I know, it's been a while and I promised to be back mid-August; and here I am! How do you like my cute logo in the top right pic? I had fun designing it and playing with the words to get something just right.
First thing, I do have the new blog, but there have been a few snags and it is just not ready yet. Apologies. I am still back and forth with regards to kinks with the site designer and there are some annoying technical issues that keep cropping up. This has slowed down my progress, my plans are delayed because of that and the other things I am responsible to complete. I was getting a bit down about my pace, then I was berating myself for the expectations that had not been met. I was having doubts, feelings of worthlessness, and a bit of malaise as things were not happening on my schedule and according to plan. Then I came across this:
I now have come to realize, thanks be to God, that I have to slow down and give myself a break. I am trying to open a business on a very, very, tight budget, with time crunching down, and loads to accomplish. I cannot realistically do it all perfectly and there are things that just won't always go according to plan; which are not in my control. Here's some stuff I have been working on:
Foraging has been really important, it's great because I am learning so much about what is out there, for free, readily available around me, and they add wonderful uniquely flavoured touches to my bespoke jams and jellies. It means something else though, I am at nature's mercy and I cannot always get away from my other job as a manager of a tea shop; to go off a foraging. Working means that even when I forage, sometimes I am too exhausted, or I have to unexpectedly replace others and that cuts into well-meaning plans. Weather has had a tremendous impact as well, days I have been available, it has rained or been, heat-warning too hot. Since my thyroid issues cropped up, I have to be careful in the heat, as it really effects my health negatively at times. The heat has also caused losses, an entire batch of foraged flowers did not survive the heat of the outdoors overnight; this was frustrating but could not be helped. I do not like bringing a freshly picked bag of flowers into the house as there are numerous critters that would love to set up nests in the home. This means that I leave them in a closed plastic bag overnight and when they are less active, I sort through and remove little bugs in the early morning before cleaning and processing them in the house. When heat alerts are on and I cannot miss work, a day becomes 2 or 3 and then I have frustratingly lost 3-4 hours worth of foraged items. It has not happened often but it's not a loss one can recover from, as spring and summer wild flowers do not stick around waiting for human details. This is all part of the steep learning curve and I am letting the earlier mistakes go, as I move forward.
There are new recipes I am playing with in the kitchen, I finally got a Big Chunk Granola that I really like, I prefer nuggets of yum, to those little granola flakies. They taste great and that means more work on another front, I have to dehydrate as many fresh fruits as possible; while the season lasts.
The Québec strawberries have dehydrated beautifully, required no extra sweetener, and make the house smell divine when in the Excalibur. It doesn't give a lot though and this means I must behave-no snagging yummies for myself as I play in the kitchen. Waaaaaaah!
Something I am very excited about is this new recipe I developed for all these leftover bananas I was tired of losing. I had come across a chocolate banana jam recipe on Pinterest and it got me to thinking about making my own banana jam. Turns out that I prefer it as a sauce and I was not the only one. So, I decided to keep this product as part of our compotes line but will definitely be marketing it as a sauce. I give you, Spiced, Tipsy, Banana Sauce!
It's tipsy because it has real dark rum in it, I mingled it with a lovely spice mix which is house made, and I took it up a tropical and utterly tasty notch with lime and unrefined, natural sweeteners. Yeah, it tastes even better than it looks, like, we went through 5 jars in a week good. (Shhhhh, that's a shamefully delicious secret). It's going to be in the Etsy Shop for sure though and you seriously need to get your hands on it, when the shop is open. (Soon, soon!)
Another aspect of working on a business is figuring out all the little things like packaging, decorative touches-which I am doing by hand! They do come out looking lovely though, so it is worth it. I want you to have a smile on your face when you order something from Bien Confit! Gluten free. That is the name of the shop and the new blog, it works well with jams and unique bespoke confections. There will be some classics, like these amaze bombs classic chocolate chip cookies, there will be crisp and chewy along with a soft bake batch version. Chocolate chip cookies are enjoyed in a variety of textures and I wanted to offer two very popular styles. Packaging has been one of the more fun aspects of prep. It means that pictures have to be taken and then there are holiday set-ups too. I am tired already! Heh heh.
The above are soft batch Classic Chocolate Chip, which Poppa Bear was able to sample. I included them in his Birthday care package box, he was very happy and I got to use him as a guinea pig for seeing how well they shipped. Double smiles and wins!
The below are more my favourite style of Classic Chocolate Chip cookies; they are a chewy and crisp version which is flatter and I think waaaaaaaay yummier,
I am also recycling and making my own little thank-you's. I got this super cute Merci stamp from another Etsy shop called: I Like Stamps. Here is the link if you would like to check it out:
I am making special covers for some of the jams and jellies, I wanted to showcase the flowers and the beauty of their colours. I felt complementing them with unique materials would really make them pop! This means something else though, I have to iron, pin pattern's and cut each one out. Yup, more work but you will really appreciate the look of the finished products and the extra effort will be worth it.
So, this is one of those, out of my control things I was talking abut. I ordered more labels and the colour calibration was off. Happily, Vistaprint fixed the order, free of charge, and shipped it out a.s.a.p. It always comes down to three things when opening a business, financials, other people's schedules/work-not just your own, and strength of character with loads of fortitude to get through all the ups and downs. Prayer and cookies with tea helps a lot.
My garden is doing well, these are my Asian sweet potatoes. I have had difficulties with my string beans, baby potatoes, and my beet plant along with the Bergamot plant. This is thanks to some pesky critters going all dig happy and eating or destroying much of the plants. Kinda sucks but it is part of the cycle of nature, so no hard feelings.
So, I will be silent on the blog front for about another month or so, as I really have an overwhelming amount of work to do. But the above pic is because there will be new blog posts coming up.
As I continue to work on the business, build momentum and keep making it pretty, there are recipes in the works for future posts as well, that I will present on the new blog.
Along with some serious maple goodness!
And I am working on a giveaway that will have maple in it for sure!
Thanks so much for still stopping by here, continuing to check on the progress, and I will continue to work hard to bring you my Etsy shop and some great new things, God willing in the very near future.
Take care and be well and you will be hearing from me again very soon. God bless and Jesus guide your steps, always...
