Blog – Baked by A.K.

Vegan gluten free keto cookies

aera — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 00:59:05 +0000

Vegan gluten free keto cookies

About 99.9% of you guys that come to me come for the no gluten stuff. Everything else seems to be a subcategory. Below is a breakdown of what you guys have been coming to me for! Wanting no gluten items is what all of you have in common. There are more micro subcategories, but these seem to be the main ones so far with my own experience in my business.

Vegan. With you guys that come for the vegan items, more of you have been asking for the no gluten items lately.

No dairy. After gluten, dairy containing items seem to be what many of you are avoiding. Some of my items contain dairy while some don’t.

Keto friendly. All of my keto friendly items already are without gluten since I use nut flour (almond and/or coconut).

Diabetic friendly. Thanks for choosing me for your diabetic friendly treats! A good percentage of you also told me that you need to avoid gluten, as well as added sugar (A.K. runs on Lakanto monk fruit).

It’s been hard to please everyone in these subcategories with the same items. What I can please with certain subcategories, I can’t with some of the others. I’ve had some of you that come for the vegan stuff that would eye the zucchini chocolate cake to find out it has eggs. Some of you want the cranberry coffee cake but have to opt out because it has dairy while you don’t mind the eggs. Some of my vegan items from the early days were made with regular sugar and flour. Some of you that came for the vegan stuff didn’t care about the sugar and flour part, but of course, that disappointed all of the above subcategories. It was noted and gluten and added sugar were eliminated from the vegan items, based on demand.

Well, now I have these cookies that meet the restrictions for all of the above category. They are without gluten/added sugar, keto friendly, diabetic friendly, and vegan!

Cookie flavors include: lemon, chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip, and snowball. Snowball cookies have been the most popular. Variety packs are also available, which includes all the flavors.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about having vegan, no gluten, no added sugar for the modern day Santa. And what are the odds? The same day, I just happened to run into a Santa at a popup that I was doing that happened to be vegan, gluten and sugar free! He declined my cookies at first, saying that he was vegan. I told him the cookies were vegan. He also pointed out that he doesn’t do gluten or sugar. Well, it was like the cookies and the particular Santa encounter were meant to be!

Lemon cookies – made with freshly squeezed and zested lemons from the local farmers’ markets. Almond flour based. Sweetened with monk fruit.

Chocolate chip – If you like coconut, people take notice of the coconut flavor of this. It is almond flour based, but also uses coconut flour, as well as coconut oil and coconut milk. Sweetened with monk fruit. The dark chocolate chips used are allergen free and sugar free.

Chocolate chocolate chip – These are a bit like the chocolate chip, but fudgier, with the exra chocolate! Honestly, these used to be my personal favorite at one time until I started making the snowball cookies lol. Sweetened with monk fruit. The dark chocolate chips used are allergen free and sugar free.

Snowball cookies – As of right now (December 2022), these are currently my best selling cookies! These are also the cookies that my fellow vendors have been buying from me the most. And none of them are vegan, avoiding gluten/added sugar. Almond flour based. Sweetened with monk fruit.

Cookies can be ordered online (shipping available). If you are local, we love seeing you at the participating farmers’ markets. We do weekly farmers’ markets, as well as popups (follow us on Instagram to stay up to date on where to find us).

Weekly farmers’ markets

Saturdays

Aliso Viejo Certified farmers’ market (10 to 2)

26901 Aliso Creek Rd Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

Mission Viejo Certified farmers’ market (9 to 1)

25282 Marguerite Pkwy, Mission Viejo, CA 92692

Sundays

Great Park Certified farmers’ market (10 to 2)

6950 Marine Way, Irvine, CA 92618

Natural Products Expo West

aera — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 04:32:58 +0000

I will be attending Expo West in a couple weeks and can’t wait. It’ll be my first time attending as a food business. I have gone in the previous years as media support, so I’m no stranger to the event. 2020 was going to be my first year attending as a food business, but we all know how that went down! I probably met some of you at the Expo Refugee events. The unplanned freestyle events hold a special place in my heart because it was the first time that I was able to share my products with the world (other than friends and family). At the time, I had just got done getting everything ready just a little before the world shut down, so you can imagine my excitement when I was finally ready to start sharing my business with the public. Things didn’t go as planned when Expo West cancelled less than 24 hours prior to show time, but I was truly inspired by other business owners, making lemons out of lemonades while others just continued to be pissed off and complained (understandably). Before even officially starting, I was learning the importance of learning how to pivot when things don’t go as planned.

That year, I connected with personal chefs, designers, event coordinators, and more. At some of the events, I wasn’t able to make it (work kept me). But with a little help and encouragement of fellow refugees, I was able to bring Baked by A.K. to some of these places. At the end of the night, I’d be receiving messages about how much people enjoyed my items. The items I sent out at the time were my vegan tahini items. I was told that many of the people at these events were vegan, so it was reported back to me that my items were “a hit”.

