This pretty much means that we can only celebrate our real birthday every four years.  I know some of you out there are in the same boat, so for you special leap day babies we have a birthday cake giveaway!!!!

We will be giving away a free 6″ prozac or plain jane cake to the first 50 leap day birthday (as in, your birthday is Feb 29) people who jump on board. Huzzah!

To claim your cake, simply email us at orders@muddysbakeshop.com (please put a subject line of “leap day giveaway”) and let us know your name, which flavor you’d like, and what inscription you’d like.
Then you just come in on the 29th between 11am and 6pm to pick up your cake.  We will require proof that your birthday is Feb 29 (valid drivers’ license or birth certificate for those younger than 16!).  FREE CAKE!

I made two of these for T and my New Year’s Eve blowout party and they were a monster hit, like seriously, one of the first things to disappear from the table.  I had people asking for the recipe all night long and the best part… they are SUPER easy!

I got the recipe for the asparagus “tart” from one of my very favorite food blogs, Shutterbean.  Seriously, this is food porn.  You will drool, stutter, and your tummy will rumble.  You’ve been warned.

Here is a link for the full post, which I highly recommend reading. CLICK!

Lemony Asparagus Tart
from Shutterbean blog

-1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough
-5 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese
-1 lb. asparagus
-zest of 1 lemon
-1 tablespoon of lemon juice
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce dough inside the markings at 1/2-inch intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

2. Remove pastry shell from oven, and sprinkle with Gruyere. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell (Kat’s note: I cut the spears in half for easier fit.  Just go with what works, relax.); arrange in a single layer over Gruyere, alternating ends and tips. Mix lemon juice, lemon zest & oil together in a small bowl. Brush the asparagus with the oil mixture oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

(sorry y’all, I thought I took a pic at the party, but apparently not.  This GORGEOUS pic is from Shutterbean and is honestly is probably a lot better than whatever I thought I took anyway)

I have a lot of answers to this, but mainly, I have a cache of pump-up helpers.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll make an  attempt to share the staples of my pump-up treasure chest with y’all.  But beware… it will pump.  You up.  Yeah, I did.

Ok, here are a few pump-you-up items.  A virtual grab-bag of fantastic.

First up, Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother.  He reminds us that awesomeness is a choice.

Also, you can judge me all you want, but I find LMFAO super-inspiring and I can count on them to always get me pumped up, no matter how tired I am.  Their music can be silly and sometimes a little dirty, but never negative; these guys are livin’ life and always have a positive outlook.  Personally, my LMFAO go-to to get pumped up is Party Rock Anthem…
Every day I’m shufflin’.

Ok, that might be enough pumpage for now.  I don’t want y’all to break your fist from too many fist-pumps in a short amount of time.  I’ll post again soon with more of my go-to helpers for getting super duper PUMPED UP!!!!  Whooooooooo!!!!!

WARNING: the following video (and story) may not be appropriate for young children; the video is VERY graphic.

This video is a PSA from Australia and I have to say it may be the best anti-drunk driving promotion I’ve seen ever; it’s 5 minutes but please do it justice and watch the whole thing.   Click here to go to the video on You Tube.

I cried the entire second half of that movie, both from remembrance and gratitude.
I remembered the bright light as his jeep rounded the corner and the explosion I saw in my head before waking up almost 60 feet from where I was hit, not able to move my lower body, tasting my own blood in my mouth, and wondering if anyone in our group was dead.
I was grateful to still be here, walking and talking, despite terrible odds.

I don’t talk a lot about the accident; it was over ten years ago, my sophomore year of college.  Some friends and I were walking home after a party to the apartments right behind campus.  We looked both ways and began crossing the street (a small campus street with Greek houses and student apts).  Two guys, other students, were driving home from a bar just a couple blocks away; they were going between 60 and 70 miles per hour when they rounded the curve in the street and, without once hitting the brakes, plowed into our group.  They hit the two people in the middle, myself and my friend Jackie, and kept right on going.  We were each thrown about 60 feet.

