Thanksgiving Roll Sale, take 2

I did my Thanksgiving roll sale again this year. Last year was so great staying up late, working my little fingers to the bone for the 35 dozen rolls I had orders for, I just had to do it again.

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Ok, ok, I truly did a have a great time doing it last year. But with all the new dynamics in my life this year (Hello? I have 3 children! Who has time to do anything?), I was still in the "should I subject myself to it again" phase two weeks ago. Well, then a customer from last year asked if I'd be doing the roll sale again because she wanted to order 8 dozen this year. Huh. Ok. Sure. I guess the decision was made for me.

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I sent around an email announcing the sale and within 24 hours I had received orders for 35 dozen, matching my total from last year. By the end of the ordering window, I had orders for 63 dozen. Whoa. That was a little more than I had anticipated.

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So I made up my spreadsheet of who wanted how many dozen when, worked out a timeline for mixing, rising, cutting, rolling, rising, and baking, and set up my bakery in my mother's kitchen. Behold, my saving grace:

Double Ovens

(can you hear the choirs of angels singing?)

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I also happened upon a Bosch mixer at a yard sale this summer. It only had the dough hook attachment, but it was a great $10 investment in my "business" to have two mixers crankin' out batches of dough. (I'll spare you the paragraph of why I love my kitchenaid mixer only because I've written about the beaut so many times before. Please don't misunderstand. I only used the Bosch under these extreme circumstances. My loyalties lie with KitchenAid.)

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I had another "proofing oven" at my disposal. My rolls rose in half the time! I can't imagine how long it would have taken without it.

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Here are a few of the batches after coming out of the oven. Robin made a batch of cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving morning--we didn't sell those :) You'll have to contact Robin to order her cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Rob, do you want me to post your phone number here?

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Here are most of those soft, chewy and delicious rolls, all bagged and ready to be delivered or picked up. I had about 20 dozen orders that I filled before Thanksgiving day. This was "only" 45 dozen.

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And here I am. Can you see the bleariness in my eyes? Someone snapped this photo for me just before we ate our own delicious Thanksgiving dinner, accompanied by my rolls (the only thing I was responsible for this year. Yesssss!).

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So, if you missed out this year, I think I might do an Easter roll sale. Watch your inbox:)