Expo West 2022 will be my first major food show since pre-pandemic times. The last one I attended was Winter Fancy Food Show 2020 (still attending as a food blogger). As an attendee going for the first time as a food business, I am still trying to figure out who to connect with! I am excited to be inspired, as I always am at these events. I am a local business. The nationwide aspect of the business is limited to online consumer orders. I focus on local. I am at local farmers’ markets (mostly throughout South Orange County) every week. I work with local businesses to provide my items, wholesale. With my business being so very local and the opportunity to connect being readily available with other local businesses, I am a bit lost on what other nationwide business I can and should connect with while I am there. I will definitely be looking forward to connecting with other local businesses, but just trying to figure out how to go about with nationwide networking while we are all at the same place at once. My items are perishable. The shelf life for the products is 5-6 days (refrigerated), but they also freeze well (up to two months). For that reason, I lean more towards keeping my business local. But if there is some way to expand, I’d love to learn/discuss more. An ideal scenario might be connecting with someone that comes to town for business regularly that can directly pick up the products to take to their part of town to carry at their place of business. With shipping, I worry about the possible what ifs that are sometimes inevitable, -delays, improper handling, the weather (being out in the heat too long can ruin it), not being received and properly stored right away, etc.

I know that I will definitely be looking into packaging. If I can find and connect with companies that offer eco friendly sustainable packaging that works well with my products, that’d be great. I’d love to connect with other food service companies (meal prep and catering) and specialty food grocers. My products focus on keto friendly baked goods. All of the keto items are free of gluten and added sugar. I also have vegan items that are free of gluten and added sugar. So I am interested in connecting with local businesses that seek such products. But like I said, while I am there, I’d also like to go beyond local (with buyers). So if any of you want to connect, I look forward to meeting you!

Aliso Viejo Certified Farmers’ Market

aera — Thu, 13 May 2021 21:59:53 +0000

I wonder what percentage of Aliso Viejoians received the memo that there’s a new farmers’ market in town. The town was in need of one and Maryann, the market manager, delivered! “I didn’t know there was a farmers’ market here!” still seems to be the common reaction of many of the patrons coming by. It’s been almost a couple of months since we’ve been around and the town continues to gradually find out about us being here, located right in front of Regal Edwards Aliso Viejo & IMAX at Aliso Viejo Town Center . During the earlier hours of the market, I am guessing most of the people passing by are here for the gym, their post-work out smoothies, or early morning grocery haul. Nothing else is open around here until later. The market opens at 8 a.m. and we’ve recently extended the hours until 1 p.m.

Maryann also runs a couple of other Orange County markets (Placentia Certified Farmers’ Market and Great Park Farmers’ Market), so if you’ve been to any of her other ones, you’re likely to see some of the same vendors here, including Baked by A.K.!

Although I come here to be a vendor, I also like to play shopper during my time here. I just have less leisurely time to stroll about and browse as I normally would at a Saturday morning farmers’ market because somebody has to watch my booth lol. I’ve been doing all my produce shopping here lately and I can save some coins here since I get a vendor discount. For my coffee fix, there is Three Hats Coffee Company.

On days I don’t bring lunch, I still need to eat and sometimes I pass the day with way too much grazing.

My go to graze options have been yogurt from Bonjour, breakfast burritos, tamales, and there are some others I’ve yet to try. I never thought I’d be much of a yogurt person, but I have been finding myself getting some yogurt while at the markets. I first discovered them at my very first market, Farmakis. But I soon noticed that they are pretty much everywhere! They have so many flavors to choose from and it is fun to try different ones. My personal favs are the caramel and fig.

Next to me are two vendors that rotate each week, one that sells candles, and the other, essential oils. I love scented candles, so it has been convenient to step on over to sniff different scents.

I am not a tea drinker. I live on coffee. But the other day, I got myself some tea from Power in Herbs. The reason being is that I am scheduled to get my second dose of vaccine soon. I am prepared for the worst, with the side effects. I wanted to pregame. Herbal tea > coffee when I may be feeling like I am about to die. With my first dose, I had some delayed, faint flu-like symptoms. Everyone is different and I have no idea what to expect, but I am mentally preparing symptoms to be severe.

And then there is yours truly. You may know that I offer options in vegan, traditional, and keto. But it seems that most people at the markets come to me for the keto items. The vegan stuff has been secondary. And nobody even looks at my regular stuff when I’ve brought them in the past. I guess I have slowly established myself at the markets as the vendor selling keto or vegan sweets and most of my regulars come for those specific products. So I haven’t been bringing the “regular” stuff lately.

The crowd favorite (at this market and every other market) has become the keto zucchini chocolate cake, which has no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, and has 3 net carbs. The first time I brought it, I had it as a special. I wasn’t sure if I’d add it to the regular menu because coconut flour wasn’t an ingredient that I bought in bulk, which is the flour used in this cake. But it quickly grew as the item that people loved the most, so it wouldn’t have made sense not to add it, right? Right.

Almost a couple of months in and the overall experience here has been unpredictable. I’ve had good days and I’ve had depressing days. A couple of Saturdays ago was one of the depressing days, but it was exciting when a keto influencer, acaieats, stumbled upon us and had good things to share about our products in her post. As more people continue to find out about this new market being here, we are hopeful about what it’ll become. See you at the market!

