happy friday the 13th

it's early evening & i'm almost completely finished my prep! this is a great friday the 13th indeed.

apologies for the absent blog update last week, but i was completely swamped getting ready for the halifax crafters pop up & finishing up some special orders. last saturday was one for the record books - finish set up at the seaport by 6:45, rush to dartmouth to set up from 7-8, work 8-5, pack up, go back to the seaport to pick stuff up, drive home, unpack, crash. pretty hectic & exhausting but i got it all done & had a great day on the 'darkside.'

tibs was a great venue for the pop up & pretty convenient given how much caffeine i needed that day. it seems that there's a really great community vibe over there & i definitely need to make the trip across the bridge more often.

there were also special orders to be taken care of - two cakes & an extra 100 cupcakes between three orders.

this was an underwater themed birthday cake & matching giant cupcake 'smash cake.' i think the ombre is becoming a bit of a signature style. i was on a bit of a streak there with cakes to make every friday night. it practically feels like i have the night off without one on order for tomorrow & my kitchen doesn't look like this!

i still have 50 wedding cupcakes to decorate for tomorrow but that's sort of become second nature.

a buddy from the market is getting married tomorrow so i was enlisted to make cupcakes & pulled pork... 50 pounds of pulled pork!!! i did two flavours: sesame ginger & blackberry chipotle. the blackberry chipotle is loosely based on a recipe we did on road grill - the bbq show i was on on the food network.

it turned out really well. i smoked the shoulder with applewood & mesquite for about six hours, then braised it for another seven, then shredded it & mixed in loads of the tangy sauce. this one might make its way on to the blackboard soon.

since i was making sesame ginger pork for the wedding, i decided to double it up & make a bunch for asian-inspired pulled pork dinners. this one has been absent from the menu for awhile but has always been one of the best sellers. it's getaway farm pork with lots of ginger, garlic, sesame, soy, sambal, lime & 5-spice. it's paired with jasmine rice, roasted broccoli, peppers, sprouts & bok choy.

small $10 large $20

this week i also mixed up the salad selection a little bit. there are NO beet or sweet potato salads, but there are:

broccoli - almonds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, bacon

potato - cucumbers, celery, green beans, radishes, dijon dressing, dill

vegan & gluten-free

quinoa - curry, ginger, lime, peanuts, peas, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery, tomatoes

vegan & gluten-free

fresh corn - tomatoes, peppers, green chillies, tomatillos, lime

vegan & gluten-free

& of course there are loads of sweets.

goat milk fudge

breakfast cookies

snickers brownies

maple walnut bars

 lemon shortbreads

hello dollies

cupcakes!

hope to see you all over the weekend & that your friday the 13th has gone as smoothly as mine :)