The edges of a typhoon system that passed through the South China Sea gave us a little relief with winds and the occasional shower. But mostly, we are all slugs moving slowly in a sea of hot air. Business is down all over.
I decided that, until we have more staff, we are closed Mondays. It's just as well. I need to renew my visa today, and check on a wire transfer of funds that is floating out in the electronic airwaves somewhere but after two weeks has not yet landed into my bank account here. And of course, there are still things we lack in the kitchen. There's a restaurant supply market at the east end of town, in an area called 'jiu long' or nine dragons. It's a long bus ride, but I should be able to get everything there. We need more towels, more bowls, larger plastic boxes. I hope I remember everything, because I'd rather be sitting at home in an air conditioned room. That is, I don't want to repeat this trip too often.
Strider, one of my former students at Changzhou University, has put an ad on the internet again to help me find more workers. I found a guy who looks like a good candidate to learn to be a baker. He starts Aug. 12. He graduated from the Engineering college (equivalent to our AA) with a major in sports. He's a swim coach. He lives near enough so that I can ask him to open up at 6 am. each day, once he's trained, which will help enormously in our ability to crank out more items suitable to the Chinese lunch habits.
I've made a few trips up to visit Johnny at his restaurant, Jolly's, in Xin Bei. He is very supportive, but although he doesn't want to admit it, in fact his business is way down too. He keeps nit picking the things I bring him, but I think it is more that he just hasn't the customer traffic right now to support buying my bread.
I've cultivated a nice sour dough culture. The taste is good. Now I have to work on shape and presentation. I suppose it all has to do with having the right equipment. This kind of dough is very soft. The only way to create a nice shape is to support it firmly in something like a mold, from hours of proofing all the way into the oven without ever removing the support.
I made a nice cheese-garlic round loaf. This will be a nice addition to the menu, once I have regular western customers.
I have a few of my former Web students who make it a point to come in regularly and each time try something different. I love their spirit!
Another best seller among the Chinese is the cinnamon raisin loaf. The westerners also buy it, the few who come in. It's easy to make, I enrich it with whole wheat and oats yet keep the white soft texture. It bakes up into a nice tall loaf and looks attractive. We've posted the pics at our web site. I don't have them on this computer, but you can follow the link: grandmasnook.com, and then click on the link there which will take you to our blog.
Tina is maintaining the blog. She is such a blessing! I told her to take the day off today. She asked if I'd mind her coming in anyway, because she is worried about discouraging the local customer base we're nurturing.
Saturday is her regular day off. She has Japanese lessons in the afternoon. I came into the shop that day before 8 bursting with energy and purpose. The day before I had prepared a large dough base, enough for twenty loaves. I also had other things on the back burner, like my rustic bread and also the sourdough.
With that huge base, which is made from 50% flour and 100% water fermented overnight with yeast, I was able to come up with a large variety of breads. For example, 1/4 rye flour, 1/4 rough whole wheat. Or another using oats, a special Canadian wheat that smells like chocolate, and again the rough whole wheat. I was able to make three cinnamon loaves with that base as well.
It was a mad house in the kitchen, with all the equipment, doughs, flours and other ingredients spilling out across the work table. I haven't a large enough plastic box for overnight proofing, so the dough always explodes and seeps out onto the under pan. I had to keep that messy pan on the table for most of the afternoon, as I gradually dipped into the dough to concoct some other bread. Xiao Lan is Rachel's mother, and it is her name on my business license. She has taken the position of our kitchen slave (for a salary). I kept her sink full the whole day! When she wasn't washing and drying pots, scrapers, pans, she was mopping up the floor, cleaning surfaces as I moved from the big work table to the small work table and back again.
Some breads I baked the same day. I good number of them I put in the refrigerator to be baked on Sunday morning. On Sunday I augmented that start with another batch of a type of bread that doesn't need the overnight fermentation. I figured that the weekend might bring us in a bit more traffic, so I wanted to have as much on the shelves as I thought would sell.
One hiccup. On Saturday night I asked the night shift guy to put certain breads in the freezer. I figured we'd have them for Tuesday, since we're closing Monday. On Sunday when I came in, Tina had those loaves put back on the shelves already! The guy had put them in the fridge, not the freezer, and Tina without thinking took everything out of the fridge. It was frustrating. At the end of the day I had to throw that stuff out.
Tina wanted to make cranberry butter cookies. She was well on her way when I arrived at 9. I was a little worried that she was getting bored with making scones everyday. They are our best seller, so I don't want a day to go buy without them on the shelf. We compromised. After her cookies were done, she'd make scones.