First time farmers’ market

aera — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:21:18 +0000

Selling at the local farmers’ markets has been on the agenda when I started brainstorming the steps for my business. It was going be a significant part of getting exposure and introducing my items to the locals. The pandemic had put a halt on that plan for months. Most of the spring months were spent quarantined and not stepping out of my home except when necessary. In the more recent months, I started applying to some of the local markets only to find out that they’re either temporarily closed, put a temporary halt on food vendors, or simply just didn’t have the space for me (which was mostly the case). Places are tight on space due to Covid-19 precautions and limitations. I got put on the waiting list with a couple. One of those places was the farmers’ market at Farmakis Farms, which just opened up not too long ago. It was exciting news when I received the email, notifying me that a space had just opened up.

Farmakis is a family owned venue that has become established and known for being a destination to come pick out Christmas trees during the holiday months and exploring the pumpkin patch during the fall months. The farmers’ market here only started some months ago.

I was asked if I could start that same week. And I had nothing prepared! I wasn’t expecting to be asked to start anywhere so soon. I had to go into preparing mode ASAP. I literally had NOTHING prepared.

Insurance $299 (already existing, but had to add additional insured, at no extra cost).

I was asked to add to the policy: the market where the event is held and the city of where the event is held, Farmakis Farms and the city of San Juan Capistrano. I use FLIP (Food Liability Insurance Program). As a new foodpreneur, I wanted a budget friendly option and FLIP came highly recommended.

Business license $45.30

I assumed that the business license that I already had (for the city of Fullerton) was a one for all deal. But apparently, I had to get another one for the city where my items were going to be sold at. I had to obtain a business license from the city of San Juan Capistrano as well.

TFF $112

A Temporary Food Facility permit is needed when selling at events and markets. It just came in the mail the other day, and it looks the same as the first health permit I received earlier this year for the city of Fullerton, which is where my items are prepared.

More farmers’ market essentials…

Banner

It’s a good thing I was already in communication with my designer about my banner. We had been casually exchanging messages on design ideas, but at the time, I had told her that there’d be no rush because it’d probably be weeks or even months until I probably needed it. I contacted her right away when I started getting ready, making sure she had plenty of time. I first worked with Christina at Select GP when needing a designer for my sell sheet. I had just about had it with all the drafts of the hideous designs I was coming up with and decided that it was time for help from a professional. She’s been helpful and communicative with my design needs and I’d recommend!

Prior to the pandemic, when I was planning things out in my head, I envisioned having items in a display case. They would have been unpackaged items that I would have grabbed with tongs upon orders to probably put in wax paper bags. Well, we are living in different times now. Display cases at farmers’ markets are yesterday’s news. And nobody is pulling down their masks to munch while browsing the markets. Well, maybe some people are here and there, but it gives off an awkward and taboo feel. Food items are taken home to enjoy. Things have to be prepackaged, including samples. Pre-COVID sampling plans were to lay out plates with tongs and toothpicks for folks to grab and try, in the exposed air. What savage practices we’ve had pre-COVID! Baked by A.K. is a stranger to SJC and sharing samples is a vital part of making an introduction. I put samples in the little sauce containers with lids. I had these ones (below) to start. I started with those and later bought more in bulk at Restaurant Depot.

The next step was menu planning. Pre-COVID times, I imagined selling items by the singles. This felt more ideal for a munching while browsing situation. Selling by the singles from display cases (like my original plans) didn’t make sense for present times. Like with cookies, I figured, selling by the dozen would probably be too much. But threes and sixes felt more ideal. People would be taking them home to eat (and possibly save to eat for later too and even share with family members at home), so I had to pivot to figure out what made more sense, quantity-wise, too. Pre-COVID, when I was visiting a farmers’ market as a customer and in the mood for a cookie, I’d probably want one. One cookie to munch on and to go with a coffee I might have gotten at another booth nearby. But in current times, since it feels incredibly awkward to be walking around removing my mask each time to take a bite and sip, I’m buying to take home to enjoy. And when enjoying at home, it’s more likely that I might save it and put it away for a major sweet tooth day (that’s just me, personally). I may likely be having them while vegging out in front of the tube. I am not sitting at a shared table with random market going strangers while munching on some tamales I just got, along with the coffee and a bag of produce. In that type of setting, a single cookie to be had after the tamale snack would be feeling more fitting. And this is my own real life scenario of how it used to go down when I used to visit farmers’ markets pre-COVID. I am still learning and tweaking, so who knows what that plan might evolve into.

As a vendor selling baked items, I also have to keep an eye on what other vendors selling baked items are selling to make sure that I’m not selling the same or similar items. For me, that ruled out good old regular chocolate chunk cookies. I thought about having something simple, regular, familiar, and classic. Chocolate chunk cookies seemed to be it, but I found out that someone else is already selling those, so that’s out! But I do have vegan versions of it.

BAKED BY A.K.’S FIRST FARMERS’ MARKET

DAY 1

After spending the week preparing, I felt ready to take on my first day at Farmakis (first farmers’ market experience). I was anxious but felt prepared. Since I had no idea of what to expect until actually experiencing it firsthand, I wanted to keep things simple for the first day and not overwhelm myself with having ten million different items and even more display items. With first time anxiety, my headspace was already expected to be a little bit scattered. It doesn’t help that my brain doesn’t perform at its highest capacity in the early mornings!

5:00 a.m. –Alarm goes off (and I typically sleep around 1-2 a.m., so this wasn’t easy)

6:15 a.m. – Pick up and load items from the kitchen and drive to the location.

