Have you ever been asked the question, "if money wasn't an issue and you could do what you love, what would it be?" Mine has always been to own a small bakery in a small downtown hole in the wall, preferably on the corner with windows. One where I can bake whatever I want or am in the mood for! I would just love to share my talent! I love making food for people and thoroughly enjoy sharing it with them!
With that in mind, once I started work, my breastmilk supply went down. I wasn't always able to pump regularly and sometimes went the entire shift without pumping. Naturally, my supply took a hit. I had heard many things to help boost the supply up. I've heard of the vitamin you can take, but had heard that it makes you smell like maple syrup. I wasn't willing to be a walking pancake, so that was out. I had heard about lactation cookies. I called around and turns out... They are expensive! A dozen for $20 or $25. And the best part was that you had to eat two or three a day to see a difference! I couldn't believe it!
I'm a self proclaimed good baker, so I thought, "dude, I'll bake some myself." I purchased ingredients and whipped up a batch. They were delicious! My husband was even eating them! They were helping too! I began making a couple batches at a time and freezing them in sets of 12. After this, I began having this great idea! What if... I made some and then sold them for cheaper than the "big dogs" like $10 a dozen? I would love to do this especially for the moms who don't use lactation cookies as a solution because of the price! My husband even thought of a fantastic idea to donate the profits to a charity or organization that benefited breastfeeding moms or helped support moms who aren't fortunate enough to breastfeed or even just to the children's hospital here. I absolutely loved this idea! To think, I would be able to share my talents, help moms in need, and even have the opportunity to give back! I was sold!
Here comes the rain cloud.... I asked on a Facebook forum for moms to see what interest there would be and I was extremely let down. There was plenty of interest, but I also came to find that there were a lot of rules. Apparently to legally sell baked goods, you have to be state inspected. The application seemed easy enough and someone would have to observe a batch being made to make sure I was washing my hands, baking things at the right temps, having my supplies stored properly, cleaned properly, etc. I was reading the NC department requirements and I came to find that there could be no animals in the house to even apply for inspection. I looked at my two sweet puppies (who are hypoallergenic non-shedding dogs) and sighed a big sigh... Even though they are the worst puppies in the world sometimes, I couldn't kick them out....
Bye bye baking dreams... Bye bye...
I was kind of disappointed. I was really hoping to make a difference. I understand why rules are placed and it is really for my own protection. What if someone were to get food poisoning and they claimed it was from my cookies. I could get sued now a days. I just seem to think sometimes that we can't just do nice things for people anymore without worrying about the negative. Especially in this "sue happy" day and age. Sure I could probably rent a kitchen space, but the amount of work to haul all my supplies there, bake, package, and find somewhere to safely store my "product" is just too much. Not to mention that the rental fee would steeply cut into profits.
Good intentions, but not something I can not do right now. Who knows, it might be fun to do a fund raiser for some cause where I could do a "one time" kitchen rental and see how it goes from there. Maybe one day!
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