Damaged Goods

Photo by Yoshiko Wong

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! - with lots of good food, family and friends, and laughter all around.  I had so much fun bustin' out all the SweetPotatoMaya orders.  When I was making the deliveries, I got to see customers and wish them a nice holiday in person.  That was an added bonus :)

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I need to fix something.  Shipping.  Some SweetPotatoMayas were sent to New York and California, and it was, an epic fail.  Inside the box were 6 pies in a cellophane bag, and the crumble topping fell off and scattered everywhere inside the bag.  What an embarrassing mess.  This is not how I want to start off my business.

So what's next?  What do I do?   I packed an extra package to keep in my garage for several days.  I tossed it and shook it, let it land upside down and all around.  I was doing this in my garage, and I was sort of enjoying it.  But my kids stared at me all wide eyed - I guess they've never seen me throw things before.  Needless to say, when I opened the tester package a few days later, it was a mess.  It looked like the work of  that mean Gismo - wet newspaper wrapping pulled and torn, smashed up against misshapen wet sticky pies...  Absolute horror.  Definitely not acceptable, and I would like a chance to redeem myself.  Operation Re-ship to New York and California, is a go.

So yesterday, I baked up some extra batches, picked up new shipping boxes with different dementions, and bought a FoodSaver.  Have you seen these things?  I'm not big on buying gadgets just for the sake of convenience (I'm kind of old and crotchety like that).  But I think it's just the thing I need - and what an amazing tool!  You can put your things in there, and it sucks the air out, and seals it tight.  And thanks to the Mr. who enjoys figuring out new gadgets, he set everything up for me, showed me how to use it, and even put the empty cardboard boxes away.  So here we were, in our kitchen on a Tuesday night, running test vacuum seals with salami slices and having a hoot of a time.  Talk about a party getting out of control.

This morning I mailed out two new packages with vaccum-sealed SweetPotatoMayas inside.  We'll see how it works.  Go, my SweetPotatoMayas... Go!

Happy Faces

I delivered an order today, to a local Elementary School.  One hundred  SweetPotatoMayas to be exact, for the first grader's Fall Harvest Party!

There are no words to describe how honored I feel, that the staff chose to spend their limited budget (one party per year) on serving SweetPotatoMayas to their kids - despite the fact that they could have easily gone with 'satisfaction guaranteed' choices, such as frosted cookies or cupcakes from Costco.


Thanks guys!  For giving SweetPotatoMayas a try...and for these wonderful shots!!!  Pictures speak a thousands words...so I'll shut up now.

What are friends for

Hello there :)  A little update here: I've reached my limit for Thanksgiving orders.  I'm so excited to cook up some serious SweetPotatoMayas.   Thank you so much for all the love and support wonderful people!  I would love to continue baking cozy yumminess through the holiday season, winter, and early spring, so please let me know if you would like some :)

Photo by Sammy Gould

It's no secret now, that I've had a life long love affair with sweet potatoes.  But I've learned in recent months that just because I love sweet potatoes, doesn't mean everyone else loves them too.  Did anyone else know of this alarming concept?  I sure as hell didn't....

But the really cool thing is, my friends have been brave enough to give SweetPotatoMayas a try anyway.  And that kind of thing just gives me the warm fuzzies all over.   How amazing are my friends, to be willing to try things for me, even though they don't like it.

And after they try it - they like it.   "I don't like sweet potatoes, but I love THIS!!".  That's the reaction I've gotten from every non-sweet potato lover so far.  I'm converting them to Lovers :)

Goes without saying, if any of my friends start a home cooking business, I will be first in line to try their stuff.  Even if it's lizard tails - boiled.  Because that's what friends are for. 

Coffee shop updates...

Hello friends, and thanks for checking in on SweetPotatoMayas :)

The super cool peeps over at World Cup Coffee on 18th & Glisan in Portland, have been kind enough to give SweetPotatoMayas, a go!  They are a locally owned coffee shop, with two locations in Portland.  

I met with Dan Welch, the owner, back in October.  That was the coffee shop I later went back to do "a hostile takeover".  

I met with the General Manager last Thursday, and when he told me they were super excited about SweetPotatoMayas, I was completely caught off-guard.  I didn't know how to react.   It's very possible he thought I was "not firing on all pistons" from that point on because, I probably had a very awkward permanent grin on my face.  We chatted about the product, the market, the client base they serve, the shop's mission and goals, my mission and goals...and the whole time, all I wanted to do was jump up and down and squeal like a little girl.  "Focus woman.  Play it cool!!!" - I kept telling myself.  I think I pulled it off.  Yep.  I'm sure of it. 

One thing is for sure, I love the vibe over at World Cup Coffee, and the people who work there are...well, let's just say they're in the right business :)  And I am so excited that they are welcoming SweetPotatoMayas into their place.  Thanks guys!

       

And the other wonderful Coffee Shop who tasted my wares was, Metro Perc.  The owner Kim, a gracious, lovely lady with a hip, vivacious energy, met with me and gave SweetPotatoMayas a try.

She was kind enough to talk to me on the phone yesterday.  And she let me know that the SweetPotatoMayas were not the right fit for her client base.  Her coffee shop is a quick, come-and-go type of place, where people want to grab a coffee with a donut or a pastry, and go.  Not sit down with a little dish of pie, where using utensils is involved. That made complete sense to me.  She also gave me some amazing advice - to look into some dessert and tea shops, or patisseries - where people plan to sit down with coffee or tea, and enjoy a delicate piece of cake or a torte.

I think that is so true!  SweetPotatoMayas are more for sitting down and enjoying, as a side dish or a dessert.  Well, you can eat it however you like :)  But for sure, it wouldn't work for people who want something easy to eat in the car.

Thank you so much Kim, for giving this a try, and for the great advice.  And thanks to my friends and family ( you goofballs! ) for going in and buying some.  You guys are awesome :)  I feel so lucky!