7:00 a.m. – Arrive and start setting up. I was so worried about the tent situation because I knew it wasn’t something I’d be able to do without help, especially since I had never set one up before. One of the owners is there in the early morning and he was quite helpful with the tent setup, answering any questions, and offering tips and suggestions. So were the other vendors!

9:00 a.m. – Open for business

The simplicity of my booth ended up looking like this…..

You can’t get any simpler than that! Now that I look back on it, it’s embarrassingly too simple and plain. I will work on pimpin’ it up a bit more next week. I had samples inside of the jack o lanterns and the actual items were in the back to retrieve upon purchase. Now that I have gotten a feel of the environment, for next time, I will have the actual items on full display. I was told that maybe the samples should be within visibility as well instead of having to look inside the pumpkin to see what it is.

I felt I had a good amount of variety to start. I didn’t want to have too many. Too much variety can sometimes make it hard to pick anything sometimes.

Turmeric cookies

Vegan tahini chocolate chunk cookies

Vegan pumpkin bread

Keto pumpkin bread

Keto coffee cake

The item that I sold most was the coffee cake. That seems to generally be the best selling item right now overall, even outside of this venue.

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means that I will be earning a small commission from any purchase made from the items here that I am sharing. These are items that I have purchased myself (many shown in the display setup photo above), with a few items that are currently on my wish list to purchase.

When do nutritional labels become necessary?

aera — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 04:47:54 +0000

Remember how I said that I was able to get an exemption from nutritional labels? Well, I was. If a company has less than 100 full time employees and/or produces less than 100,000 units of the item per year, it can qualify to get an exemption. Well, it seems like the time has come for me to start having nutritional labels. No, I wasn’t an overnight success and suddenly added 100 employees or got onto the shelves of some major chains and started slamming out tons of orders. Technically, I can still have an exemption. But the timing felt right to start looking into getting nutritional info. I knew that I eventually would, but I thought it’d be somewhere further into the business.

As I started adding on more keto items to my menu, the need and requests for nutritional labels became more expected. Folks order keto want to know all the macro info, especially with the carbohydrates, to know that they’re not going over their limit.

In the midst of the pandemic, meal prep companies seemed to be having their moments of time to shine. Many of the meal prep companies I’ve been connecting with are ones that focus on healthier/lighter eating. That’s where my keto items come in. The items are enjoyed by folks that can’t have sugar, are on a keto diet to lose weight, or simply want to feel less guilt when indulging in sweets.

When the topic of nutritional labels was first brought up to me (like during my State inspection), I vaguely remember being told about places where they can be made. So tracing back, I researched to try to recollect such places. Also, at the LGI, the kitchen that I use, Marjan (the owner) also told me that she can help me make labels as well, for a fee. As I continued browsing to find the best option, I stumbled upon Recipal. It came highly recommended by other foodpreneurs and had stellar reviews. The first three nutritional labels can be created for free . It is $19 per recipe after that. There are other monthly options, but I don’t need that just yet. But okay, I was sold on the free part of the first three. I figured, it’d be a good way to at least get an idea of how to create a nutritional label, at no cost.

There were some things that confused me. During one of my consultations with Marjan, I tried to see if she can help me figure out certain things that I was struggling with while using Recipal. It was her first time being introduced to Recipal too. The whole program confused her at first. She’s been so used to the software that she’s been using for decades. But after fiddling around with it for a minute, she realized the simplicity of it and called it “wonderful and simple to use”, so much “simpler” than what she’s been using all these years. Okay, I was further convinced that I needed Recipal in my life.

One of the things that I love about Recipal is their quick response time to any questions I’ve had via email. Recipal was designed by a food entrepreneur for food entrepreneurs. Lev, the founder of Recipal, was running a beef jerky company and struggled to find just the right software to meet the needs of what his business needed. He’s not just a software developer. As a fellow food entrepreneur, he understands in detail, exactly what we go through and need.

Gluten-free certified

aera — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 05:27:08 +0000

To be able to label an item with that illustrious “GF” declaration, it needs to get sent to a lab, go through a testing, and come back with the results showing that it contains less than 20 ppm (parts per million) of gluten to get gluten-free certified. That is by FDA standards. For Celiac Association standards, I heard it should be less than 5 ppm (my items passed that too).

If an item is gluten-free because there are no gluten containing ingredients but hasn’t been through the official testing and certifying process, the gluten-free claim shouldn’t be on label. Instead, it can be labeled with “no gluten containing ingredients”. If you have gluten-sensitivity, are you super strict about the “GF” claims? I know that it all varies with how sensitive a person is to gluten.

I recently had a WTF moment with all this. I had some of my GF items certified (and was continuing to add to the list) and some print materials with that “GF” claim. And then just a couple of weeks ago, someone notices my GF claims and tells me that I probably shouldn’t be making the claims because although the items are certified, the facility is not. This was truly puzzling because no one had said anything to me about the facility also needing to be certified as well before I got my items certified. I asked around and was hearing mixed info on this. I contacted the lab to get answers. I figured, they’d probably be the ones to have the most legit answers to this. And they told me, “the FDA does not require a facility to be ‘certified gluten-free’ in order to label a product as gluten-free. I was given the green light to carry on. Thank goodness. But it was recommended that I also include “made in a facility that uses wheat” as well. I read somewhere that including this is optional. Maybe this statement might turn away certain buyers with gluten intolerance. Other times, it may be the safety measure a person with extremely high gluten tolerance may need. Even breathing in bits of gluten remnants from the air may cause a reaction. There is such a thing as airborne gluten. And getting someone sick is the last thing I’d want to do!

