Decisions....Decisions.....Gutters.....and the Bacon Baguette....

We have a plumber!! and an electrician. After 3 weeks of meetings with plumbers, we made our decision today. As John said,"We won't have to sell a body part to pay for it." Well, maybe John will have to sell something to pay for the electrician. Perhaps an ear or something. We'll talk about it to see what he can spare. It's a very exciting turning point as the contractor and worker bees are almost at a stand still until the electrical and plumbing get under way. Well not exactly a stand still as they are at week 3 on working on the siding of the building, digging 2' trenches alongside the building (50' long) and filling them with gravel for drainage. They also have been busy preparing the wood storage area that is roughly 20'x 10' and will be fenced with a gate and a door only accessible inside of the bakery.

I think they are enjoying the slow time because tomorrow all the trusses, drywall arrive (and I don't really know what else). The contractor.....we'll call him Donavan, says that this is the biggest delivery yet. Dale, the mason, is going to Vegas on Friday for a week and will return back to work next Friday. Dale will finish up laying the 8" cinder block tomorrow. He is an incredible mason. I just like to watch him work. It is so fascinating to mix all the mortar and lay a ton of weight on it and have it hold. I think I like it because it is the consistency of frosting. The walls are 5 blocks high and 13'x14'. He tells the riff/raff that walk by that he is building a jail. So, while Dale and his wife are away in Vegas (seeing Bette Middler) Donavan will build the housing for the oven (trusses, walls, roofing, etc.) and when Dale comes back he will be working from the inside of the bakery and keeping dry.

Speaking of keeping dry, here we are, middle of Jan. and I squashed the first wasp and mosquito of 2010! It was 60 degrees today and sunny skies. We have daffodils coming already! All I say is we need some hard freezes or the bugs and slugs are going to be outrageous this spring and summer.

We have 4 doors on order and they should be delivered anytime. A solid glass door for the front of the bakery, a set of double glass doors leading out to the garden area and 2 metal doors for the rear and side woodpile entry. We are hoping to put windows above the oven. One on each side of the chimney about 10' up on the wall.

Keith has been eying these massive windows at Habitat for Humanity for a while. Okay, I bought them. And could only afford to buy them. They will be installed next fall or winter because we have to completely re-engineer the wall of the front of the bakery to support them. There are four of them...5'x7' tall, solid glass with a transom/crank window at the top that houses 12 window panes. They are wood on the inside and metal on the outside and tempered. We all know how much these would cost, but I got all four windows for the price of one window. I've been banned from going out alone.

We have gutters up as of about 6 hours ago~! (Oohhh, I just found the squigley....all these years). They stretch 50' down both sides of the bakery and we have 4 downspouts. We are coming out of the ghetto. The guys also pressure washed the west side today. Juan brought home 15 gallons of primer (tinted pink). The town folks are going to freak out when they see Pepto Bismol pink being painted on the building. I personally think we should leave it there as long as we can.

So today, we baked 96 loaves of bread for the markets this Sat. We are supplying 4 restaurants and 1 winery each week with bread. My goal is to get a dozen restaurants by July. Juan will be delivering some bread on Sat. in hopes to pick up a new one called Uncorked. Tomorrow, a new bread. The bacon baguette will make it's debut!!! Yes, the vegetarian in the house is so excited to make the bacon baguette. I must even try it to perfect it. It will be lightly seasoned with rosemary salt on the tops before going in the brick oven. Along with another 131 loaves to bake. It makes for a good nights rest and an early morning......Mornings.....hmmmm....they used to be so restful. Now I start by getting Dale set up and stacking all his blocks in rows, mortar boards at a certain height, the hose in place (hooked on the mortar mixer), breaking down the plywood that is supposed to keep people out and returning home to bake delicious bread. Don't forget to pull the butter out of the fridge so it comes to room temp by the time the first loaves of bread are out of the oven. Have you discovered using a potato peeler to get butter curls off of a cold stick/pound of butter yet? I personally pull the pound of butter out and use the cheese knife that is equipped with a razor blade.

We do love our life and each other. We are so fortunate to have our friends, family, community.... and John being so talented to play the piano as I write.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Off to dream about bacon baguettes.

Keith and John
The Bread Board....where food, culture and community intersect.