Today I was talking to a friend about all the changes we have been through in a year here. There really have been so many changes!
When I found this little house last year there was still snow on the ground. This was such a nice "quaint" little place that had lots of character (I felt) I called Tammy Ghent (she and her husband Steve are the owners) I lease it from them. One of the first questions I asked her was if it had a big kitchen....she said YES...we met, looked at it, and immediately I could envision what it could be. Out of all the places I looked at, this one had everything I needed at a price I felt was reasonable. It had a large kitchen, (to fit commercial appliances we would move in) it had room to grow...(which I plan to do, Lord willing)...it had a room my kids could use to "hang out" in...and it felt like "home" which is what I wanted to create for our customers.
I told Tammy and Steve I wanted it and they got busy right away fixing it up and getting it ready...I got busy right away trying to find equipment to put in my kitchen. Doing this on a budget with no loans was no easy task! Every month we would buy one or two pieces of equipment, after spending thousands of dollars trying to get my kitchen ready, the kitchen store we were buying equipment from told us someone else in Searcy was buying equipment from them to do the same thing I was doing. MY HEART SANK! This was an idea that had been in me for about 6 years, and to finally be doing it, thinking no one else in our town had ever done it...and then find out at the exact time I was...someone else was doing it too. If I hadn't already invested so much and signed a year lease...I probably would of changed my mind and given up. Thankfully I didn't!
The first day I started cooking there I truly had no clue how to cook for LARGE crowds...I didn't even turn on the open sign for over a week...I decided if people walked in and it wasn't just perfect till we got the hang of it...if the open sign wasn't on...maybe they would be forgiving. I hoped they would understand we were doing a "practice run"...and they did. I did pretty much everything by myself except for a little help from friends and my children. It was nothing for a customer to walk in and I would be back in the kitchen cooking, and I would turn the stove off and go run the cash register...then go back to the stove. I did that for 2 months. Sometimes packing the kids up at night with pillows and blankets because I had so many orders that I knew had to be filled and I was the only one to cook...and I would literally cook almost all night...get a little nap, get up, change clothes and customers would come in and never know it! It was the hardest couple months work of my life!
People would say I needed to hire someone to help, and I did...but I knew I had to have enough customers to pay to hire someone. I had no business loans to start this...no huge savings...I was a single mom...so I did all I could do to make what customers I was getting happy...and hope I kept them....and I have kept so many of them! I finally got to hire someone, and she was a wonderful worker and helped me more than she knows. I finally felt like I could breathe a little...I swear 2 months went by that I don't know if I shaved my legs or not....lol I have had a couple people help me on and off..and each of them have taught me something and there will always be a little part of them in the dishes we prepare here. There is Kelly's cream cheese corn (which she called everyones favorite corn) there is Crystals Butterfinge'r pies (yep, she is the one who brought this one to The Mixing Bowl!) There is Nicki's Texas Sheet cake and her delicious sausage balls! And I am lucky enough to be having one of my best friends from high school help me some and she is a cooking diva! Misty brought the Heavenly Chocolate Mousse to us, as well as lot's of other great ideas. These girls have helped me more than they know...not everyone of them is still around...but I will remember and appreciate all they have done to help me get started.
We TRY our hardest...we cook for you all like we cook for our families....and we really do cook with lot's of love....we know food allergies, we know who likes what (if you become a regular) we really have grown attached to quite a lot of our customers...and if for some reason we don't see you for a while...we are kind of like old mother hens wondering about you!
I have never had a job that I loved like I love this. I have always heard if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life...I am not saying I don't feel like I am working, because sometimes after a really hard day my back hurts so bad I don't think I can stand up straight...lol but if I have to work...(since money is not just falling off trees:) this is the best job that I could ever ask for! I love it! I love the girls who help me! I love our customers!
I hope The Mixing Bowl continues to grow and be blessed the way we have this year...I hope this is the job I retire from. Thank you all for helping us to make it our first year! I promise that I will always try to provide you all with the best service and food possible and a fair price. You all have truly enriched my life and I am so very thankful for you.
Cindy
