Two weeks ago, we celebrated our first birthday at The Creamery.
It’s been a long time since I celebrated a Big Deal Birthday of my own, and this one really did feel like a special occasion, not just for me or The Creamery, but for the fabulous group of people who helped us survive our first year in business.
And although we were pretty busy with the arrival of summer and our new churn (in that order), we made time to have some friends over to raise a toast (in lemonade; budget didn’t stretch to craft beer!) to our shared achievement.
It was kind of tricky, figuring out who to invite, because we wanted to invite everyone, but realized that we a) couldn’t host and b) couldn’t feed a ginormous open house party. So we kept the list down to our main suppliers and producers, our staff, anyone who has given professional help to us in exchange for ice cream or at severely discounted rates (and you’d be surprised how many of those there are), our closest food business friends, and anyone who’s been an ice cream club member since we launched the club in January. It was a bit of a motley crew, but like so many instances in Cape Town food business, it turns out a lot of people knew each other asides from their connection to us.
We got our friend and fellow marketeer Martin of Cure Deli to make delicious pork bangers, we got some chicken sausages from our friends at Super Meat Market for the Pork-free Posse, and Kyle, ex-baker of Oded’s Kitchen, made us beautiful ciabatta rolls to go with them. So we served hot dogs, replete with home made lemonade and relishes from our favourite preservers, Oded’s Kitchen. And of course ice cream for dessert (although a lot of our loyal friends ate it as appetisers, too).
The weather played along and it was a gorgeous, balmy evening, so we could all hang out on the stoep and watch the sun set behind Devil’s Peak, eating and chatting. Everyone got a tour of the new churn, which arrived, appropriately, two days before our birthday. Best. Present. Ever. Even if we did have to buy it for ourselves!
I feel a bit overwhelmed when I think about how far we’ve come in one year; it feels simultaneously very short and very long. But I’m hoping this will be the first of many birthdays, and I’m so glad we took the time to share the excitement of it with our friends.