2021, Business, Fantasy, Food, Uncategorized, work

Sold Out!

89 Comments

One of the types of programs that I have are called Warehouse Runs.  Winners come here to Minneapolis and run through our extensive merchandise warehouse.  There is a lot of energy around these programs and I love the participants who are all very excited and appreciative.

I always like to get donuts for the warehouse crew the morning of a run.  Having their work schedule and plans disrupted by all the festivities can’t be fun for the warehouse workers so I like to reward them a little bit for their hard work. Yesterday morning was the first in two years that I’ve been down to the donut bakery I like in Bloomington; it’s an old-fashioned kind of shop with all the old favorites and nothing pretentious.  After I picked up the donut order and was leaving the little shop, I noticed that the back of the “Open” sign didn’t say “Closed” – it now says “Sold Out – See You Tomorrow!”

It was a nice change to see that a little local business is not only surviving but apparently thriving.  It must be quite satisfying to be selling out so often that they can rely on a sold out sign.  I’m having to find a new lunch caterer for my warehouse programs since the previous caterer (who was excellent) wasn’t able to hold on through pandemic.  Along with too many others.  So while I was happy to be supporting them again and that they are doing well, it was tinged with a little sadness for the other businesses that have suffered.

You can have your favorite donut or pastry this morning.  No cost, no travel and no calories.  What will you have?

89 thoughts on “Sold Out!”

  1. I think I’ll have a warm butter croissant with a slice of aged Fontina cheese and a dab of bitter orange marmalade. To drink, a cup of freshly brewed Earl Grey Tea, thanks.

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    1. That sounds really good. Like you, I am not attracted to overly sweet baked goods. On the rare occasion I buy a pastry, usually when we are setting out early on a road trip, I tend to get some sort of unfrosted muffin.
      My most memorable pastry was a warmed almond croissant I was served with coffee at a coffee shop just outside the gated of old Quebec.

      Liked by 5 people

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  2. On a recent trip to PA with a friend, we spent three nights at the Brafferton Inn in Gettysburg where, as part of a delicious breakfast, we were served a warm homemade cream filled muffin – cinnamon crunch, lemon poppyseed, and almond raspberry. Yum!!

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  3. “Donut” singular as in one?! Eating just one basic glazed Krispy Creme is impossible.
    That being the case, I’ll go with Jolly Pirate apple fritter. I’m reasonably confident that one will be enough.

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    1. This little bakery that I’m fond of does apple fritters that are the size of your head. While I normally have a trouble stopping with one donut as well I never have any trouble stopping after eating this apple fritter.

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  4. Something with a cream cheese filling, not sure what to call them. OR one of our Bloedow’s (rhymes with Play-doh) macaroon cookies… this old-fashioned bake shop is just 2 blocks away, and has lines out the door Saturday mornings. They’ve never added on trendy (or any) coffee, but they do have a bacon long john. And there’s a set schedule for
    https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x87f96c58010a5b17%3A0x94c6d2444c59835a!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMPJmGfvTZ1a-XMrc95pVNIMN4YuJLWpBZLN7J5%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5sbloedow%27s%20bakery%20in%20winona%20minnesota%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMPJmGfvTZ1a-XMrc95pVNIMN4YuJLWpBZLN7J5&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBvqa0z5X0AhVeAp0JHWYgBR0Qoip6BAhKEAM

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    2. I wonder if they’re related to the Minneapolis Bloedows? Willie and Otto Bloedow were young men who helped out occasionally with the Boy Scouts when I was a tad. I also worked with Bill Bloedow when I was in the Donaldson’s display department.

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        1. Not a close relative, I guess. Ernest Bloedow, the founder of Bloedow’s Bakery in 1925, was born in Winona, the child of German immigrants. He had been an employee at the bakery of Walter Schmidt prior to starting his own, perhaps buying Walter out in the process.

          The Minneapolis Bloedows come from Redwood County.

          Liked by 3 people

        2. Walter still had a bake shop in 1930, so Bloedow’s must have been competition.

          Walter Schmidt’s wife’s maiden name was Fleishfresser. Not only does that translate as meat eater but if my grade school German doesn’t deceive me, fresser means eating like an animal. Is that right? What a terrible name.

          Liked by 2 people

  5. Morning-
    I didn’t know ‘Warehouse Runs’ was a thing! So, like, on TV where the participant runs up the aisles grabbing as much as they can? I have never actually heard of that before.
    Rochester had a Krispy Kreme that lasted about a year… and that was several years ago. It was in an out of the way location and maybe that’s why it didn’t last. But honestly, Kwik Trip Glazers are just as good. And there’s no way KK could compete with KT. We pick up a box of glazers every now and then. And of course mini-donuts; YUM!

