Today, a local high-end grocery store agreed to give my cookies a try and sell them over the holidays. That is really great news, however, now I'm really scrutinizing my work ... in particular, the taste of the cookie. I was just chomping on some extras and the first thing I noticed is that some of them were a little over-baked. I only bake 'til lightly brown edges, but still, some tasted a little too hard.
Then, I noticed a white snowman had a bitter taste (????why - I have NO clue, and that really bothers me). So I kept taking bites of random left overs to see how each cookie tasted. Eventually, I began to get sick of the texture of the hard royal icing decorations on the top. Anyone else ever feel like that?
I wonder - are all of those people taking my cookies home going to notice these things and never buy my cookies again?
Being in this store is one of the best things that could happen to promote my business. But now I don't think I'm going to sleep well worrying about all of the things that could go wrong in taste. I keep thinking I want to PAY a professional consultant to help me with my production control.
Does anyone know if people like that exist, and what they would be called? How can I find one?
So, what started out as a great day is turning out to be stressful. I so much want to make a good impression, and even though I've been making these cookies for six years, tonight I feel like I can't make a good cookie worth a darn!
You're cookies are adorable! I LOVE the presentation! I'm sure that after tasting all of those cookies - your taste buds aren't working properly 
Take a deep breath...I know you're nervous but, apparently the store liked your cookies well enough to risk their reputation on them..so they must be great! ...Let us know how it goes.
Amy
a lot of people associate taste with the way something looks and judging by the way your cookies look i would say you have absolutely nothing to worry about they are absolutely gorgeous!! 
and you know what people say you are always your worst critic.
One of the hardest things in baking is consistency. Have you changed anything? The brand of butter, flour, etc. I am sure you are aware that cookies continue to cook after you pull them out. Are you using a conventional oven or convection? You might check your flour, are you over mixing? Are you packing the flour, or loose measuring, or weighing? Someone listed a site the other day, I think it is Pastrychef.com, it had some real good info on baking. Before you go to the expense in finding a Quality Control expert, check out the site and do a little more experimenting, you will probably come up with the product you want. Your cookies look nice and the packing is good, you may be just doing a little more worrying then you need to. Good Luck.
I think that you are a little nervous. Your cookies are awesome!
One key to texture that you might try is to beat the wet ingrededients all you want. But only mix the flour in until just mixed. Also, how much flour do you use when you roll out? Try to keep that amount consistent. Also, are they the same thickness? Try perhaps a rolling pin guide. Then, I would try pastry flour.
These are jst my suggestions you may or may not know these ideas. Just thought I would give it a shot.
And congratulations. i would love to knwo how you approached the grocery store.
Thanks,
Julia
I just want to say that I would buy your cookies just because of the way that they look. They are so cute. I think that we are just harder on our self because we are the ones doing the work. I think that they look great and so I wouldn't worry about them. 
Dont worry your cookies look very professional I stress too though when its something I am making and getting money for, I want everything to be perfect and I wind up getting really stressed, it happens everytime I make a cake and get paid for it . So I have decided thats the way its going to be for me at least for now, maybe when I have been selling for a couple of years the stress will ease up. Good Luck and I hope you sell a lot of cookies .
Great job on the cookies!!! They look fabulous! I'm with everyone else, you probably couldn't taste right after sampling so much! Relax and have confidence in your work!
Thank you all for your tips & ideas - you have made me feel much better. I'm just being too critical, and it's possible some other flavors on my taste buds threw the cookie flavor off.
Tonight, one of my friends/supportive customers came by and I gave her some of the extra cookies to take home and taste ... I begged for her honesty. She just e-mailed me to say that she, her husband and son all think the cookies tasted just fine and I shouldn't be worried about the ones at the store at all.
How did I get into the grocery store? Believe it or not - I just called them up and asked for the person responsible for purchasing food items. I explained to him that I had a product that would probably do very well in their store. He asked me to bring some items by to show him, and he immediately said he would take them. Ok, so you're all wondering what's in it for him? Well, he gets to keep 20% of the retail value - however, he marked the items up over what I am charging word of mouth - so I'm getting the same amount in the end!!! But I can already tell from this one experience - I'd take a little less money to sell 75 items to one person, than getting a little more by selling to 75 different people!! I just might be hooked on wholesaling.
Yes you do need to be licensed in NC.
TSCookie, way to go!! See and you were worried!!
Julia
your cookies are lovely...i know how you feel though...since november i have sent out dozen upon dozens of cookies and each and every time im scared to death about something and so far each and everytime i have gotten rave reviews..whew...i say kudoos to you for getting your foot in the door litteraly and going with this...thats my ultimate dream to be able to sell like that ..to have my things that wanted!!! keep up the good work!!!
THANK YOU everyone for your kindest words & encouragement! I appreciate it so much.
The cookies are going okay. They're a little hard to find because they're on a shelf just above eye level - I walked passed them myself. I've learned that the competition for good selling spots in the grocery store is really, really stiff. The manager asked me to bring Hannukah cookies in this week - he said he would put those on the table that greets you right when you walk in the store. I'm hoping they'll fly outta there and then he'll bump the Christmas ones up to a better spot. Not complaining at all - I'm very grateful for the opportunity I've been given here.
Someone asked about the prices - those bags are $7.99. The cookies are around 2.5" - 3."
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