Taking it back to when I had the State inspection, when I spoke to the inspector on the phone, the day before my scheduled State inspection, she asked if I had any items labeled as “gluten-free” or “organic”. I told her I had some gluten-free items but none that were labeled as organic. I only learned that day from the phone call that when labeling an item as “gluten-free” that the items would need to be certified. And my inspection was the next day. There wasn’t exactly enough time get my items certified when my inspection was the next day.

So in the evaluation report of my inspection, this gluten-free claim was one of the things that I had to fix. I was new to all this and was still learning. And like I said before, there is no step by step instruction check list! At least not one I have found yet. This is one of the reasons that I started journaling my steps. It’s a reference for myself and I hope that it can also be a reference for others, though things may vary greatly by each state and county.

My gluten-free items are “made with a shared equipment that uses wheat”. During the State inspection, the order in which I made the items was a bit frowned upon. I planned out the production of the items so that it made sense in efficiency. I made the vegan tahini chocolate chunk cookie dough first so that it’d have time to chill. Even though I did a thorough job of washing, rinsing, sanitizing the equipment after use before proceeding to make the gluten-free item (vegan flourless tahini brownie), I was told that it might be suggested that I make the gluten-free items first to be extra safe.

Since I was not certified (because, again, I had no idea about such thing and this was one of the things I learned as I went), I was then told that I either had to remove the “GF” on my label or change it to “no gluten containing ingredients”. I ended up getting my items certified. It’s not cheap! I was recommended to Food Microbiological Laboratories, Inc. (by a fellow local foodpreneur). This is in Orange County, CA. I understand that it once used to be $50 per item. When I went, it was $135 per item! There’s more ease of mind having had the items tested and certified.

If you see gluten-free items without the “GF” claim on my menu, know that it’s typically going to be because they’re newly added and I may still be getting a feel of it to see if I want to bring it on board to the official “GF” club. My orange (no gluten) pound cake is an example. Only a limited few have tried it so far. The response has been excellent and I personally LOVE it! It’s even almost keto. It’s the orange that makes it not keto. Other than the orange, pretty much all the ingredients are keto. When I start testing to get more in-depth feedback, I will look into getting it certified to add to my gluten-free list.

If you follow my IG, you’ve probably seen Kevin of Steve and Kevin. They’re my VIP customers and are both gluten-free. Kevin was diagnosed with celiac disease back in 2014. He told me that there are certain items that he dearly misses since he cannot have gluten anymore.

With Kevin being the most gluten sensitive person that I know, he became the head taste tester of my products when I was experimenting and trying to decide what will go on my menu. So you can thank Kevin in part for what you see on my menu today.

For more videos of Steve and Kevin, my gluten-free taste testers:

Vegan tahini cookies

Vegan gluten-free banana bread (yes, they can be made gluten-free upon request)

From State inspection to county inspection

aera — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 01:40:58 +0000

Remember the State inspection that I had back in November? Well, there is another inspection to go through following that, the county inspection! I just had my first one about a month ago. After surviving the unending and nerve wracking State inspection, I was naturally nervous. I don’t perform well under pressure and can get easily distracted. I didn’t really know what to expect, how long it was going to take, if I’d fail, if it was going to be just having to verbally explain my steps or if they’d want to observe me in production like they did during the State inspection, or what.

For some reason, I thought that the county inspection had to be done before starting to do any production. But apparently, it is done some time when you start operating.

Remember from way back when, when I received the plan check report/correction letter requirements? One of the steps that I was required to complete was to obtain a PFR (Processed Food Registration), which was obtained after that unending State inspection. This is required if doing wholesale food business. I knew that wholesale would be a huge leap if trying to take that route from the beginning, but I knew that I wanted to go in that direction, so that’s what I filled out on my shared food facility application, which was followed by a correction letter stating that a PFR was needed if I’m going to be doing wholesale. Complicating enough? Sometimes I do wonder if I should have waited before I added “wholesale” to my application, especially right now with everything going on and my entire business plans being thrown off and having to be completely revised.

Before I share about what went on during the recent county inspection that I survived, I wanted break things down from getting to that State inspection to the more recent step of getting to the county inspection. It may not be exactly the same steps and experience for every new business, but this is what I went through.

Hopefully, this post helps someone out there because I know that it can be extremely confusing and easy to get frustrated at times when trying to prepare everything just to get started. When I was going through all this, I wished that there was somebody to hold my hand and break everything down when I was having my WTF moments. A lot of the times, I didn’t know what I had to do first. I didn’t understand why I had to obtain a PFR and others didn’t. I wanted to know how to best prepare for inspections. I had so many questions. Well, this is how it went down for Baked by A.K., starting from when I got the notice that a PFR needed to be obtained in order to move forward. I had no idea what a PFR even was.

