Farmers' Market

My weeks seem to go from one extreme to the next. One week will be so relaxing and not much going on and then the next one will have me baking, filling orders multiple days, busy with the kid's activities, etc. Last week was one of those.

We started softball for our oldest, Marissa. Gracie still has dance for another month. I had a pretty big order for our friend's dad's retirement party Friday night, a graduation order, Marissa had a bake sale and it was the start of farmers' market season. To top it off I had a nasty cold all week and not much of a voice either. Today is the first day I'm starting to feel a little better.

It was an extremely busy week regardless but I was super excited to be back at our downtown Saturday morning market. I took last year off because I found myself too busy with regular cake/cupcake orders plus I had quite a few large weddings to do as well. This year I've teamed up with a friend of mine, we used to be neighbors and our daughters have been friends since kindergarten. She's recently started her own gourmet popcorn business and is opening up a storefront in town. Local readers check out her facebook page, Here's What's Poppin. She'll have a store in downtown Cedar Falls right on Main Street and is anticipating on opening in June.

Our weather was really crappy last week, it started off really nice but by Wednesday we had cold temps and even snow! With my busy schedule and the weather I decided against bringing cupcakes to the first day, I didn't want to be stuck with dozens of leftovers and have to try to get rid of them. I generally bring about four other items with me, baked goods of course and usually a mixture between breakfast items, cookies, bars, pies or just whatever I feel like baking that week.

Here's a peek at the goodies I had at my booth:

Cinnamon rolls are always popular. I love to bring them every week and I think customers like to grab one and enjoy as they browse.

Muffins are another good seller for me. My sister-in-law loves these baked pumpkin doughnut holes, I made these with her in mind.

Another reason I love being a vendor is I get a chance to try out lots of recipes during our six-month season. I found this through Pinterest and thought it would be a fun cookie for kids. These jello cookies were sure fun to make but unfortunately were not a good seller for me. Maybe once school's out and more kids are in attendance...I don't know.

Oh my were these good! Of course I had to sample just a little. This was another new recipe I tried out. I can see these caramel snickers 7-layer bars making a regular appearance, I only brought home one little container and everyone seemed to love them. These are definitely one of the most decadent bars I've ever made.