Jackie skidded on the pavement and tore her scalp off from her eyebrows to the back of her head.  She fractured her hip as well as an arm and had to have reconstructive surgery on her face.
I broke bones in my knees and my pelvis snapped in multiple places, one of the shards tearing through my bladder and causing significant internal bleeding.

Jackie and I were taken to different hospitals and it was the longest night of my life.  I couldn’t move my legs and there was excruciating pain everywhere.  When I arrived at the hospital, I was rushed into the ER where my clothes were cut off of me and I was stuck with so many needles I felt like a pincushion.  Before I could be medicated, xrays and CT scans had to be made, so I had to be moved onto cold, hard tables while different scans were run (all with a pelvis that was completely broken in multiple places); I couldn’t stop from screaming from the pain.  Finally after being returned to the ER, a friend was allowed to come sit with me.  Jordan picked the gravel out of my hair piece by piece and stayed with me, even after I, from major trauma to my body, threw up on her.  And so my healing journey began.

my lip was busted up and face bruised; this pic was taken during a physical therapy session a few days after the accident

the assignment was to use the walker to stand and then sit down in a chair about 3 feet away

It is a miracle that not one, but both of us survived that night.  The survival rate of a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle at that speed is less than 2%.  We were both hospitalized and underwent a lot of medical treatment.
I was in a wheelchair for 3 months and suffered intense nerve damage that kept me up almost every night for months literally screaming in agony.  I underwent a lot of physical therapy and a big victory was the first time I could go to the bathroom by myself.  There are still patches of my body without much feeling and I have metal screws in my pelvis that look like carriage bolts.
And we were lucky.  Most people don’t survive.

That night, my mom got a call at 2am from the school dean asking if she was the mother of Katherine Gordon and that there had been an accident, a call that every parent dreads.  But it could have been worse; that same weekend another parent got a similar call from the dean, but the news was much worse.

Please don’t drink and drive.
Call a taxi; seriously, it’s $20 to take a taxi just about anywhere in Memphis.  Save the number in your cell phone: 577-7777.  Or call a friend or a parent or a son or daughter to come pick you up.  Don’t jeopardize yourself and someone else.

Who knows whose life you might save.

But I digress!
While putting together some inspirational pics, I noticed that I’d included a lot of photos of my grandmother, Jayne Bond (“Muddy” to her grand-chilluns).

These photos of her when she was around my age are awesome and since the bakery is named after her, I thought y’all might like to see some pics!

So to recap, in 2012 I will channel a little more Muddy and a little less “shut-in-chic”.

xoxo, Kat

One of our biggest programs for donations is the Refill Our Community with Positive Change (ROCWPC) jar. As you may have noticed, we don’t have a tip jar at Muddy’s. Instead, our staff chooses a new charity or non-profit each month, and you have the opportunity to donate your spare change or more to some great local organizations dedicated to changing Memphis for the better.

In November, we decided to adopt a family for Christmas through the Neighborhood School. All through the month, you donated generously, providing $597 to make a family’s Christmas brighter. Sara, who tutors at the Neighborhood School, coordinated with the family to find out what their needs were and led Lea, Chris T., Hayley, and me in our gift-giving adventure.

Chris T. assembling one of the bikes you provided for.

Two little girls woke up to this on Christmas morning, thanks to you!

The money you so lovingly gave allowed us to provide all the gifts you see above as well as funds for grocery shopping and some stylish new clothes for a mother and her two young girls. They were so grateful for your amazing generosity. In fact, you were able to bless two families; we purchased two bikes for the girls, but they already had one. The mother of our family asked if it would be okay to give one of the new bikes to a family down the street. All of this wonderful holiday cheer was due to you, our wonderfully kind-hearted customers.

