There's just something about September 1st that feels like a fresh start.
The calendar flips, the days start getting a little shorter, and even though the California desert clearly did not get the memo that fall is coming, I did.
I'm ready.
This morning at Copper Sky looked a lot like you'd probably expect around here lately. Something warm in my cup, planners and notebooks spread across the table, recipes being scribbled down and tweaked…and a giant tray of chocolate chip cookie dough waiting for its turn in the oven.
Honestly, I kind of love it.
Copper Sky is still growing, and I'm still figuring things out as I go.
The website is up and running. The shelves are slowly filling. Recipes are being tested, adjusted and tasted—someone has to do the hard work. Some turn out exactly like I hoped. Some need a little tweaking. And some earn themselves a big ol' NOPE in the recipe notebook before I head back to the kitchen and try again.
There are ideas tucked into notebooks, things crossed out and moved around in my planner, and probably more ideas floating around in my head than I could ever actually get onto paper.
But little by little, this place I've imagined is becoming real.
Not perfectly.
Not all at once.
But one loaf, one batch of cookies, one recipe and one slightly messy kitchen at a time.
A New Month in the Bakehouse
September is the beginning of my favorite kind of baking season.
Give me cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, apples, maple, toasted nuts and fresh bread and I am a happy girl.
Never mind that it may still be 90-something degrees outside. We're just going to turn on the oven, crank up the AC and pretend fall has arrived.
This time of year, makes me want to bake all the cozy things. You know the kind—the things that make your whole house smell good and have everyone wandering into the kitchen asking, "What are you making?"
And lately I've been thinking a lot about what I want Copper Sky to feel like this fall.
Not just what I want to make.
What I want it to feel like.
I want it to feel like bread cooling on the counter.
Cookies tucked into a bag to take to somebody you love.
Your favorite mug filled with something warm.
Something homemade waiting for you at the end of a long day.
Nothing terribly fancy.
Just really good things made with care.
I think that's what I want Copper Sky to be, really. Not just a place to buy bread or cookies, but a little reminder that sometimes the simple stuff really is the good stuff.
The Behind-the-Scenes Stuff
I'm realizing something else as I build Copper Sky.
I don't want to only show you the pretty stuff.
Of course, I love sharing the finished loaf all wrapped up in its bag or a stack of cookies ready to head home with someone. But I also want you to see this part.
The notebooks.
The experiments.
The ridiculous amount of cookie dough sitting on my table.
The flour on the counter.
The dishes in the sink that I swear multiply when I'm not looking.
The recipe that works beautifully the first time…and the one that has me standing in the kitchen wondering what the heck happened.
Because that's the real Bakehouse.
There's a whole lot of trying, tasting, tweaking and sometimes completely starting over behind everything you see.
And trust me, not everything makes the cut.
But I actually love that part.
There's something really satisfying about starting with an idea scribbled in a notebook, playing with it until I get it right, and eventually watching it become something I'm proud to put a Copper Sky label on.
So, I think you're going to start seeing more of that around here, too.
Not just the finished product.
The messy middle.
So…What's Coming in September?
Well…
More baking, obviously.
More experimenting.
Some cozy fall flavors.
More goodies making their way onto the Bakehouse shelves.
Probably a few recipes that need tweaking.
Probably at least one that makes me question my life choices.
And almost certainly a few ideas I haven't even thought of yet.
I'm learning not to rush this.
That might actually be one of the biggest things Copper Sky is teaching me.
It doesn't have to become everything I imagine overnight.
I'm building something I hope will be around for a very long time, and I want to enjoy creating it—not get so caught up in where I think it should be that I miss how darn cool it is to watch it become something.
So here I am on the first day of September.
Planner open.
Something warm in my cup.
Cookie dough waiting in the wings.
Way too many ideas in my head.
And a whole new month sitting in front of me.
That feels like a pretty darn good place to be.
Here's to September — fresh starts, cooler mornings hopefully headed our way, good things in the oven, trying new things, changing our minds when we need to, and maybe finding a few unexpected blessings along the way.
And cookies.
Obviously, there should be cookies. 🤎
Welcome to September at Copper Sky Bakehouse.
Pull up a chair. Pour yourself something warm.
I’m glad you’re here.
— ❤️Dawn
Copper Sky Bakehouse
Handcrafted in the California desert