Boxes & Babes

November 18th was the day our first order was picked up, by a dedicated driver for the Nebraska Food Co-operative, and delivered to customers in the eastern third of the State of Nebraska.  Meg and I nestled the muffins in their boxes and sent them on their way.

All Boxed Up & Ready to Go!

Baking for customers, rather than baking exclusively for loved ones, warrants a different sort of packaging.  Most of my friends know that cookies from me come in one of two packages: 1) an empty shoe box, or 2) an empty spelt flour bag (5lbs).   But our customers' baked goods are delivered in eco-friendly boxes from Big River Packaging.  While shiny pink or glossy white boxes may be a treat to the eye, our boxes are a boon to the environment:  These boxes are uncoated and no chemicals are used to change their natural organic appearance, but the 'natural' is more than skin deep.  This Natural Brown paperboard uses around 25-30% less fiber than other box materials. Compared to other virgin fiber products, that's 25-30% fewer trees to produce the same amount of boxes. Against bleached paperboard, it is better for the environment because strong solvents are not used to bleach the pulp. Also, the fiber for these brown/brown boxes comes from SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) lumber - lumber collected and reforested utilizing environmentally friendly practices. (from brpboxshop website)

Early Grey & Ginger Blue Muffins

The best bakers know that the box is as important as the muffin! 

Packaging isn't just about the box or the bag, sometimes it's about the decorative vehicle that bakers use on their baked goods.  While in Seattle last week, my best friend was excited to learn about a well-yelped home bakery supply store in the Maple Leaf neighborhood.  Far from our Central District home, we traveled north to check out Home Cake Decorating Supply Company at 9514 Roosevelt Way NE.  Walking into this place took me back to my childhood days of cake decorating. . . the smell of chocolate discs, an array of strange decorating books, and myriad boxes of plastic cake decorations.  After circling the tiny story a couple of times, I happened upon what could be my forever favorite baked good decoration; a stash of confidently semi-nude men and women figurines.

The male topper is seemingly, and maybe painfully, out of proportion, though he fights through the discomfort of unmatched appendages by reclining in painted-on briefs and enjoying the potential squish of sweet frosting.  And the ladies, with their barely-there nighties rigidly relaxed just above the belly-button, give us a peek at pinks and perks.  On what kind of cakes are these toppers found?  And do you think I will be able to convince Meg into letting us purchase a few?  Maybe, like shoeboxes and flour bags, these naughty finds will be reserved for the cakes we bake for our loved ones.  And what sort of cake will it be?  Without a cake for these gals and guys, I feel I have a hat and no head!  

What flavor of cake can you suggest to compliment these toppers?

- Trilety