I decided I also needed to make a focaccia. Customers are coming in asking for that, too. On Friday I made one that was pizza-like. I added minced sun-dried tomato to the dough, then before baking I brushed it with garlic olive oil, added pepperoni, and then five minutes before it was fully baked I pulled it out of the oven and added grated cheddar. That flew off the shelf.
Sunday's was a simpler one. I soak chopped dry mushrooms, and add them to the dough along with a couple cloves of garlic. Then I saute fresh mushrooms with five spices seasoning, and add that as a topping before the final proof, along with a layer of olive oil. I need to find the name of that mushroom. I love it! It is all stem, and no head. It is meaty, with a nice taste. I chopped it fairly fine before cooking it.
Before I left on Sunday night, I prepared a large biga. This is a pre-ferment that can sit in the fridge for up to three days. When I come back to work on Tuesday I can immediately begin some new loaves and have them on the shelf pretty close to noon, when we open.
In our first five days of business we grossed about 1,400 rmb. Not much, but by gosh it's a start. It helps to figure out what the customer likes, as well, at least until the westerners start coming in September.
You may not have a sense of salaries. I pay Tina 2,000 rmb a month; she asked for less. The new guy will start at 1,800 on probation, and then in three months (sooner if he does well and business has increased) I'll move him up to 2,000. The kitchen slave makes 1,800, as does the night counter man, who is only working during his summer vacation.
The rent for the shop is 25,000 rmb per year.
I am thinking about publicity. One vendor came in and made an arrangement with us that he would offer his customers coupons to our shop. I think it happens on the phone. Technology beyond me. For the coupon we offer I think it's 10% off a loaf of bread, and rolls 'buy three get one free'. We'll see if people start coming in flashing their phone screens at us, asking to redeem the 'coupon'.
I would like to do a wine tasting party at the end of August. I once ran into a distributor of the Greatwall brand of Chinese wine. I hope I can find his card again, it's been probably a year since I bumped into him at a supermarket. I'll have to invest in some good cheeses at Metro (our Costco equivalent), and carefully choose breads. I'll sell tickets, limiting the number of guests. This will bring in the westerners who are returning back from their vacations, and hopefully also reach some of the new arrivals. I need to find the 'tipping point'. I'm reading that book by Malcolm Gladwell. Of course, I don't want to find it too soon! It's important that I have a well-trained staff that can actually crank out volumes of breads, to satisfy the demand when it finally builds.
I decided that, until we have more staff, we are closed Mondays. It's just as well. I need to renew my visa today, and check on a wire transfer of funds that is floating out in the electronic airwaves somewhere but after two weeks has not yet landed into my bank account here. And of course, there are still things we lack in the kitchen. There's a restaurant supply market at the east end of town, in an area called 'jiu long' or nine dragons. It's a long bus ride, but I should be able to get everything there. We need more towels, more bowls, larger plastic boxes. I hope I remember everything, because I'd rather be sitting at home in an air conditioned room. That is, I don't want to repeat this trip too often.
Strider, one of my former students at Changzhou University, has put an ad on the internet again to help me find more workers. I found a guy who looks like a good candidate to learn to be a baker. He starts Aug. 12. He graduated from the Engineering college (equivalent to our AA) with a major in sports. He's a swim coach. He lives near enough so that I can ask him to open up at 6 am. each day, once he's trained, which will help enormously in our ability to crank out more items suitable to the Chinese lunch habits.
I've made a few trips up to visit Johnny at his restaurant, Jolly's, in Xin Bei. He is very supportive, but although he doesn't want to admit it, in fact his business is way down too. He keeps nit picking the things I bring him, but I think it is more that he just hasn't the customer traffic right now to support buying my bread.
I've cultivated a nice sour dough culture. The taste is good. Now I have to work on shape and presentation. I suppose it all has to do with having the right equipment. This kind of dough is very soft. The only way to create a nice shape is to support it firmly in something like a mold, from hours of proofing all the way into the oven without ever removing the support.
I made a nice cheese-garlic round loaf. This will be a nice addition to the menu, once I have regular western customers.
I have a few of my former Web students who make it a point to come in regularly and each time try something different. I love their spirit!
Another best seller among the Chinese is the cinnamon raisin loaf. The westerners also buy it, the few who come in. It's easy to make, I enrich it with whole wheat and oats yet keep the white soft texture. It bakes up into a nice tall loaf and looks attractive. We've posted the pics at our web site. I don't have them on this computer, but you can follow the link: grandmasnook.com, and then click on the link there which will take you to our blog.
Tina is maintaining the blog. She is such a blessing! I told her to take the day off today. She asked if I'd mind her coming in anyway, because she is worried about discouraging the local customer base we're nurturing.
