Not there yet, but getting closer.
In 2014 I was a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling 4 kids ages 5 to 15. We had been baking our own bread and other items since early on in our marriage, and the older kids had started to take over the weekly bread baking as part of their schooling. I even taught some basic bread baking classes in the community. Out of curiosity, Chad took a fresh loaf of bread to work one day to let people try it. He then asked if they would be interested in buying bread. That day he came home with orders for 4 loaves, and our journey began.
This journey started as a homeschool project for the kids to learn business and baking skills, so they were involved in deciding on a name. We all liked Bearfoot Bakery as it helped us feel connected to our Kodiak environment, while also being a pun as we were often barefoot in the kitchen. That first summer began with bi-weekly orders that we would deliver on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and three weeks later we set up our first stand at the Farmer's Market.
Over the years our product line has grown. That first year we took 8 loaves of white sandwich bread and 8 loaves of wheat bread. We also had four different cookies: chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, and oatmeal raisin. After a couple of weeks, we expanded to include cinnamon rolls, pumpkin bread, and banana bread.
We had to become organized and work on timing to make sure that our products were fresh. This meant that nothing was ever frozen. Orders were baked and delivered the same day, and Friday was a marathon baking day to be ready for the market the next day. Baking days were hard as we worked to focus on school and baking. There was never enough time to get everything done. That first summer we gained some great experience and used our profit to purchase our first piece of commercial equipment, a 20 qt mixer.
Yesterday was our final Farmer's Market for the 2022 season. The day was slightly overcast, and the wind picked up about 10 minutes after we had finished setting up. It was a nice day to get out, and there were many people taking advantage of the warmer (60 degrees) fall day. As has happened most weeks during this season, just before 11 am a line began to form at our table, and for the next 35 minutes, we helped people find the right bread or pastry for the day. "Tomato basil goes great with a hearty soup or stew, or use it as a base for a "pizza plank"". "Want something sweet, choose from our cinnamon rolls, cupcakes, or scones." "Sandwich bread, nothing is better than a fresh slice of sourdough loaded with your favorite lunch meat and cheese." Our small little table at our first farmer's market has now grown to 4 tables, 2 for display, and 2 to hold overstock in the back of our tent. While we no longer homeschool and Crystal does most of the baking, we are still a family business. The kids (now teenagers) help with everything from packaging, dishes, and loading up, to setting up and helping customers. They have learned to speak up and talk to adults with confidence. We have brought new products to Kodiak that can not be found anywhere else on the island. Our pretzels, like many of our other items, are unique to Kodiak and sell out extremely fast.
This spring we purchased some additional commercial equipment, a bread slicer, and a dough sheeter. Of the two, I was most excited about the bread slicer. Even before we began our bakery experience I have been slicing bread using a meat slicer. This had been a great resource for slicing a few loaves of bread, but as we have expanded to over 40 loaves of bread at a time for many years, the meat slicer becomes an exhausting and very time-consuming part of the day. It would take a couple of hours to slice everything. Now I can slice a loaf of bread and bag it in under a minute. That is game-changing.
The dough sheeter has proven even more valuable to our bakery plan. We began to realize that we would not have time to master croissants if we waited until the bake shop is open to begin learning. In all our research, there is a pretty good learning curve here. We began mixing up multiple batches of croissant dough each week, learning the tips and tricks as we connect over social media with more experienced and professional bakers around the world. Our first try was passable as the shape resembled a croissant, but it lacked the signature honeycomb interior as well as the tell-tale flaky crunch. We have experimented with hydration ratios and protein content in flour. We have tried multiple shaping techniques to find just the right product. We are not there yet, but we are getting closer.
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