It’s been awhile since my last post. But, you see, I’ve helped to start a business.

Our new venture is called Goat Cottage Farm. It’s a gluten-free, dairy-free bakery in Westport. That’s right, gluten-free and me. I apprenticed at Flour for crying out loud.

My partner in this adventure into the land of sorghum flour and xanthan gum is Colleen Brady Kearney, a mad baker, originally from Hingham,  who has developed recipes over the years for her family who are all allergic to gluten. I’ve tasted way too many of them and they are deelish.

The texture is different, but it has to be. There’s no wheat gluten to hold it all together. As for dairy-free, if you’ve ever eaten kosher sweets made with non-dairy whipped topping, it’s a similar taste and mouth feel.

Colleen and I met through our work with the Westport Historical Society. So we’re not only bakers, we’re both historic preservation groupies. However, she lives in a house from the late 1800s that sits on a 95-acre farm off Main Road. There’s a goat named Mabel, a Welsh pony named Angel, a pig and lots of chickens. I just covet the place.

In less than a month, we’ve gotten her new kitchen certified by the town, developed a menu (see previous post), had a spiffy logo designed and bought a quarter-page ad in the local paper. Our business cards finally came yesterday but the stickers for the boxes and cellophane bags won’t be in until Tuesday.

We have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Gmail accounts and we will meet on Monday with the boys at Slocum Design who will build www.goatcottagefarm.com.

We’ve shopped for equipment, visited my family — and picked up a few things — at J.A.R. Bakers’ Supply. Then there was a shout-out on WCVB’s “Chronicle” after they re-ran an episode from the summer in which I was featured. Bless you, Anthony Everett!

And last week we decorated a gingerbread “barn” at a benefit for the Home for Little Wanderers. The logo-ed aprons we wore that day were rush-shipped from California. Pant, pant…

Yes, we have customers! There is a folder of orders that will be picked up at the farm beginning on Saturday. So this week, while Colleen is perfecting her sticky buns and pumpkin roulade, I will, among other new business chores, deck the halls of our pick-up site: the original Goat Cottage, circa 1710. Outside decorating will be tricky because of Mabel. She rather enjoys snacking on holly.

So it’s been a bit crazy around here at Chez Foodsmith. Who begins a business at Christmas???? Just cray-zee people.

A friend reminded me the other day that when I was at the Herald, churning out six columns a week, my head would spin around like Linda Blair in the “Exorcist” in the days leading up to Dec. 25. So-much-to-do-so-much-to-do-I-gotta-get-outta-here-I-gotta-get-outta-here…

Why break with tradition?

Thankfully, the snow kept my husband and I close to home yesterday, so our house finally looks very fa la la, and our cards have been posted. But I have not wrapped up my Christmas shopping, sent packages out of state or begun the (gluten) candy-making.

I’m totally overwhelmed and exhausted, but extremely happy.

I’ll dish more details when business allows — or when my head spins back into place. Until then, Merry Christmas!

 

Tags: #breadmaking, #candymaking, #Christmas, #dairyfree, #glutenfree, #goatcottagefarm, #holiday, #HomeforLittleWanderers, #LauraRaposa, #NewBusiness, #SmallBusiness, #TheFoodsmith