This month’s ROCWPC recipient is MidSouth Pug Rescue. Whether it’s a stray or a pup whose owner can no longer care for it, MidSouth Pug Rescue’s mission is to save pugs from neglect and danger, give them medical care, and help them find a “forever home”. Last year, they rescued over 30 pugs, and with your donations, we hope they can do even more in 2012! If you’re interested in volunteering, donating directly, or adopting a rescued pug, click the link above or call them at (901) 209-9PUG.

We love being able to give back to our community like this, and we would love for you to participate. If you would like to submit a suggestion for ROCWPC or request a donation for your event or organization, you can visit our giving back page to download a request form. All requests and suggestions must have a form submitted (it’s painless, we promise!), and we need at least two months notice. ROCWPC recipients must be registered 501(c)3 organizations.

Muddy’s is excited to be a part of this incredible Memphis community, and we feel very fortunate to be able to give back. If there’s anything I help you with in the area of giving, please shoot an email to giving(at)muddysbakeshop.com. I’m looking forward to being involved in all the work you do to make Memphis the best city it can be!

-Jarrod

Obviously, Stacey had to edit our contributions down, so below is the complete* list of ingredients in my pantry I can’t live without!  *obviously, this isn’t every ingredient I keep on hand, but this is the complete list sent to Stacey!
(I’ll post the tools separately)

Kat’s Pantry Must-Haves

-King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour, easily the best all-around use flour I’ve found

-farm fresh eggs; we use a lot from Donnell Farms. Don’t let some differences in size stop you. A “large” egg should measure right about 1/4 cup, so if you’re using fresh eggs of different sizes, just crack and whisk ‘em, then measure out what you need.

-whole milk; I drink 2%, but when a recipe calls for milk, they’re talking about WHOLE milk!

-semi-sweet chocolate chips. I ALWAYS have a good supply of chocolate chips for late night chocolate chip cookie urges, but also because they’re small and melt quickly and they can be easily substituted for other chocolates if I don’t have what a recipe calls for on hand.

-fresh herbs and spices. I like incorporating herbs and spices into my baking, so I usually keep stocked on all-spice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, anise, clove, cardamom, rosemary, sage, thyme, and peppermint.

-vanilla extract. I use Nielsen Massey or Miss Mildred’s (homemade at Muddy’s by a friend). Don’t bother with “double strength” vanilla; if you’re following a recipe it’ll throw off your measurements.

-parchment paper. (wax paper is NOT the same and should not go in the oven, as my friend Mathilde can attest to!) Use it to line cookie sheets and cake pans, put underneath cookies while icing them, etc. I also like to tear off a piece to put on the counter for my used stuff (batter covered spatula, dirty measuring cups, etc) as I bake- easy clean up!

Hello everybody! Most of you probably don’t know me because I’m a baker at Muddy’s Underground. It’s not really underground, but it makes us all feel a little cooler when we call it that. Anyway, as I was taking my lunch break today (trying to decide what to write a blog about), I got a call from my dad. We chit chat for a bit and then he asks, as he always does, “…Are you at work?” And today he followed it up with, “You always sound so relaxed and happy when I call, so I’m surprised when you tell me you’re at work.” To which I replied, “Oh, that’s just because I love my job.”

Which is a pretty amazing thing,if you think about it. Most of us spend about a quarter of our lives at work; whether or not you’re happy about it can really affect your life. I got to thinking about the aspects of my job that contribute to its overall awesomeness, and I figured I should share them with you:

1. I’m constantly surrounded by cupcakes and pies. How can this not make me happy? I have a pretty big sweet tooth, so yeah, every day is an exercise in self-control. But even when I’m not stuffing my face with them, just looking at something cute/delicious that I made is enough to make me feel good.

