Samples, Samples, Samples!

It's been an interesting week or two...

I worked a ton of doubles over 4th of July & I'm afraid I've STILL yet to catch up on sleep!  Working that much in 90 degree heat & humidity is one thing.  I don't sleep well when it's hot and end up being 1,000,000% exhausted.  On top of that, however, I also had a couple of cool opportunities come up that have left me an even busier busy bee!  Here's the scoop...  :)

I brought a Salted Caramel Creme Brulee Cupcake to the pub one night for Chef but he was unable to make it in.  I heard the co-owner's wife saying she was about to leave so I asked if she wanted the cupcake to take home.  She said yes but rather than take it home, she shared it with her table.  At her table are a group of regulars, her friends, that I've waited on repeatedly.  They're friends from the dock & they all boat together. 

Needless to say, they FLIPPED OUT about this cupcake.  (They were drunk).

Long story short, at this same table is the owner of a high end grocery store chain in Chicago.  (Who knew!?  I always called him 'Diet Coke & Chicken Tenders Guy!?').  He gives me his card and  I follow up the next day.  I set up a meeting with one of his managers to bring in some samples.

So!  This is the part of the show were I get to tell you what I brought in.  YAY!!  I LOVE mini desserts.  In fact I booked a wedding in Feb or March of next year.  The couple wants a small triple layer cake for them but then a bunch of mini desserts for friends & family.  SO EXCITED!!!  :)
Mini desserts are just so stinkin' cute & because they're small-er-ish, you get to try more.  :)

Per Chicken Tender's request, I made pies.

This is a mixed berry.  :)

Then I made a blueberry.

And here's an apple!  :)

He also mentioned cupcakes so I made a Brownie Cheesecake Cupcake:  A layer of brownie, chocolate cake, a cream cheese filling and cream cheese frosting.  YUM!!!  :)

I also did some Salted Caramel Creme Brulee.  I should have retorched this one before I took a picture.  She looks a little tired.  :)

Then I made some Grasshoppah Mint Brownies.

And a couple of fruit tarts...

... Tart shell, a hint (if you will) of raspberry jam, some pound cake, pastry cream & the fruit covered in an apricot glaze.  The glaze doesn't really show well in these pictures.

And finally, my favorite!!  Mini banana cream pies!!!  A layer of chocolate ganache, caramel pastry cream, bananas, banana pudding and a bourbon whipped cream.  SO FREAKING GOOD!!!  In my world the streets of heaven are paved with banana cream pies and I'm going to lick everyone's feet.

The meeting went well.  The manager I spoke with was really nice, said everything looked amazing and didn't doubt the quality or taste.  But he said the bottom line is always the cost.  I'm about 800% sure I'm too expensive for them but I'm not a huge fan of wholesaling anyway.  Unless you have products nationwide, the only ones to truly benefit from wholesale are the businesses not the baker.  So we'll see-- he said he'd get back to me within a week.

In the meantime, I brought leftovers to the pub for my co-workers.  One of the servers asked if she could give out a banana cream pie to a couple asking for dessert. (The pub has none).  They were so impressed they asked for my card because they just got engaged.  So she decided to give them a fruit tart as well. They loved both so much they asked to speak with me.  (SUH-WEET!) 

So the moral of the story is: 

Go with your gut & show up to your life.

Here's what I'm thinkin'... Though I don't really want to wholesale, I didn't pass up the opportunity to bring stuff in to the grocery store.  It was excellent practice.  Had I not done so, I wouldn't have brought stuff in to the pub and therefore, would not have not had the opportunity to hand out my card.  Also, it was dead Thursday night & I was slightly miffed I was called in at all.  But because the managers were adamant I stay, I chose to believe there was a reason I was at the pub that night. 

"Everything radically changes today" has become my mantra.  I expect miracles everyday and it's amazeballs what's come into my life (all expense paid trips to Hawaii, free U2 tickets, free movie tickets- CRAZY!)  So with this in mind, I stuck around.  They cut me an hour later- HA!  As I was walking out, the chef's wife asked me to stay and have a drink.  Knowing my kitchen was a DISASTER, I reeeeeeeeeeeally wanted to go home & clean but because it was such a weird day, weird circumstance and out of the blue request, I stayed. The past few days had all been about work, work, work.  And if I truly believe in balance in my life-- being work, pleasure & spirituality, I needed to stay and relax as a way to take care of myself. 

I was overly tired but I had a great time!  Not only did I hear about yoga & a retreat with Amma the hugging guru in November, I was around long enough to talk to the couple about a potential opportunity.

I'm just real excited about things these days.  What's new with you!?  :)

Love,

MandiC.