Ahh, the sweet smell of success...

Night #2 at Minia's Cafe was much better than the first night although not uneventful. The first item I baked was my cinnamon coffee cake, and it was perfect! Next was an apple walnut cake with cider sauce. It was the first time I'd tried this recipe, and it was delicious. Yes, I taste test...quality control is an essential part of the job, you know! The double chocolate cookie bars that I attempted next gave me some trouble. I'd used the recipe many times, but never as a bar cookie. I doubled the recipe to make a half sheet of bars, and wouldn't you know they overflowed the pan. The whole place filled with smoke. I threw the exhaust fans on high, but the cafe was quite smoky for a while. Hey, I didn't set off any smoke alarms and the PVFD didn't come knocking at my door. I call that a success! I would've opened doors, but it was two o'clock in the morning and even in Preston that's not a good idea. So, I trudged on finishing the cinnamon rolls and twists that had risen while I was working. They came out picture perfect, too. Ah, but the cream cheese pound cake was a victim of the smoke-out. It came out dark, but wasn't a loss. I just shaved the overdone sides off, sliced and wrapped it. I made a few muffins (from prepared batter), cleaned up and was out of there. A successful, albeit smoky, night. Three and a half hours of sleep and up with the kids. Now, I just have to find out if the customers liked any of it. :o)