What’s That Smell?
Sugar’s grand opening was in a few days, but she still had not finalized a theme. She also needed to start baking her pupcakes. So, she threw her first batch of in the oven and walked to the front of her pupcakery to finish putting the last touches on the pupcakery décor.
“What’s that smell?” Sugar thought. She paused, lifted her nose up towards the ceiling, and took a few quick sniffs of the air. “My pupcakes!” Sugar barked as she turned and ran back to the kitchen. She grabbed the potholder off the counter, pulled open the oven, and “puff!” A small burst of smoke rushed out of the oven.
Sugar reached in and pulled her pupcake pan out of the oven. “Oh no!” Sugar howled. “They’re burnt!” Sugar threw the pupcake pan on the top of the oven. “Bark this shift!” Sugar woofed as she stormed back to the front of pupcakery.
And Now We Have a Theme..
Sugar was already nervous about her grand opening. Her promotional events went well, but she still was nervous about whether the grand opening was going to work. “Were dogs going to show up?” “Would they like the pupcakes?” “I don’t even have a theme!” Sugar thought.
Burning her batch of pupcakes in the oven didn’t calm her nerves at all. But Sugar was still getting used to using a commercial oven. The settings are different than the ones she’s uses at home. And more powerful than that Easy Pupcake Oven her mama gave her.
Sugar sat in one of her pupcakery booths and starred out the window to calm down. She could still smell those burnt pupcakes she left sitting on top of the oven. Sugar also noticed a dog who stopped to sniff a bouquet of marigolds at the flower shop across the street.
And then it clicked. “Sniffari!” Sugar barked to herself. Somewhere between the smell of the burnt pupcakes and the dog sniffing those marigolds was the inspiration behind a grand opening theme. “I’ll turn my grand opening into a Sniffari.”
Follow Your Nose: Scents Dogs Love
Sugar attended her first Sniffari las year. She and her BFFs traveled to one for their annual Gotcha Day Trip. A Sniffari is a chance for dogs to dress in camouflage, sniff around, and experiences the season’s new fragrances.
And what better way to give the chance for dogs to follow their noses than with pupcakes. Plus, Sugar’s mama taught her that “you eat with your nose.” Dogs can smell whether a pupcake is gonna taste good before they put it in their mouth. So, her pupcakery grand opening Sugar’s mantra was “Follow your nose and keep it spicy.
While sitting in the booth, Sugar opened her notebook to brainstorm some ideas and recipes for her grand opening menu. Every recipe was designed to be rich in aroma and flavor. Sugar wanted dogs to literally smell her pupcakes as they walked down the street. She figured that would be a great advertisement to attract dogs to come into her pupcakery.
Finishing Touches
Sugar spent the last few days before her grand opening put the finishing touches on her pupcakery décor. She gave out flyers, dropped off a few more samples to the local businesses, and setting up the Sniffari stations. Each station was dedicated to a scent.
Sugar hired two dogs to help her bake pupcakes the day of the event. This way the aroma from the pupcakes in the oven could travel outside.
Most importantly, Sugar made sure that her pupcakes were rich in herbs and spices. However, her favorite recipe on the menu were her Cinnamon Oatmeal Pupcakes because they remind her of when her she and her brother, Cane, used to hide treats under their pillows as puppies.
So, as Sugar got ready to officially open the doors to her pupcakery, those nerves she felt a few days before had turned into excitement. She almost caught a case of the “zoomies.” But the aroma from the pupcakes kept her calm.
Who knew some burnt pupcakes would have been the inspiration she needed for her grand opening?
