The official Dancing Deer Baking Company Blog

Traditionally, I have not been a fan of Valentine’s Day.  I fell into that group of cynics that considered it to be purely a commercial holiday – another way for greeting card companies, candy shops and…well, mail order gift companies to earn more money.  I even read once that Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin on February 14th and I happen to be allergic to penicillin, so I figured it was a sign that I must be allergic to Valentine’s Day as well! 

This year, I decided to make a comeback to the world of optimism and LOVE!  One cannot deny that Valentine’s Day is a holiday when companies like Dancing Deer promote their chocolate products and red & pink gift packaging.  However, this fact cannot take away from the spirit of love that is shared between the sender of a delicious Dancing Deer Sweetheart Tower (for example) and their deserving recipient.  It is a day to celebrate love of all sorts and if you want to send brownies to your sweetheart, friend, niece/nephew (or whoever!) to let them know you are thinking of them, then all the better!

To prove to my doubting co-workers that I was serious about my change of heart, I even baked a Valentine’s Day Gingerbread House (I like to call it the ‘love shack’ – original, right?).  And I used a Dancing Deer Gingerbread House Kit to bake it…of course (nobody said that they have to be baked in December!).

This Valentine’s Day, Spread Sweetness in your World.

“It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

We had the good fortune this year to have Mark Real (pictured above) work with us as a seasonal holiday Deer. What that means is that, at a time during the Christmas holidays, when our volume spikes significantly, we hire the best people that we can find to help our customers with their holiday gifts.

If you were fortunate enough this past holiday to be helped by Mark, then you were greeted with “HAAAAPY HOLIDAYS. THANK YOU FOR CALLING DANCING DEER BAKING CO!” The word “Company” was never spoken; it was always “Co”. You then heard his infectious smile come through the phone with incredible velocity as he proceeded to listen to you with rapt attention, delightfully engage you with humor and then help you with the utmost care.

As I got to know Mark, I could not help but think of the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote that started this post. Mark is a true presence, a force of nature, and one of the kindest, most caring Deers that we’ve been privileged to employ.

Mark is regrettably moving on from Dancing Deer, as the season has come to end, but he will continue to serve as a role model for all of us Deers who were lucky enough to spend time with him and all future Deers who will come after him.

Thank you, Mark, for taking such good care of us and our customers.

There are so many good causes and generous people working for a better world.  We applaud them all.  Our main philanthropic focus is Family Homelessness.  In recognition of the devastation in Haiti, we are matching all donations made through this link to the disaster relief efforts of Partners in Health (through Valentine’s Day and up to the first $5,000 donated).  Homelessness in Haiti will be epidemic. We wish we could make meaningful contributions to all the thousands of good works around the globe.  But if all of us do what we can, collectively we will move humanity forward to a kinder and healthier world.  Thank you for your generosity.

With your help, since Tuesday, January 26, we have raised $10,960 for Partners in Health and their relief efforts in Haiti.  Thank you.

Us deers love to dance and here are some pictures of us getting down:

Trish trying to lead the Congo Line “C’mon guys, Maggie, Jay & Dave over here”. 

Julie, Danielle & Tara Dancing to Miley Cryus’ “Party in the USA”

Does this picture make look fat? I think it’s a bad angle (PS you can’t see but I left my headset on)

SNOW BALL FIGHT LOL!!! We have too much fun!

Who said Frank wasn’t a good dancer?

(a special thank you to our DEER fan Sandra who sent in these dancing deer photos!)

My Favorite Fun Food Fact:

Formaldehyde is the stinky liquid that’s used to preserve dead laboratory animals. This chemical is what the artificial sweetener, aspartame, breaks down into after being eaten. (good thing all Dancing Deer products are made from ALL-NATURAL ingredients

Fun Food Fact #1:

Those mega-size apples and oranges you’ve been seeing lately at conventional grocers are pumped up due to added water volume, rather than fruit substance. This is a crop-yield technique by farmers designed to produce bigger fruit for more consumer appeal.