Received a Plan Check Report, with a list of additional things required, including a PFR
Filled out a PFR application and paid the $448 fee (to be renewed every year).
Waited for a call to schedule an appointment for a State inspection.
- Waited and waited… it’s stated that it takes approximately six to eight weeks to hear back. So I patiently waited until then, and then started emailing and calling periodically when I heard nothing. If I didn’t do that, I think I’d still be waiting right now lol.
After more waiting and back and forth calls and emails, they finally got back to me to finally schedule an appointment for the State inspection
The grueling six and a half hour State inspection finally happened in November of last year
I was given a list of things to obtain and correct.
I go through the check list and get everything up to State requirements and turn it in.
I wait some more
…..and some more
Months later, I finally receive a PFR certificate in the mail. Yay!
I contact OCHCA, submit a copy of the PFR, along with some other things from that list (sample label, additional info about production, nutritional label (exemption), etc.
OCHCA approves my Shared Food Facility application. Yay!
However, it is stated “you are not permitted to produce any foods at the facility until you receive your health permit”.
I stopped by OCHCA once again, filled out a health permit application and paid the annual fee of $263.
Weeks later, my health permit arrives in the mail. Yay!

At this point, I was thinking that the next step was going to be to schedule an appointment for the county inspection. But as I mentioned, I was told that I can officially start using the facility. Yay! And I found out that the county inspection will happen as I start.

I had plans to get started by selling at the local farmers’ markets first. I hadn’t applied to any yet because it seems that they don’t take applications unless the business had a health permit first. So after I had gotten the health permit, I was ready to start applying.

I contacted Marjan (owner of the incubator kitchen) to schedule an appointment to go over some things, get some guidance, and to make a deposit since I was finally ready to start.

And then……….bam! As the outbreak of COVID-19 was starting to get more serious, the whole world was starting to shut down. My business plans had to be temporarily put on hold. The entire spring season was spent quarantined and being too paranoid to step foot out. But it gave me some time to do some behind the scenes work, mostly more research and virtual networking.

The plans I had to carry out had to be revised, as I’m sure every other business had to with theirs. I considered possibly having pickup curbside and delivery options and leaned more towards online sales. I didn’t enter the kitchen again until the near of summer. I had mixed feelings about how safe I felt. But I also felt the need to start making my way out there, slowly and cautiously.

The first day back in the kitchen was a testing day, to test items out in bigger batches than I’ve previously made. I didn’t want to be in a predicament where I needed to have orders ready (in bigger bulk) only to find out that simply multiplying the exact measurements may or may not always work. Maybe some things would need to be adjusted. And it happened to be a coincidence that I got a call the same day from OCHCA wanting to schedule an appointment for an inspection.

I lost sleep the night before the day of my inspection. Nerves and anxiety got the best of me. I didn’t even start having business yet, but I wanted to get it over with. I continued testing of the items in bigger batches. I didn’t even have business yet, but baking to test was what I did during the inspection, for the inspector to observe my steps.

“You have nothing to worry about. She’s wonderful!” Marjan (the owner) said when I mentioned how nervous I was.

Come inspection day, I arrived a few minutes earlier so that I had some time to set up my station before the inspector arrived. I didn’t want to overcomplicate things and decided to bulk test just one item. With the added anxiety, even the tasks I can do with my eyes closed could have easily distracted me or thrown me off. The one item that i decided to make that day was vegan tahini banana bread.

I had the oven preheating and was scaling out my ingredients when the inspector made her way in. Show time!

She introduced herself and proceeded to study my ingredients, making sure that everything was labeled, asked me to walk her through where my items are stored (dry storage, cooler, freezer), and again, checked to see that everything was labeled correctly and stored properly.

My OCD about handwashing really shined during this inspection and was recognized. I pretty much wash my hands after anything (it’s just a personal peeve of mine to have unwashed hands after touching anything, even before the pandemic paranoia). I proceeded to scale and mix the batter for the banana bread as she observed. As with the State inspection, how the dishwashing area is used is carefully monitored. She checked to see that I was using the correct temperatures for each compartment. For the sanitizing compartment, she had a test strip to make sure the pH level was on par.

We proceeded to go over how items were going to be stored, packaged, transported after baking She asked for copies of: sample labels, Servsafe, and PFR.

I honestly thought that she was going to linger around and ask me 500 more questions. I was starting to wonder if I should have had more things to prepare while I had the kitchen by the hour. BUT~~~ it turned out that, that was the end of the inspection that I had lost sleep over! Compared to the unending State inspection, this was seriously a walk in the park! I exhaled and was glad that it was over and that I survived through it.

Disclaimer: I’ve been journaling my steps since Baked by A.K. was just an idea. Journaling helps me keep track of things and make reference to. I hope that by sharing about my experiences, others can also make reference to or shed light on. I’m not a food business consultant. I am merely a new foodpreneur sharing about my journey. Writing things out helps me learn and process things more clearly. My business is based in Orange County, CA. Things may vary by county and state and the type of food business. I rent an incubator kitchen (shared food facility) to prepare baked items for wholesale and retail.