    Once in a while my mom used to make home made donuts. Dad loved them. They were heavy, dense donuts. I haven’t had one in 40 years, but I can still picture them. I guess they were better for the first week. As I recall, it was quite a production to make them so she made a lot. And put them in the freezer. Maybe that’s when they got dense and heavy.

    On our honeymoon out in Seattle, room service breakfast showed up with plain toasted bagels with creme cheese. That was the first time I’d ever had a bagel. And thus began my love of bagels. I like Brueggers better than Einsteins (the only choices in Rochester). The easy-to-get -too Brueggers closed and now the only one is in the Mayo Clinic subway. Again, not convenient if I just want a bagel… but If I’m there anyway, it’s an ‘Everything’, with garden veggie cream cheese. Toasted only if I take a few home.

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    1. Yes warehouse runs are a thing. In fact We are not the only incentive company that does them. I really like them because the demographic of the winners is different and they were all very grateful and happy when they are here.

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. An eclair with dark-chocolate frosting and whipped custard(?). It wasn’t traditional custard but it wasn’t plain whipped cream either. Denser than whipped cream. Can’t remember for sure. I used to get them at a bakery called Poundstone’s in Bartlett, Illinois.

    Otherwise, give me a good chocolate-covered cake doughnut, a custard-filled bismark, a homemade caramel pecan roll, or if I’m really craving calories, a large Cinnabon.

    Who am I kidding? I’ll eat anything even remotely close to being called a pastry.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  7. I will take a chocolate glazed cake donut from World’s Best Donuts in Grand Marais. With a view of the lake please and some black coffee. Second choice is an earl grey currant scone from Patisserie 46. That calls for a cafe latte as accompaniment.

    (VS – is your bakery Sunrise Bakery? Had a co-worker who would bring in donuts from there – they are tasty!)

    Liked by 6 people

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  8. My maternal grandmother, who was the child of Bohemian immigrants, used to make kolaches, either apricot or prune. They were made with a rich dough and not frosted or glazed or dusted. I’d like one of those, please.

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    2. The now long-gone Jerabek’s Bakery used to make kolochies, the Bohemian version, as well. Apricot, prune, poppy seed or cream cheese. They were wonderful. The family who owned and ran it had their roots in Bohemia, and many of their offerings were traditional delicacies from their homeland. The bakery was a staple of the West Side for many years. Mellissa, the granddaughter of Ed Jerabek, who opened the original bakery, still makes them at Easter time. She delivers them from her wedding farm in Wisconsin, pre-ordered, to large circle of West Side friends.

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    3. Do you indulge in the kolache’s from the bakery in New Prague. They do a brisk business and have a poppyseed kolache, as well. Kolache dough has eggs, butter and sugar that really richer it.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. Husband is manfully taking on our overabundance of fresh yeast by baking a cinnamon wreath with rye, described as a ” big cinnamon bun with a bit of extra oomph” from the Skandikitchen Cookbook. The author is Danish, and runs a cafe and grocery in London with her Swedish husband. It is a traditional cinnamon roll in shape, but instead of separating it into individual buns, you shape it into a log, and then shape that into a circle, and cut the log at intervals partway through with a scissors, folding out the pieces until the whole thing looks like a wreath. It is filled with a mix of cinnamon, toasted hazelnuts, butter, and brown sugar, and topped with a simple syrup and icing. The dough is mainly white flour with a bit of rye flour.

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        2. Does he put sunflower and other seeds in it?

          God how I miss good Danish rugbrød. I have two homemade (not by me) liver pattees in the freezer, and a glass of homemade (again not by me) asier (Danish pickled cucumbers) ready to inaugurate the Christmas season. Now I just need to get my hands on the right bread. I may have to resort to baking it myself, but that damn oven still hasn’t been fixed.

          Liked by 1 person

  11. I shouldn’t comment at all, since my taste in pastry is primitive . . . like Neanderthalian. I don’t dare eat that stuff because I love it inordinately. It has been years, and more likely decades, since I ate pastry of any sort. But when I was a kid working in a silk screen sweatshop, I had the same lunch every day at the Maid Rite diner across the alley. I blush to recall what that lunch was: two giant raised glazed chocolate doughnuts washed down with a huge mug of root beer. The doughnuts featured thick, dark, fudgy icing. The root beer was potent; it stung as it went down. Paying for that left me with four pennies each day, which I used in a vending machine to get peanuts. A kid of sixteen can eat like that.

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    1. The thought of a tangy ice-cold root beer just hit me hard. Twin City baboons- where can one get something like that these days???

