What's with the green color...?

It's Halloween today and I'm writing about the SweetPotatoMayas taking on a glowing, greenish color.  

I wish I could say I did it for Halloween - something fun and special.  "Radio active sweet potatoes from Smallville".  Nope.  Nothing like that.

Everything is okay.  It's still the same SweetPotatoMayas, and I'm so sorry to have worried you!  

It happens to be the color of the potatoes I got this time around.  I am still using the same sweet potatoes, from the same vendor, that get their sweet potatoes from the same farm.  (My dream is to one day cut out the middle man and get it directly from the farm!)  Some come out really bright yellow, some come out rather transparent yellow, with a greenish tint.  I'm thinking it has to do with the amount of water inside the potatoes.  Some seem to be packed with water, and turn out super 'gelly' at the pre-baking stage.  Some are more dry, and they turn out a little more on the starchy side with a chalky  yellowy hue.  But I'm using the same recipe, and making them the same way.  

I could make them look the same, but the only way to do that is to use artificial color, flavoring, and preservatives.  I would have to add all those chemicals on my ingredient list, that I don't even know how to pronounce.  And if I were to use those chemicals, I would have to learn about them and figure out how to use them - and quite frankly, I'm too much of a lazy ass for that.  

So I hope this helps, that the greenish color is normal.  Just our sweet baby pies having a little personality of their own.   Like how each vegetable in your garden has it's unique characteristics, and are never the same.  A friend told me once, that there is not one sunset that is ever the same. I think that is so beautiful :)

So thanks for asking friends, and happy food-tidings!

Things SPMs will make you do

Yesterday was one of those days where I randomly giggled.  An unbelievably sweet, supportive friend and her husband, actually went and found the coffee shop that carried my SweetPotatoMayas, and bought some!  One for her, and one for her husband.  What's more, she and her husband pretended not to know what they were.  The SweetPotatoMayas were sitting in the display case with other pastries, and they pointed to them and asked what they were.  The coffee shop girl told them they were 'yummy pies', so they bought two, and went home.  When she told me this, I was dying.

Am I the only one here that thinks that was so sweet and funny and cute?  Surely, you must agree that I am like the luckiest person ever because, I am surrounded by such cool friends!!

Photo by Sammy Gould

Family all around

I live in a cul-de-sac with some pretty awesome neighbors.  Two doors down from us are Grandpa Al and Mama Mary.  I already have two amazing moms and, well, you could call Grandpa Al and Mama Mary my other mom and dad.  Mama Mary will call me and tell me to shut my garage door, if it's late and she knows I'm home alone with the kids.  I go over to borrow a cup of sugar, or send my kids to deliver stuff to her.   Mama Mary comes over when she needs stuff too.  Oh, and the other day, she had Grandpa Al deliver me a glass of wine.  They are awesome.

Today, Grandpa Al and Mama Mary took me to a local coffee shop and introduced me to the owner.  We sat down together, chatted, laughed, and I gave the owner a box of SweetPotatoMayas.  She was going to try the SweetPotatoMayas herself, share them with her staff, and give them to some of her regular customers.  We agreed that I would bring her another box on Sunday, and she would try to sell them and see how they go.     

We kept the meeting short, because of course, her coffee shop's slammed.  She hugged Grandpa Al and Mama Mary goodbye, and I thanked her for meeting with me.  Grandpa Al and Mama Mary are huggers, and so am I.  I steal a kiss or two from Mama Mary whenever I can.  I wanted to hug the owner lady too, but I thought that might scare her off.  So I didn't.

Meeting a local coffee shop owner lady, with my two fabulous mom and pop neighbors.  Not a bad day at all.  Thank you Grandpa Al and Mama Mary - I love you!  

Getting The business going

Photo by Sammy Gould

To honor and heed the advice of my wonderful PR friend, I'm coming back to talk a little bit more about how I got it all going :)  I hope if anyone is wondering about starting a home baking business, that they find this helpful.  

Now, read the following steps very carefully - it's extremely complicated. 

• Bake a ton of your product and force them on people - get feedback
• Type into search engine, "How do I start a small baking business out of my home?"
• Call your City Planner
• Call your County Office
• Call the Department of Agriculture

Okay, so it wasn't all that complicated :)  With a little bit of time, basic typing skills, and a decent phone etiquette, you can get your baking business going too!

Getting the Business Going (continued...)

The one amazing resource I had was, Lisa Banks, of Lizzy Cakes Cupcakes.  Our kids were in school together, and I knew she had just started her beautiful cupcake business out of her home.  So I called her and introduced myself, and asked if she would kindly give me some pointers.  She was so gracious and supportive, and spent lots of time explaining to me the process she went through.

It was my birthday last week, and I got to order Lizzy Cakes Cupcakes!  On the evening of my birthday, my family took me out to dinner, and when we came home we devoured Lisa's cupcakes.  I ordered the mini Lemon Meringue cupcakes (complete with homemade lemon curd inside), and with her recommendation, the Lemon Raspberry (with homemade butter-cream frosting and fresh raspberry inside). They were so fun to look and oogle at, and they were delicious!  We were all smiles :)  Lisa bakes the cupcakes to order - to be eaten on the day of - so they are fresh.  And there are so many different flavors and designs to choose from - all of which are wonderful, original creations of hers.  Thank you so much Lisa, for your time and advice, and for your amazing cupcakes that made my birthday extra sweet! 

