I am currently encountering a stunning reality check.

One of my employees is in the ICU with a brain tumor.  She is a 22 year old student with a sunny personality, incredible intelligence, and a bright future.

A week ago I was stressing about how we can make more baked goods, satisfy the demand, and work out the fall shift schedule.  Those things are important, but they aren’t life altering or earth shattering.  Honestly, they’re probably not worth the frustration and tears I’ve spent on them.  I try to remind myself that “there’s no such thing as a cupcake emergency” daily, but people’s reactions when told we’re booked or we’ve sold out make my heart pound and honestly, I tend to act like I’m out performing organ transplants or some other vitally important job. It’s probably taken my family and friends a stunning amount of restraint to not smack me with a Priority Bat.

Maybe it’s my status as eldest child or simply a Type A temperament, but I like to fix things and I want everyone to be happy.  If there’s a problem, there’s a solution… or else. I take it personally if I can’t solve a problem, especially for someone I consider ‘in my care’.

I don’t know what the future holds for my employee, but I know she will face challenges in the very near future that I cannot even comprehend.  I can’t fix this for her, can’t fight this battle for her, and will have to deal with that.  I can learn a lesson: some things are important and worth tears and frustration.  Some things aren’t.  I will continue to pray for her and be there in any way she needs me.  I will also try to appreciate that if running out of cake is my biggest challenge at the moment, I lead a charmed life indeed.

Please say a prayer for this sweet girl.  She IS important.

The bumper sticker design contest was a huge hit and y’all have loved the stickers, so this time we’re doing tee shirts.  We are almost sold out of our most recent limited edition tee (lumberjacks!) so it’s time to design something new.

The theme: Muddy’s loves Memphis!
The deadline: midnight September 30
The prize: 3 tees, 2 dozen cupcakes, 1 pie, and mad bragging rights
The rules:
- all designs become the property of Muddy’s Bake Shop, LLC and by submitting a design you’re giving us permission to use it, duh!
- submissions must be your own creation ’cause plagiarism just aint’ cool.
- there’s no limit to the number of designs you can submit.  If you have ten great ideas, submit ten great designs!
- email your submissions to eat(at)muddysbakeshop(dot)com  We will accept the following formats: vectorized image, PDF, Photoshop, jpeg.
- let us know which color shirt you’d like the design printed on (if you don’t have a preference, let us know that too)- do NOT make a background color in the image.
- we welcome submissions from all customers regardless of age or artistic inclination, however if you are under 18 please let us know as you’ll need a guardian’s permission.

If you need help designing, check out you tube for tutorial videos (like this one!) and happy designing!

Hints that may help you win:
-overly cutesy fonts make people go “ew”
-we’re not just cupcakes
-we love Memphis!

ya just feel like Sisyphus, rolling that rock up the hill only for it to roll down again.  Sigh…

And some days, your sweetie knows you’re feeling a little overwhelmed and surprises you at work with a special treat…

What a guy!!! 

I’m putting together the next newsletter and need a recipe of the month!

Does anyone have anything yummy they’d like to share with the group?  I’m trying to cook at home more, and I’d love to try out something new! 

ps. I prefer non-bakery-type items, as I’m pretty flush with those recipes!

Evergreen Farms is closing due to outdated legislation.  Current farm laws make it almost impossible for a small family farm to survive and this is an instance that hits close to home… literally.

Check out Angela’s post for more information:  right here.

Oh, how I love summer.  All those delicious fruits that are truly excellent eaten by themselves, but really shine when paired with a pie crust, are just irresistible to me!  Here’s an experiment I made yesterday… plum pie!  Oh my goodness, it was delicious… so delicious that we didn’t sell a single slice.  All the staff wanted to try it and somehow everyone getting one bite of a slice just didn’t quite cut it; we ate the whole thing.  Thomas was lucky to get some.

Here’s a photo he took last night (we heated ours up and scooped some ice cream on it)…

No worries, I’ll definitely make this again!  I’ll try to remember to post on facebook and twitter when I do.

Ok y’all, this is a desperate plea for a fellow local business…

Kip and I went to Colco Fine Woods & Tools yesterday to get supplies for a project we’re doing in the bakery.  He got the word from a buddy that this is THE place to go for real quality wood for a variety of projects… the craftsman’s wood-candyland, if you will.
This place was amazing.  Seemingly miles of GORGEOUS wood planks- varieties I’ve never even heard of!  I’m not a woodworker by any means, but I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to run my hand along each display and marvel at the amazing variety.  The men who work there really know their stuff and are so willing to share their knowledge about the craft and the wood.

Here’s the plea… someone needs to buy the company.  The owner has passed away; his wife is very elderly, his children aren’t interested in keeping the business going.  This is a great little business and with a little retail therapy could really offer a unique buying experience to the growing number of craftspeople in GenX/Y and beyond.  Once I got over marveling at all the varieties of wood, I couldn’t help but envision a cool paint job, an area with how-to manuals and magazines like ReadyMade for sale, a forest mural on the warehouse wall, flooring to complement the product, in-house workshops where folks can learn the craft (and buy the supplies)…  someone could really turn this into a (more) awesome spot.

Sooooo, if you know someone looking to buy a small business with a built-in knowledgeable staff please let them know about Colco!!!  And if you’re in the market for quality wood, stop in and check it out… while you still can!

Hee hee, check out what twitter follower @kwassmer sent me!  This is hilarious and awesome.  If you are or know a cute boy, send in your photo!

cute boys with cupcakes

Hello lovely peeps!  It’s that awesome time of year when we get to vote for our favorite local places in the Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis vote!  This is the Real Deal; the Flyer has been doing this event for over 20 years and it means so much to all the local businesses, non-profits, etc that make our city special.

So if you have a moment, please take a minute to participate and let the Flyer know what YOU think is the the BEST of Memphis!

http://www.memphisflyer.com/BOM2010/archives/2010/07/12/vote-here

ps. and in case anyone is interested in what I voted for, obviously Muddy’s… also Peria for best shoes, Eat Local Memphis for best local blog, Napa Cafe for best wine list, Beauty Shop for best brunch, Star and Micey for best band, and so many more!  Thanks to all local businesses and non-profits for making our city unique and awesome!

Whoooo!  Melly K over at Cute Stew put together this awesome push for eating and shopping locally!

She’ll be posting ‘prompts’ for what to eat/buy locally each week and then we’re all encouraged to blog about it.  She got the inspiration from Thomas over at Eat Local Memphis and I think she’s getting a lot of cool participation.

For more info, check out her blog post here.