the bakery. The 'Loczki' is our low fat low calorie version of a paczki. We had Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Lemon & Custard.

Arms Boomnlang from AM800 came to broadcast from the bakery and helped out a bit too. We'd also like to give him a special thanks, our phone was off the hook and we couldn't get them out of the oven fast enough!

Doug was in the kitchen at 2:30am and we closed up shop at 7:00pm. He never complains and his hard work shows.

This is how our aprons looked at the end of the day, along with the floors, counters, hands, hats. . So much Jelly!

Thanks to everyone who helped out and to the new faces we met. We hope to see you again and welcome to Nana's kitchen.

Deliciousness....

mmmm...strawberries dipped in chocolate and rolled in deliciousness!

mmmmore....

and

Black Forest Torte

Boston Cream Pie...

Linda and Si getting it just right!

and I really liked those strawberries.

James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" is playing in the background. It must be Saturday morning at t he bakery. Over Easy is on the radio, love that session on 94.7.

"Goodmorning" is heard through the bakery as I make my way through the diningroom. I stop and chat with customers on my way to the kitchen. Familiar faces greet me. There's Doug in the back. I see his face, there's comfort there. As I put the fresh baking out I'm thinking of how much I enjoy Saturdays. It's more relaxed , the music is on and the orders are finished for the week.

This week is a little different. Saturday night is Dessert Night. Doug and Linda have prepared special desserts, all the fat and sugar please! Something we don't usually do. Wow...what beautiful things they can make with food. I sit and mingle with everyone a little longer tonight.

Barbs Blog

This blog is a little different than other blogs. There are different contributors to this blog. Linda set it up, she is Doug's right hand in the kitchen, Doug wrote the post previous to this and I'm Barb. My husband Doug and I own Nana's Bakery, though I do feel every customer owns the bakery.

It's like a family here and customers actually help out when it's busy.

Doug recently had surgery for cancer. If it weren't for you, amazing customers, family and friends, I wouldn't have made it through. You really showed me God's power of love and strength. Besides holding an amazing Wellness Benefit, you helped us by doing dishes and waiting on other customers. I will never forget your kind words of love and support.

I have learned many things over the last 13 years at Nana's.

# 1. I can work by my husband's side (not to close) and still love him.

# 2. A customer showed me how to make Tea properly - you have to boil the water!

# 3 I can work 60 hours a week. At first I put 80 hours, I don't know it I could do that anymore!

# 4 My son presents pickles on a plate like a work of art.

# 5 My children don't want to own a bakery and that's ok.

# 6 We are never going to own a clock that works at the bakery.

# 7 We are never going to be millionaires, and that's ok.

# 8 We have three hardworking, noble, respectfull children, and I love them.

# 9 The older I get the greyer things have become. When I was twenty everything was black and white, right or wrong. Now things are grey.

# 10 Everybody has something - none of us get out of here without some kind of disappointment, heartbreak or hurt. We all want the same thing out of life. Love, happiness, usefullness, family, friendship... Enjoy moments as they come. I hope every neighborhood has a

"Nana's Bakery". It makes everything else a little easier to take. You are all special, thanks for being a part of my world!

This is just a short note to let everyone know that this Sat. Feb 13 from 6 to 9 at night we will be having a dessert night. This will be Linda's first night and she will be the one in the kitchen doing the desserts. We will be having 6 different desserts and 7 items you can buy.
Black Forest Tort, Upside Down Apple Pie, Bread Pudding with a choice of sauces, Cheese Cake of some kind, Filled Puff Pastry Cups, a Mystery dessert (not sure what it is Yet) and the 7th is a 1/2 portion of any of the other desserts. Hope to see you there.

Lowczki's are my version of a low fat paczki. These are a traditional Polish filled donut that is served on fat Tuesday or the day before Ash Wednesday. If you are interested call and order early as they are made by hand and we can only make so many.

Welcome to Nana's Bakery
Your first question is what is Nana's Bakery and why is it special. We are a bakery that specialize in making products for customers who can not find items at other bakeries, such as diabetic, low fat, milk free, wheat free, gluten free, celiac, autism etc. The other thing that we offer is conversation.
You can think of Nana's in 2 ways;
1. We are like your Nana's or grandmothers kitchen where family and friends gather to discuss different things.
2. We are the neighborhood pub without the alcohol.
Topics range from horse racing and sports to you name it. Some of the recent topics discussed are 2012 and the Mayan calendar, pyramids and when they were built, Nibaru and the 10th planet theory, local council meetings, city greenlink construction, world cup soccer, you can see that we cover everything and anything.
Recently a gentleman came in with a request for bread and cookies. This should not have been a problem for most bakeries but he came into us as he was turned away from 3 other bakeries who told him to see me (Doug the Baker) because I could solve his problem. He had a full page of items that he could not have. The main ones are, eggs, all dairy products, soy, almonds, peanuts, some fruits, some spices, sunflower oil, chocolate and others. So you can see Linda and I had a problem to work on. We came with a bread and a general cookie recipes that Linda made into 2 different kinds. His wife came in and picked up the products. An hour later he can in to thank me and as he said he could eat again, he also ordered more products. The next day he came back for the new items and told Linda that she was his new best friend.
An ongoing conversation is the Windsor Spitfires hockey club (2009 Memorial Champions) and their run for another title. As far as I can see along with the customers it should be a good run until the finals in Brandon Manitoba. Their major competition in Ontario will come from the Barrie Colts. As December 21 2012 comes closer I will try to keep you up on the information.
That is it for to-day, later in the week I will put up a recipe for Strawberry Margarita Cheese Cake.