If anyone is looking to include some major sweetness to their next event, or just because, I highly recommend Lizzy Cakes Cupcakes.  Below is the link to her lovely website :) 

Lizzy Cakes Cupcakes

...and the judge approves!!

I can't come up with the appropriate words for these shots!  But more importantly...thank you to my friend who took it, AND for letting me give her baby girl some SweetPotatoMayas :)  

A Hostile Takeover

It's been a week, and I haven't heard back from the owner of the coffee shop.  The 'prospective customer'.

It was a really cool experience, but I was so, so, so, nervous!  I've never done anything like that before - meet with a business owner and pitch my product.  Going in, I felt like the little girl with an easy-bake oven.

He wanted to know how I came about making SweetPotatoMayas, what my goals were with this product, and how often and how much I thought I could produce them.  He introduced me to his managers, I gave him my packages of SweetPotatoMayas, and he said they'll be in touch.

And that was over a week ago.

So I baked another batch today -  to drop off another box of SweetPotatoMayas tomorrow.  I'm just gonna go in, say hello, and hand deliver some cozy goodness.  Hey, I can't back down this easily, right?

There's no school tomorrow due to staff development, so the troop will come with me; my kids, one of my kid's friend, and maybe my niece.  That's right baby.  I've got my entourage.  You could call it a hostile takeover - SweetPotatoMaya style.

Passed the Inspection!

The inspector from the Department of Agriculture came to my house today, and approved me for a 'Domestic Kitchen Bakery' License. Ya~y!! Now I can officially start baking SweetPotatoMayas, and sharing them with the world.  

I am so relieved.  If I didn't pass this inspection, I wouldn't have been able to go forward in this little business venture.  Then I would have needed to find a job in accounting, which is what I went to school for in the first place.  I don't have anything against accounting, but right now, baking at home seems more fun to me.   

The inspector arrived at 10am, and stayed for over an hour.  He had me pull out my equipment, tools, and explain to him where I would be storing the goods and how I would be making the SweetPotaoMayas.  I was missing a thermometer in my separate refrigerator (designated for SweetPotatoMaya use only), and I need sanitizer and sanitizer testing strips, to clean and prep kitchen surfaces before making the SweetPotatoMayas.  

He mentioned the length of my hair (it's long), and noted in the report: "Adequate hair restraints worn during processing".

"Yeah, my hair has major behavioral issues.  Restraints would be a good idea."  - was what I wanted to say.  But I restrained myself.  Don't wanna piss off the gatekeeper!

Thank goodness my sweet friend came over to be with me too - she was a wonderful support.  She gave me lots of big celebratory hugs after the inspector left :)  Thank you, my friend~!! 

I was so exhausted afterwards, that I didn't even have the energy to fix up a cocktail.  I literally laid down in a sunny spot on the carpet and passed out.

A Surprise Goodbye

Today I was making SweetPotatoMayas, and I messed up.  That's right people - I made a mistake.

"Scrood-da-pooch", as the Mr. so eloquently puts it.

I was making a batch of SweetPotatoMayas today, because tomorrow morning, I am meeting my very first (if all this goes well) prospective customer.  He will sample them to see if they go well in his coffee shop.  Can you imagine?  Little SweetPotatoMayas, at a cafe!  And such perfect timing for the fall - leaves are beginning to turn yellow and red, the sun shining bright and the air so crisp.  Who wouldn't want to cozy up with a fabulous mug of coffee or tea and a SweetPotatoMaya :)

So I'm hoping this batch turns out extra yummy so that the cafe dude likes it.   I am peeling, chopping, boiling...thinking happy, joyful thoughts in my head so that lots of love go into these babies.  I mashed the sweet potatoes, got the mashed goodness into baking cups, and they went into the oven.

Phew!  Phase one, complete.  Now that they're in the oven, I shall prepare the kitchen for the next phase.  And I go to tidy up a bit, and I notice a plate sitting on the counter.  Two slabs of butter, all softened and ready to butter-tize 'something'.   I forgot to add butter.

Now, I am perfect.  My house and car is ALWAYS spotless and clean.  I go to the grocery store for one item and buy ten more things, but ALWAYS remember to get that one item I went in for.  I've NEVER run out of gas on the freeway, I have NEVER forgotten my kid's well-child check-ups, and I most certainly, NEVER, EVER, have opened a bottle of wine before 3pm.  So you can just imagine how absolutely shocked I was.    

The babies come out of the oven, I look at them cautiously, and they look...the same.  I think we're gonna be okay!  Now, I love sweet potatoes, and I love butter.  And I'm pretty sure they love me back.  If it turns out that the SweetPotatoMayas with less butter tastes just as good, I think I'm going to have to cut butter out of our little love triangle.

And I'll hope that that cafe dude likes it this way too!