For Sips & Sweets, this was definitely one of them.

Our new commercial mixer arrived — in a very large wooden crate that apparently had no intention of giving up its contents easily. 😂

So, armed with a hammer, a pry bar, a little determination, and quite a bit of teamwork, my daughter and I went to work.

And yes… opening the crate may have been almost as much work as getting the mixer itself into the kitchen!

Growing One Batch at a Time

When we first started planning Sips & Sweets, we knew we wanted to keep the heart of it simple: homemade baked goods made from recipes we actually love and would serve to our own family.

But there is a big difference between baking a batch of cookies for the family and preparing enough cookies, breads, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and other goodies for a busy market weekend.

That’s where this beauty comes in.

Our new mixer will allow us to make larger batches more efficiently while still making everything the way we want to make it — from scratch, fresh baked, and with the homemade quality that Sips & Sweets is built around.

And I’m pretty sure our arms are going to appreciate it, too.

Not Exactly a Glamorous Unboxing

There was no perfectly staged countertop.

No beautiful ribbon tied around the box.

No dramatic unveiling.

There was a wooden shipping crate, tools scattered everywhere, two determined women wrestling with it, and plenty of laughing along the way.

And somehow, that makes these pictures even better.

Because this is what building a small business actually looks like.

It’s figuring things out.

It’s making room in the kitchen.

It’s testing recipes over and over until they’re exactly right.

It’s ordering equipment and then realizing you have to figure out how to get several hundred pounds of mixer out of a wooden crate.

And it’s doing all of it together.

The Sips & Sweets Kitchen Is Getting Ready

Every new piece of equipment brings us a little closer to those first market days when we’ll finally get to put all of this planning, baking, testing, packaging, and dreaming onto the tables for you.

Soon this mixer will be full of cookie dough instead of packing material.

There will be cinnamon roll dough rising nearby.

Fresh breads will be cooling.

And the kitchen will probably definitely smell absolutely amazing.

For now, though, we’re celebrating another milestone:

The mixer made it out of the crate.

And that’s a pretty good day at Sips & Sweets. ❤️