(it is sooo the little things that make me happy)  

Dear Abby,
Here’s the situation:
Friday and Saturday mornings at 11, people swarm into the bakery (good thing!).  The line is long.  Some people have pre-orders to pick up.  If they’ve paid already, great, they come to the front of the line, lurk by the register, and as soon as someone has 5 seconds, we find the order and send them on their merry, delicious way.
However, if the customer has not already paid, they wait in the line because the cashier is pretty much constantly ringing up the customers from the huge line, many of whom have just ordered at the case.
So the question is this… is there a way to avoid forcing the pre-order customers to wait in the huge line without being unfair to the people who arrived before they did?  Is there some blindingly obvious answer I’m just not seeing??  HELP!

~Pathological People Pleaser in Memphis

Julie and her husband Robert

Julie rocks the bakery as a baker and she also prepares and plans our lunches each day.  She is always sunny and cheerful and just makes our days wonderful.  Here’s a closer glimpse at the woman behind the counter…

1. Your name: Julie Pearlman-Nelson

2. What you do at Muddy’s: Baker

3. What do you like best your job?  Besides the obvious..Taste testing! I love to see the kids come in excited about all the cupcakes!

4. Favorite non-profit making a difference in Memphis: Mid-south chapter/American Red Cross

5. Whom do you most admire and why? My Parents- They have always worked hard, raised good kids and family is their top priority.

6. Three things that make you happy: Buttercups, falling leaves, sitting on the swing in my front yard!

7.  Three favorite ways to spend free time: I love to take pictures of my kids, work in my yard, and thrift store/yard sale shopping.

8.  If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d purchase? A Disney cruise!

9.  Current favorite book, movie, and music: Favorite Book- Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons! Movie favorite-It’s A Wonderful Life! Music-Ever changing… I like it all.

10.  If you were a Muddy’s treat, what would you be? Sweet and Salty cookie!

11.  Three things you hope to accomplish during your life: To raise my children to be happy adults, I would like to organize all of my photos (thousands!) and I would like to learn how to speak Spanish.

12.  Random fun fact: This year i will celebrate my 25 year anniversary with my high school sweetheart!!! Oh and we became Grandparents on New Years Eve!

So, without further ado…

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday to Muddy’s, happy birthday to you!

Our little bakery turned 2 years old at midnight on February 28/March 1 (our real birthday is leap day, February 29!).  It’s been a great two years and we hope to celebrate many more with all our wonderful customers/friends!

by Karen, our night cashier and all around all star

I have been working at Muddy’s Bake Shop for about a year now…it’s a great place to work part time.  I enjoy treats just like you do (especially pie!) so it’s pretty “sweet” to come here four nights a week.  Awesome!  Well, almost.  Something has been lacking at the shop that was not easily created, baked, drawn, or otherwise materialized.  We needed a superhero to “whip up” the best in the place.  A protector with the most “stirring” of motives…good manners!
Last Saturday night, our advocate arrived in the most unlikely of disguises…a little boy (let’s call him Miller) in a pair of gloves, black shirt, black pants, a walkie talkie in his pocket, and wielding the most powerful of power…a whisk.  (insert superhero fanfare here) MY HERO!  Our hero posed conveniently in front of the “Mind Your Manners” sign.  I knew we had the power Whisk Guy! Rude Dude, you better watch out.

There may be other superheros out there for Muddy’s Bake Shop.  What about Spatula Girl, or Pie Plate Pal, or Mixer Man?  We need another hero to keep Whisk Guy company in Cookie Cave.

Sure, we’ve had some problems, but who hasn’t?  I think that our problems won’t break us, rather, they’ll make us stronger.  We have the potential to be a powerful success story and we’re well on our way.  We  are a city full of promise and possibility and we are FULL of amazing people who are energetic and dedicated to doing their part to make this town even more special every day.

Memphis was recently listed as one of America’s “most miserable” cities and our mayor has written a rebuttal.  If you have a minute, please read Mayor Wharton’s open letter to Steve Forbes RIGHT HERE.

We’ve done our ‘test-run’ with the baby pies and you’ve spoken!  We will be featuring a different flavor baby pie each week; these are absolutely adorable and even better, you get loads of flaky crust in every bite.  Yum!

oh baby!

Yes, the illegal “white stuff” is… raw milk.  Read on and let me know your thoughts!

the white stuff

photo courtesy of the wedding photographer: Ava Grace Photography

Congrats to Caleb Burch for guessing 3,731 (number of cupcakes sold to walk-ins were 3,768) and Janet Wogomon for guessing 4,521 (total cupcakes sold were 4,533).

This was a FASCINATING project.  It was so interesting to see everyone’s perceptions of our volume and business.  We got guesses at low as 78 and as high at 50,000.  I’m still not sure which of those two guesses blows my mind more.  In case you’re wondering where most people were guessing, here is my unscientific* breakdown.

under 300 cupcakes 9%
301-900 cupcakes 40%
901-2000 cupcakes 30%
2001-4000 cupcakes  15%
4001-10,000 cupcakes 5%
over 10,000 cupcakes 1%
one bazillion cupcakes 1 person  (loved that)

*unscientific… my guesses about the trends based on reading every single slip of paper, but not recording the results and making a formal comparison