Cookies for healthcare workers

aera — Sat, 02 May 2020 21:16:57 +0000

Hello, friends. I hope that you are continuing to stay safe and sane as we ride through this world pandemic together. We made it to the month of May. We survived. Thank you for doing your part and staying home. And an even a bigger thanks goes out to the men and women fighting in the frontline of this invisible enemy. They risk their lives so that we don’t have to. With hospitals exceeding capacity limits during this time, these heroes are overworked and exhausted. To thank these heroes for their bravery and tireless efforts, Baked by A.K. wanted to do its little part in taking part in feeding them. I hope that this can bring a bit of comfort and smiles to our heroes.

I recently did a practice run with Crème Caramel LA. They are tirelessly working to get comfort treats into the bellies of frontline heroes in various areas. I connected with Christine, the owner, to find out about how I can also contribute with my own treats. The cookies that I had sent ended up going to Glendale Adventist.

I wanted to find areas closer to my location to make donations to, in and near the Orange County area. Someone recommended me to Fueling the Fearless. They’re not based in OC either, but a tad bit closer. They referred me to some local hospitals that would be welcoming of treats donations. To continue being able to get my treats to the bellies of our brave men and women in the frontline, I’ll be accepting donations.

How it works

For every $20 donation, you will be purchasing a dozen chocolate chunk cookies to send to a local hospital that I will bake for. I’ll bake and personally deliver/ship. Each donation will be personalized with your name on it. I’ll be posting the updates regularly with photos and details on which facilities your treats will be sent to. Follow on IG to stay posted!

Every time you choose to donate, you will be not only sending love (through treats, one of the best kinds of love) to our brave men and women, you will be helping a small business like mine fight to keep things afloat. Click below to feed heroes with cookies!

Becoming the “The tahini lady”

aera — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 23:57:57 +0000

Did I tell you that I’d like to be known as “The tahini lady?” At least until my obsession with tahini subsides, if that ever happens. Since the first time I discovered tahini in sweets, I was hooked. So bear with me as I continue to indulge in my obsession of baking with tahini. I’ve experimented with various tahini treats. The ones that made it to my list are the ones that I personally love and couldn’t not share with you!

Fact: I didn’t start baking with tahini until I started experimenting with vegan baking. I think that was the secret ingredient that made the vegan treats not “taste vegan”. It seems like a magical game changer in vegan baking. Tahini seems to have magical powers of turning almost anything it touches into something wonderfully delicious with its rich, creamy, nutty-ish (though nut-free) flavor. It’s an excellent source of fat, the “good (unsaturated) fat”, high in calcium, vitamin E, B2, B1, B15, B3, and B5. The consistency and role of tahini almost mimics peanut butter (or nut butter in general), so those with peanut or other nut allergies can enjoy without worry, though tahini is more delicious, depending on which day you ask me.

These here are all the things tahini waiting to get in your belly. Click image(s) for detail.

Natural Products Expo West 2020 refugees unite

aera — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 00:14:48 +0000

The recent outbreak of Coronavirus has been turning our worlds upside down. For me, personally, it really took a toll for the first time when the announcement was made that Natural Products West 2020 was POSTPONED! This is legit, my favorite food event of the year. I’ve been to my share of food events. This is one of the biggest and most exciting ones. We are talking over 3,000 exhibitors and over 85,000 in attendance! It’s the event that I look forward to the most every year.

We’ve been receiving regular updates about the outbreak and how the show was going to still continue as scheduled, with side notes about all the extra precautions to take. And then, BAM! Exactly one day before the start date of the show, the announcement was made that Natural Products Expo 2020 was officially postponed, right after so many people had just landed or had spent so much time setting up their booths. I really felt for the people that had traveled far just to make it to the show, only to learn that the show wasn’t happening. For an event as huge, I understand that it takes an average of 12 to 24 months to plan and prepare for, not to mention all the money that would go into it! There has been a $5 million fund set up to support those affected. New date is to be announced in mid-April and they’re aiming for it to happen before summer.

I’m sure the decision wasn’t an easy one to make. No matter what was decided, there were going to be pretty pissed off people. Major brands started pulling out left and right. Exhibitors from countries where the outbreak is at a scary level (China, S. Korea, Italy, and Iran) were asked not to come this year. Attendees were also starting to drop out. For some, it was about their health being at risk. With others, their reasoning was heavily influenced by the major players pulling out.

This is an event that focuses on health and healthy living. Many would argue that to proceed with the show at the risk of jeopardizing the health of many would not be the right move. The attendance rate was expected to be dropped to as much as 60% of previous years. Still, for others, the show must go on. Some saw the outbreak craziness as “media hype”. They went about their usual business and looked forward to the show. Others chose to attend because of the “no refund” policy. And I’m sure there were many stuck in the middle but in the end, ended up deciding to attend for the sake of all the time, money, and effort already put in. So just imagine getting the announcement Monday evening, with the start date being Tuesday! Pissed off people in the nearby areas were left scrambling and not knowing WTF to do. Some flew back home upon hearing the news. Some remained in the area, shocked and pissed off. I hear that some were able to get refunds from airlines and hotels with no problem. Others were not so lucky and are still continuing to fight.