2. I’m constantly surrounded by amazing people. My coworkers are just plain great: Janine, Leah, Chris, Megan & Meghan, Tim and Robyn. Mosey on over to “meet your maker” and check ‘em out. Everyone pulls their own weight and has fun doing it. They’re positive and hardworking, which is so important to a happy work atmosphere. I’ve had jobs in the past where there were one or two really negative people….you know the type- always complaining about something. This tends to have a very bad domino effect, putting everyone in a sour mood. Which leads me to….

3. I’m constantly laughing at work. Okay, maybe not constantly as that would be freaky… but I do have a healthy dose of laughter meds every single day. If you find yourself hating your job, try telling a new joke every day. Be that positive person that puts everyone in a good mood. It can make a world of difference. If you really want to get everyone feeling upbeat, try having a theme day. We come up with a silly theme and dress up for it every few weeks, and those are always the best days.

4. I try to look on the bright side. It’s so easy to get bogged down by things that go wrong, or the little pet peeves that drive us mad. It’s human nature. But every day I make an effort to see the things that go right, or the little things that make my day better. Doing so eases your stress a lot, and I find it can be contagious!

5. I have awesome bosses. Kip is Bawesome, if you will. Your supervisor can make it or break it as far as job satisfaction goes, and I’m fortunate enough to answer to someone who is understanding, hard-working, and just all-around fun to work with. Not to mention the all-around-fabulous Kat, who is the reason Muddy’s is what it is. Not only is it a wonderful place to visit for a treat or a smile, it’s everything a local business should be. Everyone involved should be proud to be a part of it. I sure am.

In today’s world, so many places are open 7 days a week, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc and that is just a SAD state of affairs.  Businesses used to respect and value their employees’ families and personal lives and that seems to be getting more and more rare.  We  believe that by encouraging the team to take some time off, spend quality time with their families, and be the awesome well-rounded people they want to be that it is ultimately good for our business as a whole… and apparently y’all do too!

I can’t tell you how many of y’all have commented to me that you support our practice of vacation closings for our staff and it means THE WORLD to us to know that you care about us so much.  THANK YOU!!!

(ps. I totally meant to post this at the START of the vacation, but I was too busy catching up on the sleep I missed leading up to Christmas… and watching Lonesome Dove and Harry Potter.)

We have all had an AWESOME break and are super excited to be coming back TOMORROW!!!!  (we know we’re getting to the point to go back to work when we are constantly checking in on each other’s facebook walls, texting each other, and making a mess in the kitchen).  See y’all super-soon!

One of my absolute favorite Christmas memories happened about 7 years ago in the food court of the Wolfchase Mall on a super-busy Saturday.  It could have been a total nightmare with tons of stressed out shoppers, not enough seats in the food court, crying kids, etc.  Instead, it was crazy magical (not words I typically use to describe my mall experiences).
I have no idea how it got rolling this way, but somehow the prevailing mood was one of sharing and kindness.  Total strangers were not just sharing tables with each other, but actually conversing.   I saw several people offer their seats to older folks and new mothers with infants.  People were offering to carry strangers’ trays and trash to the bin for them.  Mom and I sat on the edge of a potted palm container, eating our lo mein, and marveling at what we were witnessing.  What could have been an experience teeming with anger, frustration, and tension was instead a filled with cheer and generosity.

Working behind a bakery counter, we often see similar interactions at the bakery.  It’s amazing how one person can start a chain reaction of wonderful.  A man offers to pay for someone’s items when they realize they left their wallet at home; a lady offers helpful suggestions to a first-timer.  Even just a bright hello and a smile to a stranger in line has a tendency to create that chain reaction and we can see its effect even an hour after that person has left.

These things may seem small, but imagine what could happen if we all committed to being present and positive in our interactions this season?  I am making a conscious effort to leave my cell phone in my purse and be more present while out this season and already I can feel a difference.  It has made me more likely to look my grocery checker in the eye, start a conversation with someone in a shop, and that has not just made their day better, but mine.

Even if you don’t immediately reap the benefits of your positivity, I promise you’ll feel better about yourself, more grounded, and more sane this holiday season!