If you know how to bake really good chocolate chip cookies or everyone loves your lemon bundt cake when you bring it to parties, odds are that you've had at least one or two people tell you that you should go into the business of baking and open a bakery. Perhaps you've even thought about it on your own a few times. It'll be easy, right?

"Easy" is subjective, so you can judge for yourself. Egullet has two threads that chronicle members starting their own bakeries. One of the threads followed every detail that went into building (physically) a Portland bakery, attracting a clientele and working through the first year of he business. Unfortunately, Criollo Bakery has now closed, but the level of detail and dedication that went into it was phenomenal and truly awe-inspiring for a would-be baker.

The second thread, a newer thread, follows a couple that moved from San Francisco to New Jersey with dreams of opening their own bakery. With pastry backgrounds, a generous relative who is happy to help them with accommodation, and a lot of hard work, they are just starting out on their journey to open The Sweet Life Bakery. So far, after only a couple of months, it sounds like they are really building up momentum. It's another interesting read, especially since it will be on-going as their journey progresses.

[via browniepoints]

eGullet member Andrew Fenton recently posted about his current success with making what he calls Weeniecello, vodka infused with hot dogs. Apparently the Hebrew National all-beef franks were treated to a five-week soak in 100-proof Smirnoff. The vodka was then strained and used in a Weenie-Tini, Fenton's blend of Weeniecello, dry vermouth and sauerkraut brine. Fenton says the cocktail has "a richness and subtle beefiness not to be found in traditional vegetarian cocktails." One eGulleteer pointed out another page with more pork martinis.

Statistically, the most targeted group in marketing is 15-35 year old males.They often have a large chunk of disposable income and they are considered to be more likely to spend it than to save it. It makes sense that advertisers and television networks would want to have a portion of that income reach them. It does not make sense, however, to do with utter disregard for the population that is actually likely to watch your network or your programming.

According to Sara Moulton, when the new president of the Food Network came in she wanted to make the network appeal to that new target demographic with young, entertaining shows – not cooking programs. The obvious disconnect here is the fact that the network is called the Food Network; cooking shows are a logical component of the programming. Sara even said that a producer friend of hers was told "No chefs please, and nobody with training" when they were pitching show ideas.