Hi all,

I was wondering if any home bakers here have had success selling their breads from their home kitchen.  Were you able to sell to more than friends and family?  Farmer's market?  Anywhere else?  Your trials and errors would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Mike

I've been baking for about 6 months, and can now turn out a predictably pretty Sourdough Boule', I'm thrilled and excited to bake, and like to do it nearly every day.  Naturally, this has resulted in an over-production for our empty-nester household.  The solution is to occasionally surprise someone with a loaf.  Pure pleasure.  But, now that the word is out, I have people asking to buy bread.  Here's the problem: My personal history with crafts/arts tells me that when I cross the line from hobby to business the fun drains out fast.  So, I've refused to take orders.  I'm wondering if I made a big mistake the other day by telling a little group that I had considered accepting donations for my flour fund.  You should have the seen the speed with which money came whipping out of wallets!  I am reassuring myself that a flour donation doesn't constitute pressure, that I can just continue to gift people with bread as I please, but I am worried.  So, do any of you with a similar frame of mind have any experience here?  I keep looking at that money hanging on my fridge and wondering if I wouldn't be better off just returning it.

This is pretty pathetic, I'll admit...but here I sit, 3:50am on a Saturday morning, watching my starter bubble waiting to make English Muffins. A bit nervous...I've had a 50-50 success rate...first batch was amazing to me, recognized areas of improvement...second batch went in the trash at the grill stage.  I'm new to this realm, but in these economic times, I'm looking for both cost-cutting and fulfilling projects...making my own baked goods saves me scads of cash that my office building's cafeteria will never see. As i browse the site, I try to act like the starter sponge...absorbing knowledge and nutrition slowly.  I love it in here. Now comes the pathetic part.

I was sitting here thinking about buying Peter's books...having the internet as a resource is the best, but sometimes you just like to have something tactile to peruse...pages to dog-ear, highlight and splash flour on. Add to that an unreliable laptop and cable access that seems so frivolous to pay for...the thought occured to me that my sponge development could be halted at any moment. Equally frivolous is the concept of paying $30 for a book right now...borrowing out of the local library is out of the question (ask the daughter that "borrowed" a $50 Japanese-English dictionary on mom's card that she now can't find)...so I look in the forum for help.

I know it's a lot to ask, but if anyone has an copies of any bread books and baking paraphernalia...in any condition...or a line on a garage sale in Upstate NY, keep me in mind. Every other Saturday (I get paid bi-weekly), I make the local rounds of tag sales, hoping to find that baker that's upgrading their kitchen...or moving to Europe and can't take the cookbooks, utensils and gadgets they've accumulated...the best I've done so far is a really wobbly GE plastic stand mixer with a detachable beater but without a bowl. Pathetic to the hilt...but there it is.  Thanks for being here, for listening, and for giving me something constructive to do with my free time...