Here's the struggle with running a bakery: every time we bake something, we have no idea if anyone will buy it. And if they don't — and you're a scratch bakery that doesn't use preservatives — how long will it stay fresh to sell? Doughnuts last one day, which is why you see day-old-doughnut prices. Cookies and cakes buy you a few more days. But hot hand pies fresh out of our little treehouse oven? A very limited three hours.
It's 80 degrees outside, and Chef Amari and I already have soup on the brain.
I'll be honest: soup was a big flop at first. We started serving soup in January and really thought it would be a huge hit.
As a chef, that hurts. I love making soup, and we couldn't even get people to try it. Why? Maybe people weren't in the mood for soup. Maybe they didn't like our flavors. Maybe they just didn't like our soup-cooking skills. By the end of soup season, it seemed like people just didn't expect us to have soup. Many of you were new to the pie shop in general, and as you know, it can be overwhelming to choose what to order on your first visit.
I always feel like apple season starts too soon. We are just getting through blueberries and raspberries, we're steeped in peaches and plums, and I tend to lose track of apple and pear season until we're already at the end of it. I can't tell you how many times my family has scrambled in the last weeks of the season to get to the orchards for any chance of picking apples, or to buy all the trinkets and goodies in the shops.
But this year, I'm on it! This year I'm steeping our September menu in apples. Okay, maybe not the whole menu — but it's going to be good.
In June we threw the Great Strawberry Party! In the few weeks after that, we were asked by our business neighbors, customers, and online followers to throw another party — so we did!
While most people are soaking up summer, we are already deep in our treehouse dreaming up the most magical holiday pies of the year — because great holidays do not plan themselves and the secret to a perfect Thanksgiving table and a Merry Christmas morning starts in July.
Pull up a branch and come along for the ride as we take you behind the scenes of how The Treehouse Pie Co. plans its most wonderful time of the year.