I’ve been attending #expowest as a blogger since 2018. This was going to be the first year attending under “food service” category, representing my new baking business. So I was excited about the new experience and connections I was going to make going as a new business owner. In business, there are always going to be risks for losses, but as we’ve seen, this loss was HUGE for many. It was my first firsthand look at how the unexpected can take a whirlwind toll on a business. I’m a local and did not suffer any losses (other than the attendance fee that I am expecting to roll over to the rescheduled date). Through the crazy shit show, however, some folks were looking at the silver lining. They started pulling together and creatively turning this thing around to make light of it.

Folks started organizing their own little mini conventions and parties. Here are some that I came across. #expowest2020

Vivolife hosted a networking party. Being a fresh newbie in the business, I saw this as an opportunity (and the post advertised that there would be vegan food served…..and where there is food, I’ll follow, so that was another enticer). From the post alone, I had no idea what to expect. Was it going to be what I was envisioning, as a mini convention where booths were set up? Was it going to be a party vibe? I had no idea. But that mention of “vegan food” being there made me think, hey, I make vegan treats…..maybe the crowd would be those that’d appreciate what I offer. I was thinking about EXPOSURE all while doing my small part to contribute to an organization that I love and support, sharing a little something with my fellow #expowest refugees. And plus, cookies always help at least a little bit in helping make people feel better. So I contacted the organizer and talked to her about my idea. She welcomed it and told me that it was going to be more of a potluck vibe than anything, about 20 to 60 people expected throughout the day. It seemed like a small but decent amount and not major enough to be overwhelming. I scrambled to get my stuff together last minute to bring the next day.

I decided to showcase my tahini items, – (all vegan) tahini chocolate chip cookies, tahini banana bread, and flourless (gluten-free) tahini brownies. I walked into a house and what appeared to be a house party vibe. I feel a bit weird in these kinds of situations, walking into somebody’s home, not really knowing anybody. But I was quickly greeted by a couple of folks and told them who I was and about what I brought. I set my items on the table (along with some business cards) full of the potluck items. I noticed a couple of other items being showcased (coffee and some CBD products), to the side, away from the potluck food. That got me thinking that maybe placing my items on the table made it blend it too much with the potluck food rather than standing out as a business being showcased. Oh well, I didn’t see where else to put it.

I wasn’t able to stay long but felt good about leaving my products there to share. Moments later, I get a message from Alida from Eat Glow Rise, one of the people I’ve been connecting with. She asked me if I’m there and that she was munching on my “amazing cookies”. That comment made my day! I later heard many great comments, which made my short visit feel even more worthwhile.

These #expowestrefugee events happened so last minute since the postponement, leaving limited time to put together everything on the fly, but an even bigger and better planned out one was planned for the Friday night of that week. The organizers worked so hard in making it happen. The event was hosted by Elixcure and this time, there was opportunity for brands to set up booths and showcase their stuff. I was curious to know the details. I was interested in taking part, but I figured, most of these vendors were probably ones that were actually going to be exhibiting at the show, with beautiful setups and curated marketing material. I had nothing. I’ve never exhibited anything anywhere yet. To scramble to get everything together last minute would take time and money that I was unprepared for. Plus, I had my other job that I was busy with.

I expressed my concerns to Alida and she encouraged me with THIS message. She convinced me in not missing out lol.

I hurriedly scrambled to get my stuff together. On the fly, I baked my brownies and my cookies, the same items I showcased the previous day. I didn’t have time for the banana bread. Plus, I don’t even know where they’d sell black or overly spotty bananas. It’s something I’d have to look into. The plan thus far was to buy bananas, let them ripe until black or close to it, and then use when ready and freeze the rest. I didn’t know what to do in this situation, so last minute.

I scrambled to think what would be the best presentation style using what I had. I had bags and boxes…. I was serving sample sizes of my items and individually bagging them seemed awkward. The boxes seemed to be a better option (like the previous day). But then I remembered having aluminum pans. In the end, everything fit perfectly. I just needed tongs and chalk, so I went on a run to quickly pick those up.

The logistics got a little challenging. Alida was stuck in traffic from San Diego (hustling in helping other refugees make most of this event), on her way to Orange County and was going to be back at a later time. I had to be at work at a certain time and she didn’t know if she’d make it in time. In the end, she came up with a plan for her mother to pick up the items from me at my work. We were making things happen!

I understand this event hosted about 100ish people, – brands showcasing their stuff, folks that wanted to make connections, and influencers to whom #expowest is a huge deal to.

I wasn’t able to physically be there in person, but I’m so happy that my items and brand got to be represented and showcased. I was even happier with the feedback I received at the end of the night!

As sad as I was about the situation, if the unfortunate circumstances didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have made the connections I did or have been able to get my little time to shine a tad bit. As a new and inexperienced business owner, I was just happy to be able to have this little practice run at showcasing my goods…..and even happier that it went well.

Another fellow refugee, Riser Design (they work with a lot of food brands in helping them with design work that best represent what they’re about), sent me this link, “a consolidated list of people/companies providing support to Expo West exhibitors”. Love this!

Allison Ball of Food Biz Wiz started #expovirtualpitch , giving brands the chance that they missed to make their pitch, virtually. It’s an ongoing thread that many are appreciating. I love this concept!

Next Gen Chef started a forum for #expowest refugees to connect, vent, and keep posted.

See you all soon at the newly scheduled date (whenever that’ll be)!