Fun Food Fact #2:

There is evidence that honey is the only food that cannot spoil. Archaeologists have tasted honey discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs, reporting that it’s edible.

Fun Food Fact #3:

If you could eat only one vegetable for the rest of your life, eat spinach; it’s one of the highest ranking vegetables as far as overall antioxidant capacity, yet so versatile in recipes.

Fun Food Fact #4:

Whenever a recipe for cake or muffins calls for oil, applesauce can be substituted.

Fun Food Fact #5:

Diet soda has not been proven to aid in weight loss. In fact, it’s been shown to actually increase hunger.

On Sunday, December 6th, from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m., Dancing Deer Baking Company, along with Boston Properties, will host a free Cookie-Decorating Event in the Belvidere Pavilion at the Prudential Center in Boston.

The Cookie-Decorating Event, open to the public, is the first event held by Dancing Deer at the Prudential Center, with 1,000 free cookies to be decorated.

Everyone at Dancing Deer would love to meet you and decorate cookies with you! Bring kids and be willing to start the Holiday Season off right with some yummy artistically decorated cookies!

Webster’s Dictionary defines a totem as: “A natural object, usually an animal that serves as a distinctive, often venerated emblem or symbol – usually a means of personal or spiritual identity.”  Since time immemorial, animals have served as harbingers of personality traits we, as humans, all aspire to achieve.

The animal symbolism of the deer carries attributes of:

Love
Grace
Peace
Beauty
Fertility
Humility
Swiftness
Regrowth
Creativity
Spirituality
Abundance
Benevolence
Watchfulness
A great music collection

(okay, I made that last one up, but the Deers in Sales & Marketing love to show off
their collections in our weekly round robin. Now Playing: Fleetwood Mac “I Don’t Want to Know”)

-Tara

Sources:     
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-totems.html, 
http://meekone.deviantart.com/art/Deer-99942019 

I found this cool site called The Curious Dreamer where you can search for the hidden meaning of any dream symbol. First on my list… cookies!

Cookies Eating cookies can mean you feel like treating yourself, or perhaps you're embracing your inner child.

..I had a feeling that cookies were the true fountain of youth. Next up, my favorite treat, brownies.

Brownie (chocolate dessert) A brownie can symbolize a "denseness of sweet emotion,"

..Aerosmith must love brownies.

-Tara

Source: http://www.thecuriousdreamer.com

When I was in college, I was fortunate to be able to study abroad in Spain, which to this day remains as one of the best and definitely most unforgettable experiences of my relatively short existence. As I laid on the beach (5 minutes from my flat) after taking a weekend trip across country borders, I made the decision that never again would I settle or become compliant when I was unhappy with wherever I happened to be, physically and metaphorically. When it came time to graduate and find a “real job” I decided against the corporate life. Suits? No, thanks! Cubicals? Definitely not. I want to have fun and move around! So, when a friend of mine recommended Dancing Deer as a fun place to apply, I told her that I would give it a thought. I still had that lingering fear that I would get sucked into a boring corporation that tied me down until retirement - like some other people I know...

I took one step into the bakery for my interview and all of those fears vanished. The first thing that tipped me off to the anti-corporate atmosphere was the lack of walls separating workstations. Actually, it kinda reminds me of a play pen – you can hear everyone’s phone conversations, everyone’s ups and downs, and well…everything! The other was the fact that Trish interviewed me during my first visit to Dancing Deer. I was interviewing for a Customer Service Representative position (low on the totem pole) and the President and CEO had time and wanted to meet with me? She asked me if I was dedicated to positive change and improvement in the workplace and I started talking about how efficiently I made sandwiches at my previous job in a sandwich shop on Nantucket. Needless to say, I won her over on-the-spot.


Don’t get me wrong, I have my list of things to get done, but a fun interruption is always a must. Today I joined a pick up baseball game in the parking lot with the baking and packing teams at lunchtime. It was great…until I finally made contact with the ball and my pop fly landed on top of an 18 wheeler picking up a pallet of Dancing Deer cookies. Game off. That’s OK…there’s always tomorrow


J