Yeah...it has been FOREVER. I know. But I have not forgotten you, blog. In fact, I have been planning this entry for quite some time!
So...here it is! Today, I'm posting about my awesome job at Muddy's Bake Shop (Underground) in Memphis, TN. I've been working there for about four months now, so I finally feel like I'm settled enough to share with everyone!
Q: What is "The Underground?"
A: The Underground (UG) is a kitchen in Midtown Memphis devoted entirely to baking treats for Muddy's Bake Shop. "Bake, ice, clean, repeat!" We bake cupcakes, cookies, pies, toffee bars, etc...then clean up the mess. We have an early crew that comes in somewhere from 5-6, then a later crew that works from 8-4. Jess and I are the late crew!
Well, that's about it! ...Ok, I'm kidding. You all know I like to talk a little more than that. I just thought that this would be a cool picture to start with. This is a good view of the main work area. About 4-5 people can work at these tables at a time...6 uncomfortably :) Karen is joyfully accepting a papered tray from Janine while Leah is icing cupcakes in the background! You see, we like to scoop cupcake batter as quickly as possible around here, and when you find a tray with LINERS ALREADY IN IT, you become full of joy! Hence the photo.
Cupcake icing action going on here! We ice lots and lots of those large trays every morning except Tuesdays. The Sanderlin location takes care of baking/icing cupcakes on Tuesday. Mostly, we bake cookies and breads and do prep work that day.
Mountain of icing! I know what you're thinking..."You can't possibly use that much icing!" Oh, yes...yes, we can. Leftover icing is rare and sparse, and on Tuesdays, one person makes icing for an entire shift. After that, one person must usually spend at least several hours a day making icing.
Our bun rack! This is where we keep un-iced cupcakes, iced cupcakes, cookies, and pies so that they are readily available for transport. "Transport, you say?!" Yes, our cupcakes can do many things, but alas, they cannot walk to Muddy's. That's where Mark comes in! Literally. He comes in through the door and gets them.
Good ol' Mark! Every day, he treks back and forth (...and back and forth) between Muddy's and the Underground carrying both baked treats and any supplies that either place may need. Mark knows where to get EVERYTHING. I don't think that any of us know most of his mysterious resources...and I have no idea how he runs errands and manages to make it back to the Underground before I knew that anyone had even called him. Mark works in mysterious ways, they say. Hahaha. Anyway. He is basically awesome and ends each trip to the Underground with a resounding, "WHATEVER!"
Here lie SOME of our supplies. We go through so much flour and sugar...everything else, too. But LOTS of flour and sugar. Some of this we order, and some Mark just goes and gets at the store.
Sprinkles for our creations. We love to try and come up with cute combinations of sprinkled cupcakes on trays with alternating color patterns, like Plain Jane (vanilla) and Prozac (chocolate). Think of us working diligently on this next time you "oooh" and "aaah" over a pretty tray in the case at Muddy's...we were thinking of you! :) Some of you notice, right?...RIGHT?! OK, good!
We bake everything that we need to bake for the week in only TWO five-rack ovens. Yeah! That's right.
Look at all those delicious cupcakes! The cooling racks are usually twice this full, though, which is why we usually have someone traying up cupcakes throughout the baking process. More pics of that later!
Our famous "to-do" list! Obviously, we had lots of pie stuff going on that day. This list is usually updated several times a day, depending on how ninja-like we are that day. As you can see, our list is very encouraging and sometimes includes smiley faces!
This is THE COUCH. It's in our lobby and we sit on it during our lunch break. It is also a popular "stuff" holder. See all the magazines that Tammy and Amanda bring in for us to read? That's my favorite part of lunch break! Other than a Nan's Pimento Cheese sandwich. Mmmmmmm.
Here is Janine traying up some cupcakes. You can see how many pans of cupcakes are on those racks, right? That means Janine is going to be traying up for a while! Some mornings, we have so much baking going on that someone could stand in that spot for several hours just taking stuff out of the ovens, putting stuff in the ovens, and properly organizing all the delicious treats.
So...do you want to meet some of the staff? Yes, you do? Well, fabulous!
