What to Make Next?

I have been dabbling a lot lately. We just came back from Disney. One of our stops was Universal Studios Orlando and of course Harry Potter Land. I love Harry Potter. That said, I got pumpkin juice while I was there and butter beer.
I got bored the other night and started to play. I was able to recreate the Pumpkin Juice. My son said he liked it better than what was in the park. Butter Beer is going to take a little more science because of the complex level of the flavor. But that not to say I'm trying.

Then there is the Chai Tea project. Just something I am beginning with mixing. Its a fall month. So I have been working on breads and scones. Not the Utah scones, real ones. Pumpkin scones. I am toying with the idea of putting all this on Etsy or actually building a website that I can have people purchase items off of...

Its all a work in progress..

These are already on the Etys site.

These were the pumpkin scones I had made before I labeled them.

This was at the Farmers Market.

Halloween Treats

So I have been working job 1 and my business to create a bunch of things for an event I was invited to show up at. I have been doing Candy coated Oreos and Chocolate pretzels. A whole bunch of stuff. working to hopefully get my name out there and have a working business.
The jelly has been going great too. I have had a few people ask for more jelly jars. Nothing steady yet. But  Dragon Fire Jelly is on the rise.

Etsy

This is a huge learning experience for me. I am frustrated and I want nothing more than to pull down my store. There are tons of people on there that think that the shop keeper owes them everything.

I recently had a very bad experience on there.  That being said, it was my first customer. She didn't look at all the pictures and she didn't ask any specific questions about the product. I thought she wanted a variety of the cookies. Wrong, apparently me being a mind reader, I should have known it was a zombie party and that she wanted black and white eye balls and brains. So she has requested that I return all her money and shipping. If she is lucky she will get her money back and not the shipping. I have to throw out all the cookies she sends back because I have no clue what she has done to them and its  food rule policy that you cant resell food once it has left the kitchen. But according to her correspondence with me I have inconvenienced her for not putting enough information on my site. I have on the site in the description that if you want custom cookies and colors to contact me and be specific about it. I guess it wast bold enough for her to read or she just didn't bother.

Private Chef Job

I took on a Private Chef job.. I left my dearly loved Grappa because of medical issues. That being said, I took this because it would have made my medical issues much easier.

I am the Exec. Chef for Alpha Phi for U of U. 15 girls and 125 on one night a week. I love the house and the girls. Its fun to be in the kitchen and watch all their personalities swirl about. Some of them are strong personality and are skeptical of what is  to come. So far they all love the food.

When I met them, they all had foods they loved and a few have allergies but that's very fixable to work around with. My American Food girl was insistent that she will only eat American Food. I made the rule of my kitchen is: no matter what I cook, you have to try one bite of it. Doesn't matter if she doesn't like it. Its the point of having to try something new and different outside of the comfort zone.

So the challenge begins of taking these girls on a culinary journey of different food. Most of them are from the west coast so it will be fun to bring in foods from across the country and the world. I think that they  should be able to expand a little or that is the hope by the time the school year is done.

Stay tuned to see how it goes

Hunting Challenge

The week  I come back from vacation. I have one day to shop and I am gone for a week with 10 other people on a hunting excursion. No I am not killing anything . I am just the cook. These are high priority clients for the company that hired me.

My challenge is to cook 3 meals a day starting at 5 am for these people.  The company gave me a Turkey and Rib eye steaks for  two of the meals. Now I need to sit down between all the other events going on and plan out a menu so I can go shopping when I come home. Ideas are welcome. Its mainly comfort food. Theses clients are from all over the US. So trying to create something that everyone likes and hopefully get good tips from doing this.

I thought of doing some sort of Thanksgiving/ fall dinner with the turkey. Steaks I might do cowboy night and do rustic food. Still planning just need to sit down one night and commit to writing it out.

Happy Eating

Farmers Market and Beyond

Last Saturday was awesome! Only a small handful of people showed up but it was enough to sell out of jelly. I even had a lady post on the facebook page how much she loved the jelly. So its back in the kitchen lab to make more and create some new ideas. I hope that this weekend goes just as well.

On the Beyond part of the post. We are in the final stages of getting approval for the military base here to sell there. I also have a deal there with the flower shop to put product into their place along with doing cakes for them.

Also I have the Renaissance Fair account for 2014 as the Bakery. So if your in Utah come and see me. Its a very exciting and scary time. So much going on and so much to do. Thank you all for your support through the journey.  Stay tuned for more updates and information..

For those of you who want to purchase the jelly. Here is the site that it can be bought on for now. I am considering in the near future actually getting a website  for the business until now I use what I have .


Happy Eating
https://www.etsy.com/listing/163097035/dragon-fire-jelly-a-little-sweet-with

Yeah I made it

I finally made it to a Farmers Market. I will be out at one on Saturday 14, 2013 in Saratoga Springs.  I figured I would start with my home town first then spread out to other areas. I'm only doing about 6 products but I figured that it would give me a good idea of how the public took to what I am creating. I know the weather is suppose to be crappy but I can still hope that there will be people that come out anyways.

I got all my ducks in a row and are legal for business and now its time to start looking for customers, clients and what ever else comes my way. I decided it was time to do this . For medical reasons I am leaving the job I love so much in Park City. But they always say when one door closes another one opens. I am trying to keep optimistic about everything. I know being a chef and a pastry chef at that is hard and competition is stiff out here but I have faith that I can do this.  My son has challenged me for his birthday cake this year he wants a 3d stay puffed marshmallow man. So now to figure out when there is time to create it before we leave on a vacation for his birthday.  But that will be another post.

I even got my Etsy site going so all you can order across the country. Its Z Kitchen Zink Treats .

Thank you to all the readers on here who have been here from the start and who joined in along the way to taking the ride with me. Keep tuned to see what else is coming up.


Happy Eating

These are one of the items I will be selling.