Since closing the Deli in July, little Sis has been doing the Friday and Sunday markets. Under the name of ' The Cakery' she has been going from strength to strength. I wanted to see my little nephew before I headed off to South East Asia so agreed to go and help out for the Bank Holiday weekend.
I had been warned it was exhausting work. I was catching the early flight from East Midlands to Belfast City. That was never the intention. I was planning to get the afternoon flight but in my eagerness I pressed the wrong fucking button on the Ryanair website so found myself getting up at 4.00am on Thursday morning.
I would have quite fancied a bit of shut eye on the short flight over but had some annoying kid sat behind me thumping the seat. Twat !
I was picked up at the airport at 8.35 and off we set for Carrowdore.
A cup of coffee and a bacon sarnie later, apron on and the production line was in full flow.
The plan for the weekend was bake on Thusday, market stall on Friday, bake on Saturday and the Sunday market on Sunday. Three months of rising in the late morning, pissing about, having a late afternoon nap (I am retired!) had not prepared me for this at all. Starting at 10.00 with a couple of coffee breaks and a quick pizza for lunch, we were still at it at midnight. Shaved chocolate got the better of me and I had to retire. Paula was at it for a further two hours.
The fruits of our labours was bloody impressive. A full land rover stacked up with cakes and muffins. There were more cakes than you could shake a stick at.
Any thought of respite was short lived! We had to be at the Market by 5.15 to get a stall. The car was packed up the night before so a quick shower at 4.30 and we were on our way to central Belfast.
The stall looked a treat! Call me biased but it was the best in the market. Brimming with goodies. We had our first customer before 6.00am and it never stopped till 2.00 in the afternoon. All sold and a wad of £ 700 quid in our till. We were back at home by 3.00 and I was so knackered I had to turn down a trip to the pub, make myself a small nest and crash out.
Before......
I did manage to get out of my pit for some supper and a glass of wine but I was nestled down again by 11.00 having dreams of giant muffins and carrot cake slices. Not healthy!!!
Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Thursday baking, baking and more baking. We did have a pretty efficient production line going, but it was still another 12 hours in a rather warm kitchen.
We did get a chance to relax at 10.00 when all was baked and dressed but I quickly flaked out and crawled into my pit by 11.00. No afternoon nap today and it was telling!
The Sunday market starts a little later but, unfortunately finishes a little later too. The land rover laden down again, we headed back to another full on day of hard selling. It was interesting to observe the other market traders. Most sat behind their stalls and waited for people to buy. We however were out there in front of the stall. Banter was flowing with the visitors and throughout the day it was unusual not to have a queue a couple deep. We are inexpensive and our objective is not to take anything back. £1.00 per cake or a box of 6 for a fiver. My sales strategy today was quite simple. If the punter looked overweight I made a bee line for them, box in hand. It worked every time!
I have to say it was great fun. There is a real camaraderie in the market. I met some charming people and although I feel like I have plastic ankles, knees, hips and hands it was a most satisfying weekend.
The photo's below shows the before and after. You can be forgiven thinking that a swarm of locusts had descended on the the capital of Northern Ireland. We sold out again and totalled around £1250 for the weekend. A great result.
After...
Peppermint Cream and Chocolate Orange Muffins...
A fuck off chocolate cake, we raffled it off. The lady who won it was so chuffed she spent anther £10 quid on muffins.
I will be back!
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Location:Main St,Carrowdore,United Kingdom
