Update
Hello Everybody,
It's nearly 2 years since I last posted; where has the time gone?
The answer is that I have spent most of my time making and selling lots of bread.
I was at Hexham Farmers' Market yesterday in the sunshine. There are some photos attached taken just before the start of trade. There are 235 loaves in the photos and by close at 2pm there were just a couple of 100% Rye loaves left.
One of the customers was over from Ireland and is a regular on the Fresh Loaf....hello to you and thank you for tracking me down and buying bread. Hope you enjoy it, and sorry I was so busy I couldn't talk more to you at the time.
I'm looking for bakers to come and work for Bread and Roses. If anyone is interested in this, can you send me a pm on the Fresh Loaf please?
hexham_may2016_04 by Andy Smith, on Flickr
You can see more photos on flickr if you click on the photo link just above
Very best of wishes to everyone
Andy
Comments
Any Rye and Brazil Nut in there. - one of my favorites! Glad to see all is well. Hope you find some good help and
Happy baking
Hi DA,
The Brazil Nut and Prune is not part of the current range. We are making a 40% Rye with Caraway and also a Toasted Walnut with Rye and both of these are very popular.
Happy Baking to you too
Andy
Good morning Andy
Have often wondered how things were going for you, after your last post in which you had shown your new premises and indicated you were signing off. Delighted to hear & see things go well and that you are in need of another pair of hands. Let's hope the TFL network in the UK helps bring the right person to your door.
I also hope newcomers to TFL will take a look back through your archive, as there is a lot to be learnt there.
Best wishes, Robyn
Hi Robyn,
We have expanded in the new premises quite a bit now. There is a 60kg Spiral mixer and we have a 4 deck oven as well. And we run a nice Citroen Berlingo van which has our logo, above, on the sides and back.
It's a good opportunity if we can find the right person, for sure.
Very good to hear from you
Best wishes
Andy
How nice it is to hear from you! You have been missed.
Selling over 200 loaves at a farmer's market session sounds like success to me! I hope you are having a good time doing it.
I do hope you can find time to drop by TFL. Your knowledge and insights taught a lot to a lot of us.
Best regards,
David
Thank you as always for your generous words,
I do still get to look at TFL quite regularly, but don't really have that much time to input what I would really like to. You will no doubt have a good idea how many hours I have to put into the business we have created.
For all that, as Robyn has noted and you allude to, there is my blog as an archive. And I'm always accessible through pm. I will try to keep updates coming to show how the business is growing and give a picture of the breads we make.
Very best wishes to you
Andy
I learnt a lot in your past blogs though a bit scientific for a baker without an oven and scale. I thoroughly read your tips for croissant making too and it is a tremendous help for my success. I wish to see you more often here.
Glad to see you flourishing too in the business and if I was just in UK and I have skills, I will definitely work in your bakery.
I wish you too success!
but Pal...you really should buy a set of digital scales! You'll not regret it I promise.
Your good wishes are very much appreciated
and best wishes to you too
Andy
And a pic is worth a thousand words. I'm so glad to hear of (and see) your success. I wish I was close enough to stop by and enjoy some of your delicious bread.
i
I wish you continued success and hope to see an occasional post. I learned a lot from your replies/posts.
Hi clazar123,
I used to rock up to Hexham with a 6' stall, but there was not enough room on the table top for all the bread. So we have expanded and now have a 10' stall instead. And we still fill the table.
I'll post when I can; maybe you'll get over to the UK sometime and stop by for a visit. You'll be very welcome.
All good wishes
Andy
We never crossed paths on TFL (i came after you), but like Pal says, if i was where you are, i'd definitely put my hand up to work in your bakery!
Gorgeous loaves!
All the best
Ru
Hello Ru,
So I started the bakery as I took redundancy from lecturing in bakery as the Further Education sector in the UK was in crisis...and it still is! I couldn't think what else to do.
Love your bread; shame you are not in the UK, but if you make it over here, please drop me a line.
All good wishes
Andy
so that's a very real possibility!
For now i'm going to keep practicing and become as good a bread baker as i can!
All the best
Ru
You do know Ru, that the best way to improve your baking skills is to spend time working in a bakery!
Prcatice...in abundance!
Andy
I definitely know this and that's the goal! I'm busy training to be an accountant at the moment, i don't like leving things unfinished so i'm going to see this through.
But once that done, its calculators down and i'll get my hands into some dough full time! At the moment i only manage one loaf a week, but i'm trying to make each one really good!
Thanks Andy!
Hi Andy,
I did wonder what had happened to you. Glad to see you're doing well. Nice to hear from you. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Michael
It's incredibly hard work as single-hand baker. So, business is good, but my working hours are substantial, of course, and usually intense.
Very good to hear from you and know you still check in to TFL
Best wishes
Andy
Hi Andy
We are near the end of our week near Alnwick We have really enjoyed all the bread we got from you last Saturday at Hexham We have had a great time walking our dog Robbie on all the wonderful beaches and enjoying local food
I am wondering where your bakery is in Alnwick We are staying at Shillbottle
I am originally from Dublin and now live in South West Scotland.
I look forward to our next visit to the area and hopefully there will be a farmers market on in Hexham to get more bread
I wish you continued success with your business Your stall looked great last Saturday and I am not surprised you sold all your bread I was going to ask you about a small spiral mixer as I am interested in getting one I have been googling away and wondering about the best option I see you have a Fimar I would like one with a removable bowl !!! I have a kitchen aid professional 5q that I got in 2000 I have a spiral dough hook for it but even with a kilo of flour plus seeds water etc it groans away but it makes nice bread Have you any suggestions
Happy Baking
Liz
Hi Liz,
We're very close to Shilbottle actually. We are in the industrial estate opposite the Sainsburys store...just down from the petrol station.
I had seen an Irish internet address on the bags you used to fill with the bread that you bought, hence why I thought you had come over from Ireland. We love Scotland, a year without visiting the far North West of Scotland would be an incomplete year for my wife and I.
Hexham Farmers' Market is on 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. I also go to Alnwick Farmers' Market which is on the last Friday in the month...although it has to be said, it's not in the same league as Hexham, but I do have a good range of bread; just there aren't the same number or quality of other stalls alas.
Regarding mixers, I'll e-mail you about this, but strongly suggest you find Janet here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/user/janetcook on TFL and message her. She has a Haussler so will best be able to advise. My Fimar has long since been replaced as it was too small and single speed only. I have an Esmach 60kg spiral now and it's fab. Maybe you can see it here: https://twitter.com/Bread_RosesBake/status/721369757358891008 ?
Thank you so much for your kind words. I have been so very busy in the bakery these last couple of days and haven't had any time to get back before now. All the best
Andy
Hi Andy
Thanks for your help The bread bag is from a fab bakery in Ireland run by Patrick Ryan I first saw him on BBC 1 he did a programme in Yorkshire about helping a community in Yorkshire start a community bakery run mainly by volunteers called " Bread Actually"
Look forward to seeing you on our next visit to Alnwick
Cheers
Liz
Hi Andy
Thanks for your help The bread bag is from a fab bakery in Ireland run by Patrick Ryan I first saw him on BBC 1 he did a programme in Yorkshire about helping a community in Yorkshire start a community bakery run mainly by volunteers called " Bread Actually"
Look forward to seeing you on our next visit to Alnwick
Cheers
Liz