Monday, November 5, 2007

Contractors, equipment, Health department, finances, OH MY!

I am really wiped. This weekend was TOO action packed. We met with another contractor on Saturday morning and I really got a warm and fuzzy feeling after the meeting. They seemed to truly get what we are looking for. They were informative and had a lot of insight to share that the other contractors did not even inquire about. My friend Jess referred them to us and I can tell that they are awesome people. Will they be OUR contractors, only the numbers will tell. But it really felt good to meet with people that GOT what I was looking for. We will start getting bids on Wednesday and hopefully by this time next week, we will be leaning towards someone. We still have another meeting this afternoon and another one tomorrow. I am trying to get at least 5 bids so we have some choices. The one thing that they all said is that we do not have a lot of work that needs to be done. We shall see, that statement is all about your perspective. I have heard the horror stories about contractors but I can not let that scare me off. I know that the universe has been preparing me for the last 15 years to live this dream.

On to equipment, we met with an equipment guy on Saturday too and he opened up a can of worms that I was not ready for. I have had my equipment list ready (brands and model numbers) picked out since July. I was completely set on a gas convention oven and a gas range which both require a hood and exhaust system. The equipment guy asked if we were interested in using an electric convection oven and perhaps using a commercial french style 2 burner hot plate (kinda looks like a half range without an oven but it can sit on a counter top) since I was really only getting the gas range to make ganache. He said that I could achieve the same results for my product and may not need a hood since we would not be dealing with noxious gasses. My hubby got a little excited b/c not having to have a hood would save us thousands of dollars. I was a little sceptical, so I have spend this morning on the phone with convection oven folks. I talked to reps at Moffat, Blodgett and Southbend and they all said that I could use an electric convection oven and achieve the same results as a gas oven. So now I am going to call the health department to ask more questions. I will let you know what I find out. If this works out, we are talking about saving $$$.

All of the weekends baking went well. I even got an inquiry about wedding cupcakes for the spring. I only have one order for Wednesday this week, so I should be able to make some headway with Harmony background business.

I will leave you with a quote from the Buddha "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (I found this one in a red envelope catalogue that came on Saturday). These days, it seems like everything speaks to me about this journey.

Happy Monday, Peace.

2 comments:

KARI GARCIA said...

HELLO! My first day on your blog, and I am HOOKED! How did the oven thing end up? Gas or electric? We had to have a hood install with our electric, but I think it has to do with your state.
Hope all is well!!!
Kari

The Baking Scientist said...

THANK YOU for COMMENTING!!!!!!!

Yes, we decided on electric but we still need a hood just not the one that costs $18000. I can't remember if we need a Type 1 or Type 2, I was just happy that it was not going to cost $18K.

Life is good.