Hey Reader,

Okay, so... it's been a minute. Longer than a minute, actually — more like a month. Grab your coffee (or your emergency backup dough, no judgement), because I owe you an explanation and it involves the word “surgery,” which is a dramatic way to say “my finger got stuck.”

🎉 New Members: Welcome to the Cottage AF Newsletter! 😉

Making artisanal jams, crafting specialty sauces, creating gorgeous charcuterie boards, cookies or cakes? Are you a cottage food producer? You belong here!

Home-based makers are an underserved & underappreciated group. With my years of experience in the Cottage Food's baking industry, I am passionate about helping you avoid some of the mistakes I made in the past and unlocking your full potential.

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🫲Where I Disappeared To (Spoiler: It Was My Hand's Fault)🫱

So here's the thing — I missed last month's newsletter AND the August workshop, and I promise it wasn't because I ghosted you for fun. I had hand surgery. A trigger finger release, to be exact, which sounds terrifying until you realize it's a pretty minor outpatient procedure. Lucky for me, I'm right-handed and it was my left hand — but “minor” still means “surgery,” and surgery still means “typing one-handed and rescheduling everything in sight.”

The workshop got bumped, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But we ARE back on for September — I just need to lock in a date, and you'll be the first to know the second I do.

🍪Meanwhile, My Biggest Orders EVER Did Not Care About My Hand 🍪

Here's the plot twist: while I was healing, remember last newsletter I talked about that huge cookie order I landed? Well, I got another one for 500 additional cookies. 3,000 cookies. My biggest orders ever. With one working hand.

So something had to give, and it turned out to be my rolling pin. I'd been using guides on a regular rolling pin to keep my dough at an even height, and it worked fine... until “fine” wasn't going to cut it for 3,000 cookies on a deadline with a bum hand. I finally caved and looked for a countertop dough sheeter — something I've wanted for YEARS but always assumed was a big, expensive, commercial-kitchen-only situation.

Turns out I was wrong. I found a manual countertop dough sheeter on Wayfair Professional for under $400 — a size actually made for home-based food businesses. Game. Changer. I can now roll perfectly smooth, even dough in seconds, one-handed, without thinking twice.

The lesson here isn't really about the sheeter (okay, it's a little bit about the sheeter). It's this: there ARE tools and options out there built for cottage bakers, at prices that actually make sense for us. You just have to know where to look — which, "hi," 👋 is kind of my whole thing.

🤝Speaking of Options: NCFA Membership Is Officially Open 🤝

This is the part where I tell you about the National Cottage Food Alliance (NCFA) again — the organization I'm honored to serve as Treasurer of the Founding Board for — because membership just opened to the public. Head to the NCFA website to see the full list of member benefits, but here's the part I really want you to see:

If you're an NCFA verified member AND a Founding Maker in my Angel Foods Cottage Community, the discounts stack:

• 15% off workshops & coaching

• 10% off your Angel Foods Cottage Community membership

Think about that for a second — you lock in your Founding Maker rate, and then you ALSO get an NCFA member discount on top of it. That's not a “nice to have,” that's a “why wouldn't you” kind of deal. So if you've been on the fence, this is your sign to stop fence-sitting and join both. To unlock this discount, you’ll need to sign up for the NCFA first, then hit reply to this email, and tell me that you did! That way, I can get you the Founding Maker Discount code.

That's all for this week! I promise the next one won't take a month — unless my other hand has other plans (kidding, I'm knocking on wood as I type this). Reply and let me know if you've got a project you're wrangling with one hand tied behind your back, literally or figuratively. I'm here for all of it.

See you in a few weeks for the next edition of the Cottage AF Newsletter! But...

💛 Have you joined our Facebook Group yet?​
It’s where bakers share creations, ask questions, and connect with others who truly understand the cottage food journey.

👉 Join the Cake Business School Facebook Group here

We’d love to see what you’re working on and welcome you into the conversation!

Thank you for being part of the Angel Foods & Cake Business School family. Keep learning, keep making, and keep building the business you love!

See you in a few weeks!