@THEDUSTYKNUCKLE

Monday 24 November 2014

AN OVERDUE UPDATE

Wow… It’s been a whole 8 weeks since we last did an entry.  That’s testament to the total consumption it has been setting up shop though, not our apathy towards writing blogs!

We’ve been anything but lazy these last few months.  From the inauguration of the container (leaky doors, blown fuses), to learning to cycle 80 kilos worth of bread (creaky gears, bungees), to meeting Michelle Roux Jr. (intimidating, handsome), we have covered a range of  emotions, events  and new skills learnt. 
And now finally we have a moment (or at least a couple of hours) to reflect, remedy and appreciate.
So to summarise, this is how our month has gone:

Week 1-2 - Renovate container:  All our boys, who are now officially on the wrong side of thirty, generously gave us their time while Daisy and I made cups of tea and bacon sandwiches. I then spent last week complaining about my lack of drilling skills.  Serves me right! Gendered labour division can be hard to avoid.  Especially when you love making bacon sarnies and your boyfriend is a builder.




Week 3-4 Product testing:  Mostly successful until we realised that nothing comes out very well if the thermometer on the wall reads just 5 degrees! After a freezing, gruelling few days of wondering why our bread wasn’t happy, we realised we needed to severely crank up that water temp.  This was contrary to our efforts back at Max’s flat, when we were trying to get the dough cold enough by adding ice. 

Weeks 4-6 The BBC Good Food show!
Total shit fight, each of us working 60 hours in 4 days. We turned up at Dalston at 2am - a harsh reminder of what our lives were like 5 years ago, before we had kids, and before trying to start a social enterprise.  As people all around us were drinking and partying, we hunkered down to work and put the oven to its first real test. 
With the help of some circa '98 mix cd’s I found in my boyfriend’s old room at his mum’s, and Mcdonalds coffee which Max kindly bought each morning, we smashed it!  It was so satisfying to showcase our new range of bread and delicious pastries to the general public. Turns out that, under pressure, and with top notch ricotta salata, pancetta and chegworth squash we make the best damn Focaccia this side of Pisa.




Now, onto the future....

Finally stage one is drawing to a close (the renovation of our shipping container) and with stage two starting to come together (building up products, trade and work schedule) we are hopeful it will not be long before stage 3 commences, when we can start employing young people in a supportive and inspiring (if slightly chilly) environment.

Coming up…..

We will be showcasing our delights -including our delicious lamb wraps - at the Hackney Winter Village market http://www.timeout.com/london/shopping/christmas-markets-and-fairs-in-london?pageNumber=4 in two weeks time.  We are also continuing to make bread regularly for all our wholesale customers. Whilst we function as a wholesale bakery we have spare bread most days so please do pop down to get your daily loaf. We are there from Tuesday- Saturday.
We have been so thankful to everyone’s love and support, in particular a huge shout out to Lee Belcher http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/b-a-m-christies-magazine-redesign. who designed our logo. 


And to Simon http://www.simonmemel.com/ who made our beautiful signs for the BBC GFS.

Right, off to get my kid from school now before sending some invoices and working out how to use that drill!


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