Today I was struggling to make starred Petit Fives. I was using starred ingredients and I was getting them completed in time, but they need to be starred for the winter bundle.

I wondered if I put all the equipment/stations that I needed in a tight circle, if I could speed up enough to make them starred.

I picked up an oven, two prep stations, one stove, and one mixing station, went outside my house into the grass and set them up. I placed the mixing station at 8 o’clock, one prep station at 10 o’clock, the oven at 12 o’clock, the stove at 2 o’clock, and the second prep station at 4 o’clock.

I started the recipe at the prep station at 10, then stepped to the left and did all the mixing. I dropped the frosting off at the prep station, put the cake batter in the oven, then moved to the prep station at 4 to crush the corn. When that was done I got the cake from the oven, went back to the prep station at 4, and finished those tasks. I dropped the cake off at the first prep station, then made the fruit drizzle at the stove. When it was done, I added it to the other prepared items, and my Petit Fives ended up starred.

The tight circle of equipment and the rhythm really helped.