While watching the French thriller “Diva,” my francophile friend spotted a baguette in the pannier of a motor scooter wished she could find good French baguettes here in Texas. I innocently responded, “I’ll make you some!” She then explained how difficult they are to make and how difficult it is to find “French flour.” That only emboldened me, however, and I forged ahead. That seemed excessively e
xpensive, so I tested various flours until I settled on flour that’s only available in 50-lb bags. (The shipping costs more than the flour!) My first year, I went through three 50-lb bags. I threw out some of the early baguettes until friends and co-workers protested, “I’ll take them!” With guidance and encouragement of several francophile friends, I persisted in my efforts until now they all agree that there are no better baguettes to be found in central Texas. All the while, many encouraged me, “You should sell them!”
I’m not yet ready to give up my day job, but I think this year I’ll start selling some under the Texas Cottage Food Law (TX H&SC §§437.0191-0196), which allows the sale of certain food products made at home. Although the law allows sales from home, I rent my home, so I can’t sale from there, but I can sell at non-profit events, such as farmers’ markets. It will still be mostly my co-workers and close friends that will consuming the bulk of my production, but I’ll be posting here whenever I sell at an outside event.
