Shame and Sore Feet: 2013's Plant Sale

My dear people,

It is with great regret and shame that I am coming to you here today. For I have unintentionally neglected Purple Door Kitchen's blog these past few weeks. And I honestly have no excuse for why I have done so. I mean, there is the fact that I had tests and papers and projects (oh look, more tests and papers and projects. It isn't over! Heh.) Or that I'm leaving for Brazil in less than a month and there have been crazy missions meetings and fundraisers and general busy-ness for that. (Oh yay oh yay oh yay oh yay, I'm SO excited for that trip!) But despite the lack of posts here, I have still been kitchen oriented, you know...I made raspberry lemon cake the other day. And before that I made some bread, and there was a last weekend where I made 100 cupcakes, 20 sugar cookies, 80 filled croissants, and 36 cake pops.

Oh you didn't hear about that? Yeahhhh...
Every year, the Saturday before Mother's day our cute little town of Duvall holds a Plant Sale. It's the first big outdoorsy event of the year. The precursor to the Big Rock Classic Car Show, Fireman's Pancake Breakfast, Dirty Paws festival in the park, Duvall Days, Summerstage, Sandblast, Quilt Walk, Heritage Day...
Okay. You get the idea. We like lots of fun activities because we are fun people who try and take advantage of the three months of sun we are so benevolently blessed with here in the Pacific Northwest.

"Sunshine" cupcake: Lemon cake, lemon curd, lemon buttercream and candied lemon peel. Doesn't get any better than this, peeps.

So yes. Plant Sale.
For the past three years, I've been the food vendor at the Duvall Plant Sale. It's fun! Also completely-over-the-top-I'm-going-to-die-stressful and exhausting. Everything has to be fresh and not stale and 100% delicious, but there is only one baker: me! and I do it all in my parents' spacious kitchen so they are forced to eat takeout or pizza for two or three days while I inconvenience them. (Sorry guys! I love you and I promise this is THE last year. I know I said that last year and I went back on my word but I promise it's for real this time.)

Tie Dye Sugar cookies! They are as big as your face and possibly the most fun thing you'll eat this week.

 But it is really really fun. Once I get past the fact that I can't feel the lower half of my legs because I haven't sat down in 26 hours. But I play my tunes full blast in the kitchen and line up counter tops and tables and shelves with boxes of baked goods. By the end of both Thursday and Friday I am covered head to toe in some form of either sugar or flour. And the actual booth is fun to run, too. People will come up and tell me how pretty everything looks, and then they pay me to eat it! Sometimes I get called "The cupcake girl" and that makes me happy.

Boxes of yummy.

 The only sad thing about the day is that I'm usually so busy/tired that I take zero pictures. It's a tragedy really because I think my booth is about the classiest thing since champagne, but you know. (GUYS! I even have an old door that I found and painted purple. My booth actually has a purple door, it's fantastic.)
But alas, this really is the last year for me. I'm moving out this fall and next year I won't have the resources or the time to throw myself into baking for three entire days since I'll be enrolled full time in the School of Education at my university. :( Sad news. But good news! Because I'm sure something equally as fun and exciting and challenging will come my way in the next year! Right? It always does. Til then...I can thankfully enjoy having feeling back in my feet.