This is Amanda! She's the manager of the Underground, so I tried to catch her while she was doing important manager stuff, like ordering our supplies! Amanda always makes sure that we have everything we need and keeps us organized and in line. She also makes sure that everything is "Muddy's" quality. She is originally from and has a business degree from farther up north, but now she lives here and hangs out with us. Oh, and her husband, too...and they are expecting a BABY BOY in February! We are all very excited for the first Underground baby :) Also, Amanda and I love to talk about new movies that are coming out or what restaurant we ate at the previous night. Haha. Oh, and Amanda loves raw pie dough. Mmmmm.
Next up is Tammy! She is assistant manager over here at UG. Right now, she is probably mixing up cookie dough or a very tiny batch of icing :) Tammy is a go-getter and is always looking for a better way to do things. She is also our resident pie queen/expert and we ask her any pie question we have. She is also our resident handy-woman, as well! She genuinely loves baking, and it really shows in the quality of her work. She loves to go to plays, volunteer at her church with her husband, and come to work and bake with us! She is also a big fan of coconut, so she loves when we feature our fabulous Oodelolly cupcake.
This is Jess! We work the later shift (8-4) together every work day. Jess has worked at Muddy's for a couple of years now, so she knows a lot about pretty much EVERYTHING. She really helped with a lot of my training and is very patient and knowledgable! She is our icing expert at the Underground and has pretty much developed our singular method for efficient icing-making. However, although she is great at making icing, she really loves pie and Hello Dolly bars. She has a degree in political science and is very passionate about the environment and women's issues. Jess is also getting married next year and will be moving off to Nashville, and I honestly do not know what I/we will do without her!
Hi, Karen! Obviously, this is Karen, our tiny ninja. She works the early shift and, like Jess, is an icing expert. She can always tell exactly how much icing we need at the moment or will need tomorrow while the rest of us just stand around looking perplexed. Ok, so we're not THAT bad at it, but Karen's definitely the best! She is also great at improving efficiency and always knows what needs to be done. Karen is also a great artist/painter and even makes and decorates cakes outside of work! I love to talk to Karen about movies, animals, or her crazy dreams. We share a favorite cupcakes, as well: THE GRASSHOPPER.
Also, here is Karen dipping our lovely gluten-free coconut macaroons into chocolate.
Here is Janine! She's doing a round of dishes, which is a common occurrence over here at UG. Janine works the early shift and is usually found baking or icing the morning's first batch of cupcakes. She also has a master's degree in folklore...how cool is that? She is very interested in literature and always has interesting facts to tell us about all sorts of random things, from natural health practices to filmmaking! Janine is also great at noticing small taste differences in our products and enjoys our Eggnog cupcake.
Aaaand...here's Leah! Leah and Janine are our newest UG employees. Leah is super nice and is our resident fashionista...she makes clothes, y'all! That's actually what she went to school for. Notice her cute apron? Leah has a lovely icing technique and makes our cupcakes look Muddy's cute. Whatever she's doing, she works hard and gets the job done quickly. Also, Leah has recently taken up an interest in cooking and we are more than happy to taste-test! I'm PRETTY sure her favorite cupcake is the Tomboy, which is our chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing. YUM.
Who is this, you say? That's ME: Robyn! I've been working at UG a little longer than Leah and Janine, but less than the rest of the staff. In this picture, I'm about to make icing, so I'm hanging out with the Bruiser, which is our HUGE icing mixer (although I successfully made 3 batches of chocolate chip cookies with it recently!) My favorite thing to do at work is to make something I've never made before, whether it be a new type of icing or a certain type or pie or cookie. I especially love to ice cupcakes and make anything involving pie or quick bread. My favorite cupcake is the Grasshopper and I LOVE our Walk in the Woods pie (apple pie with dried cranberries and a crumbly/streusely topping). I am not sure what I am known for at UG (besides being the resident chatterbox...hehe) like the rest of the fine folks I work with, but I do know that I love my job and the people at UG and Muddy's.
Well, there you have it. I hope that gives you a small (or large) and enjoyable glimpse into what I do for a living. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed telling you about it! :)
