Sunday 27 April 2014

Bournemouth & Poole Coeliac Support Group Food Fair 2014

Blimey, that title was a mouthful!

Oooh the food fair was FUN!!

As you'll probably know, I was really, really nervous about this one. Although it wasn't my first stall, it was my first big stall and in previous years we've had literally hundreds of people through the doors for this event. The pressure was on.

My parents (who have been extremely supportive of my venture so far) found me a refriedgerated display case to put my cheesecakes in at events so they'd stay below 5 degrees C. So they ordered that for me and lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. Plus, the cheesecakes looked SO great in the display case!! I decided to do four cheesecakes in all: lemon and lime, chocolate caramel swirl, strawberry, and very vanilla.



I also did devil's food cupcakes with bright blue icing, which worked really well at getting the attention of kids who walked past. Sold a LOT of them! I did lemon meringue cupcakes for the grown-ups, and cookie pies for all. What, you might ask, is a cookie pie?! Okay, so you may well have heard of 'whoopie pies'. Just in case, here's a pic:


They're discs of chocolate cake, sandwiched with buttercream. But personally, I prefer a really dense, chewy cookie. So, I created the cookie pie. And I'm stunned at how well they sold - I think I sold more of them than anything else, which makes me incredibly happy.

So, overall, how did it go? I had braced myself for the possibility I might not sell much. I had braced myself for the possibility some people might be unkind about what I'd made, or even perhaps what they'd bought from me before. What I wasn't prepared for was how incredibly kind and generous everyone was. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to have so many wonderful people stop by and tell me how much they loved the products I'd sold them at the AGM, or taste the bits of cookie and lemon sponge I had as samples, and tell me how great they thought they were. It was such a boost for my confidence and I'm so grateful to everyone.

I also had a LOT of help on the day, and thank goodness, because by the third hour my legs were failing me and I was having real trouble standing. I was shaking all over and the dizziness was getting pretty bad, and if I hadn't had my husband, my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and my Gran there to help, I wouldn't have made it through the day. So a HUGE thank you goes to all of them.

Right, that's enough gushing from me! Here are some pics:


Until next time, food fans!

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