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      1. Let me tell you something surprising about root beer. There are web sites that rate root beers like some sites rate cheeses or fine wine. And there is no shortage of gourmet root beer beverages. Two that are available in the Midwest and which rate very high are Weinhard’s and Sprecher. But the root beer that consistently rates right near the top is . . . A&W! And you can buy that “everywhere.” Another highly regarded craft root beer is made by Big Axe Brewing Company in Nisswa.

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        6. We did a keg of 1919 root beer for one of our kids grad party. It was really good. Sprecher doesn’t do it for me.
          But yeah, A&W is good. Dads used to be good. Mug is OK

          Liked by 1 person

        8. We live here in 1919 country, brewed at New Ulm brewery. My daughters wedding here in Mankato 22 years ago on 9/11 in a park was a popcorn machine, tootsie pop suckers, fried chicken and potato salad and chips from Hy-Vee and a keg of 1919. A couple grocery stores in New Ulm will sell it by the quart or gallon. Amazing how much is in a keg. Several of the Iowa guests were upset they could not buy any to take home.

          Liked by 6 people

  12. Better Late than Never, Baboons

    Probably my most favorite ever are really good Caramel Rolls with nuts and raisins. I rarely make them because I eat too many and do not manage myself well.

    I love a good croissant. Turtle Bakery’s croissants are marvelous, and so is their coffee.

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    2. Cooks on Crocus Hill and Bellecour Bakery have open a bakery together on 1st St. N in Minneapolis. Some of their goodies are available at their store on Grand Ave. in St. Paul. Good stuff, but pricey, but what isn’t these days?

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  13. During my stint at the airport hotel in Greenland, we had a separate section of the kitchen that was a bakery. Our baker was a young Danish fellow who had learned his craft in a small rural bakery in Jutland, and he was excellent.

    On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, the kitchen crew catered the meals served aboard the SAS flights between Copenhagen and Los Angeles. We’d start work at 4 A.M. so that the meals for passengers were fresh and ready for the planes mid-morning. At our seven o-clock coffee break, we’d all sit around, crammed together in a small office, sipping strong coffee and freshly baked, still warm Danish breakfast rolls. So many fond memories from that time and that unique place.

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  15. I have lost my taste for baked goods, even eclairs, which were my favorite. Not sure why. Bread does not appeal much anymore. Haven’t had a bakery item in 2-3 years. I think if we had a real bakery they might appeal.
    Sandy has to participate in a census bureau survey on crime. I should have let her interview Sandy. She would have heard lots of juicy incorrect information. But they let her interview me answering for her over the phone. A survey that would have taken 10 minutes took 30. The woman would not shut up. But along the way I did hear the for-sure real solution to end cancer. It is for us to give up sugar because every person she knows who got cancer eats sugar. I wanted to tell her that by that process we should blame water, but I wanted the interview over.

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  16. Pondering the title of the blog and wondering why the term to “sell out” is a bad thing, when being “sold out” is the sense that vs is using it in this blog is a sign of success?

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    1. “Sell out” as a bad thing usually connotes surrendering your principles for money or other advantage.
      When selling a product is your objective, selling out is a measure of success.

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      1. I know what the two terms mean, Bill. I’m just wondering how those same words came to have such different meanings depending on how you phrase it.

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        1. One’s principles, unlike donuts, ought not to be for sale. I don’t understand why this should be a conundrum.

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      1. I didn’t take the photo …I found it on one of our photo sites. But I’m with Bill- I think they are probably bismarks.

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  18. Sherrilee, say more about the warehouse run. Warehouses aren’t usually set up like a retail space, with display facings and signage and all the merchandise within easy reach. Are yours more akin to a retail layout? Do the participants get an opportunity to scope out the merchandise and orient themselves beforehand? What sorts of merchandise is in your warehouse? Do the participants get a cart?

    When I think of a typical warehouse space, or something like the warehouse at Ikea, I can’t imagine a timed run being anything but frustrating.

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    2. Actually it’s a very efficient warehouse. And that’s because 95% of what happens there is picking merchandise to be shipped out. Not for a warehouse run. All of the inventory is laid out probably more similar to an Amazon than an IKEA because the warehouse workers need to be able to get to inventory easily when they are picking. Warehouse run winners get a big gray cart on wheels, they get about 10 minutes with a map to scope out what they want and plan their strategy. Most warehouse runs they get 60 seconds. The interesting phenomenon is that people who run later in the day do better because they’ve watched all of the others. And this particular program is scheduled to go over budget because six of the 22 winners have won before and have already done this once. One of them twice. That’s considered a budget Buster!

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