Luca John Fitzpatrick

Daddy Darren and I became friends when he would rollerblade into the bistro I was running. I think he was 14 at the time, I'd steam him up a mocha and he'd dump the whole bowl of sugar cubes into it and stir and sip as we gossiped away about people around town. Years later he held my babies while visiting the bakery, by that time we could share a beer or two... Then he went off and got a life of his own...marrying the lovely Erica in our newly built bakery yard in 2003, and having little Cecelia a few years later. Now my buddy Darren has a boy of his own. Great job Erica! Break out the Sugar Cubes!

Blue Poppy

On Sunday I had a wedding cake to deliver to Anchor Point, so I took daughter Jane and John's Mom (visiting from Wisconsin) along for the ride and on the way back we visited Norman Lowell's gallery and spectacular gardens...his Lilac 'hedge' is twenty five feet high and covered in blooms...and the Blue Poppies...so beautiful!

View from the baking table 7/19/08

How many pastries can YOU make in a day? The competition is fierce around here as we power our way through July. We had a busy baking board on Saturday with a little bit of everything happening all at once!



Randall and Erin discuss the 'Mutato' and a 'rogue' bear...

The Dirty Rags Debut!

We let Johnny go early to see the show and he returned with a t-shirt and reports that they were awesome! Melissa was slotted to video so if that came out, I'll post it for those of us who missed seeing them! I think that once Irene returns from her trip...she jumped on a plane right after playing...they will be a wednesday night fixture at Alices for the rest of the summer!

Bakery Slam!

What a WILD couple of weeks here...it's always so funny to me how for some, July is vacation time. For us it's The Halibut Opener, The Salmon Peak...in a word,CRAZYTOWN!...Fourth of July Weekend set records for both food made and customers served ,it also set off the thoughts in my head about further streamlining our operation, Which lead to my being completely overwhelmed by the tasks at hand...it's a scenario that plays itself out in some form or another every summer. With the prerequisite crisis thrown in, let's just say, things have been very exciting around here! I am so proud of our crew for their grace under pressure and general humor during these hardworking times...most of our customers are very excited to be here, but we do run into the occasional group who have expectations beyond our offerings. While we do have the cafe thing going, we are first and foremost a bakery, we do not deepfry, or serve diet coke or cook eggs to order...we will, however, feed you something that will nourish and maybe even Suprise you. Comment of the week: "Do you have anything that's 'low carb'?" Dude, you are in a BAKERY...what do you think? We struggle with following trends like that, the wheat-free movement is another difficult area, in that to truly be 'wheat free' we have to completely change who we are...at this moment this rationale doesn't make sense, because, we can barely keep up with wheat based products. We always have a wheat free soup and a wheat free dessert, but bread...not so much! I fear I digress...Crazy times call for crazy measures, maybe it's time for a theme day...everyone could dress up as their favorite allergic reaction!

THE INTERNATIONAL DEBUT OF THE 'DIRTY RAGS' TONIGHT AT ALICES CHAMPAGNE PALACE...7 PM!

Charles in the kitchen

Dad's in Bristol Bay, hopefully catching lots of Salmon, so Charles is pulling more kitchen duty with Mom. He's always asking for stuff to do. (well, except when he's scooting around the neighborhood with his buds) His favorite task is chopping. From the time my kids were old enough to help, they have been cutting up vegetables or fruits for me. It all started with Maya at preschool, they had the cutest little cutting boards and the kids used a slightly dulled serrated paring knife to cut carrots or broccoli or apples. At the bakery we have a smaller chefs knife perfect for little hands. Mostly, though, with things so busy, Charles is helping put away dishes...trust me, he knows right where everything goes!