Saturday is her regular day off. She has Japanese lessons in the afternoon. I came into the shop that day before 8 bursting with energy and purpose. The day before I had prepared a large dough base, enough for twenty loaves. I also had other things on the back burner, like my rustic bread and also the sourdough.
With that huge base, which is made from 50% flour and 100% water fermented overnight with yeast, I was able to come up with a large variety of breads. For example, 1/4 rye flour, 1/4 rough whole wheat. Or another using oats, a special Canadian wheat that smells like chocolate, and again the rough whole wheat. I was able to make three cinnamon loaves with that base as well.
It was a mad house in the kitchen, with all the equipment, doughs, flours and other ingredients spilling out across the work table. I haven't a large enough plastic box for overnight proofing, so the dough always explodes and seeps out onto the under pan. I had to keep that messy pan on the table for most of the afternoon, as I gradually dipped into the dough to concoct some other bread. Xiao Lan is Rachel's mother, and it is her name on my business license. She has taken the position of our kitchen slave (for a salary). I kept her sink full the whole day! When she wasn't washing and drying pots, scrapers, pans, she was mopping up the floor, cleaning surfaces as I moved from the big work table to the small work table and back again.
Some breads I baked the same day. I good number of them I put in the refrigerator to be baked on Sunday morning. On Sunday I augmented that start with another batch of a type of bread that doesn't need the overnight fermentation. I figured that the weekend might bring us in a bit more traffic, so I wanted to have as much on the shelves as I thought would sell.
One hiccup. On Saturday night I asked the night shift guy to put certain breads in the freezer. I figured we'd have them for Tuesday, since we're closing Monday. On Sunday when I came in, Tina had those loaves put back on the shelves already! The guy had put them in the fridge, not the freezer, and Tina without thinking took everything out of the fridge. It was frustrating. At the end of the day I had to throw that stuff out.
Tina wanted to make cranberry butter cookies. She was well on her way when I arrived at 9. I was a little worried that she was getting bored with making scones everyday. They are our best seller, so I don't want a day to go buy without them on the shelf. We compromised. After her cookies were done, she'd make scones.
I decided I also needed to make a focaccia. Customers are coming in asking for that, too. On Friday I made one that was pizza-like. I added minced sun-dried tomato to the dough, then before baking I brushed it with garlic olive oil, added pepperoni, and then five minutes before it was fully baked I pulled it out of the oven and added grated cheddar. That flew off the shelf.
Sunday's was a simpler one. I soak chopped dry mushrooms, and add them to the dough along with a couple cloves of garlic. Then I saute fresh mushrooms with five spices seasoning, and add that as a topping before the final proof, along with a layer of olive oil. I need to find the name of that mushroom. I love it! It is all stem, and no head. It is meaty, with a nice taste. I chopped it fairly fine before cooking it.
Before I left on Sunday night, I prepared a large biga. This is a pre-ferment that can sit in the fridge for up to three days. When I come back to work on Tuesday I can immediately begin some new loaves and have them on the shelf pretty close to noon, when we open.
In our first five days of business we grossed about 1,400 rmb. Not much, but by gosh it's a start. It helps to figure out what the customer likes, as well, at least until the westerners start coming in September.
You may not have a sense of salaries. I pay Tina 2,000 rmb a month; she asked for less. The new guy will start at 1,800 on probation, and then in three months (sooner if he does well and business has increased) I'll move him up to 2,000. The kitchen slave makes 1,800, as does the night counter man, who is only working during his summer vacation.
The rent for the shop is 25,000 rmb per year.
I am thinking about publicity. One vendor came in and made an arrangement with us that he would offer his customers coupons to our shop. I think it happens on the phone. Technology beyond me. For the coupon we offer I think it's 10% off a loaf of bread, and rolls 'buy three get one free'. We'll see if people start coming in flashing their phone screens at us, asking to redeem the 'coupon'.
I would like to do a wine tasting party at the end of August. I once ran into a distributor of the Greatwall brand of Chinese wine. I hope I can find his card again, it's been probably a year since I bumped into him at a supermarket. I'll have to invest in some good cheeses at Metro (our Costco equivalent), and carefully choose breads. I'll sell tickets, limiting the number of guests. This will bring in the westerners who are returning back from their vacations, and hopefully also reach some of the new arrivals. I need to find the 'tipping point'. I'm reading that book by Malcolm Gladwell. Of course, I don't want to find it too soon! It's important that I have a well-trained staff that can actually crank out volumes of breads, to satisfy the demand when it finally builds.
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