Oh, hello, intarwebs.
Our blog has been missing in action for the past two months, I know, although we've still been filling orders as they've rolled in from our Etsy shop, now boasting a decent 63 sales since the start of February, not to mention the few dozen local and website orders. Despite kicking our Etsy over to vacation mode for the past couple weeks, we've done a handful of large orders including a wedding, some birthdays, and a long-distance catering gig for a Bat Mitzvah coming up as well. We are surprised, delighted, and still making marshmallows with hardcore fervor.
The past two months has brought both Stephanie and I new jobs, Cannon has started Tee ball and graduated from Kindergarten, Steph ran a marathon, and we've moved across town to a new place, I've battled with our internet service provider like a madman to establish service, and on one of our first nights in the kitchen of our new digs Stephanie managed to put together four new marshmallow flavors: Benton's Bacon, Bourbon Caramel, Blueberry and Strawberry Basil. More on the new flavors in a bit.
Stephanie is now a Chef of some sort for a restaurant that embodies everything we believe in when it comes to passion, hospitality and the sourcing of quality foods. The Plaid Apron, run by Chef Drew McDonald, has been open a year and from the tidbits of info I get back from Steph on how that place is managed, they're well on their way to making something big of themselves. They did a killer job at the 2012 International Biscuit Festival (which Alton Brown was in town for), and have got a full calender going forward into the summer filled with all sorts of events and delectable menu items. She loves it. I know she does just by the way she smiles when she gets home in the afternoon.
I am, once again, a bookstore employee. I have always dubbed the time of my life as a bookseller as the happiest times I've had as a working man, and no salary or fancy job title has ever changed that. This is probably the only time I'll mention where exactly I work, but it's for the best used bookstore I've ever set foot in, and I've been in quite a few. McKay Books is considered by a great many persons in town to be an attraction of sorts. I'm starting on the bottom rung, but after talking to several of the employees that work there, it's a place I could potentially stick around with for a long time... and so, I'm ending my career search for the time being and settling there just to see what the next year or two could bring for me. I'm excited, and wake up happier than I have in a long time.
Plus, the discount is killer. I've been on a major Apollo mission kick for the past few weeks. I walked out of there today paying about $.25 for a book by Charlie Duke, the Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 16, inscribed and autographed. This man has walked on the moon, held and written in the book that I bought from my employer, and now I own it. I don't consider myself all that much of a materialistic person, but the fact that I'm only a one degree of separation from touching the moon blows my mind, and all it cost me was a shiny George Washington.
Imgonnaneednewbookshelvespronto.
And to the matter of Bacon Marshmallows. Stephanie has tried about three or four times to make a mallow that is flavored like bacon. It's tricky, trying to impart that flavor while keeping the mallow consistency, but she thinks she's got it.
There's a local bacon maker that apparently curates the world's best bacon. I haven't personally tasted it yet, although I will say that there is a slab of it sitting in our fridge right now... cost about $7.99 for somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 slices, and it looks glorious. I've heard about two dozen people ranting about this stuff since I've moved to Tennessee, and only recently picked up the urge to scavenge for some once I learned that The Plaid Apron uses it, and upcharges their patrons as it is of a superior quality. Benton's Bacon is fairly easy to come by in Knoxville if you have the cash to throw down, but can be difficult to come by if you're located elsewhere.
Stephanie was able to render some fat from this stuff by way of her new employer, and successfully turned it into a marshmallow. I've tasted it. It is delicious. It's taking all of my willpower to not cook myself a pound of bacon right this second as Stephanie sleeps. I mean, hypothetically, I could replace it by the time we both get home for dinner tomorrow, but should I risk it?
Maybe. But I'm afraid of it's lustful smell awakening her from her slumber upstairs. And so I will smother my desire for one more night.
And our other flavors are fancy and delicious. The Bourbon Caramel is made using a homemade caramel that Stephanie came up with, and the others utilizing fresh strawberries from Colvin Family Farms (local) and Knotts (not entirely local, but dependable and delicious) blueberries. I hope to have these photographed in the next day so we can start making sales on 'em.
Meanwhile, we're still settling. I hear the sound of buttons clacking in the dryer (we own a legit washer and dryer!!!) of our washroom, and am enjoying the rave-like bursts of light from our lightning bugs from our backyard. It's a change that we've been wanting for some time, and am glad to finally be settling together in a place that we can call our own.
Good things are happening here...
-Daniel
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A couple of points (in photos)...
1) Stephanie should make these again, even though I can't remember what they're called, but I found it mixed in with my photos. I want to say that they were filled with some sort of warmed cheese...
2) Just a friendly reminder that dishwasher detergent and liquid dish soap are not interchangeable.
3) This does not belong in the same building as myself, and should probably be killed with fire. By way of burning down the entire structure, personal property and all.
4) I miss San Diego sometimes... particularly, the fact that it was always less than a 15 minute drive to get to the beach.
5) I start a new job in about a week and a half. This is where I shall work.
We're working on perfecting some Peanut Butter Mallows (which shall be dipped in chocolate) and Licorice Mallows, which I'm a personal fan of. These things will be delicious, no doubt.
Daniel
2) Just a friendly reminder that dishwasher detergent and liquid dish soap are not interchangeable.
3) This does not belong in the same building as myself, and should probably be killed with fire. By way of burning down the entire structure, personal property and all.
4) I miss San Diego sometimes... particularly, the fact that it was always less than a 15 minute drive to get to the beach.
5) I start a new job in about a week and a half. This is where I shall work.
We're working on perfecting some Peanut Butter Mallows (which shall be dipped in chocolate) and Licorice Mallows, which I'm a personal fan of. These things will be delicious, no doubt.
Daniel
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Birthdays and the such
To say I had a good 30th birthday would be an understatement.
Yep.
Cannon is starting up the Teeball very shortly here. He had his tryouts a week ago, and his team assignment party yesterday... looks like we're about to get into the swing (ha, ha ha) of things here fairly shortly. And I'm kicking myself for leaving my baseball glove in San Diego, as it would've come in handy right about now. The thing was broken in, fit wonderfully... although maybe it was a bit too small, considering I used it for little league. Still though, I prefer a smaller glove as the longer ones tend to weigh down my catching hand.
And so, after about a dozen store visits and several dozen fittings, I settled on a cheap-o glove that was about the size I remember mine being, and have begun to break it in. We had a catch session a couple days ago that went quite well, and I look forward to seeing where Cannon's baseball career goes.
In regards to marshmallows, I'm impressed with how things have gone. I think we're near about four dozen orders in the first six weeks of being active, which hasn't really allowed for too much experimentation on our parts. Everything has shipped out on time, but finally we caught the break we were looking for to have a go at round 3 of the Bacon Mallows.
They've yet to be cut, but I expect it to happen by tomorrow.
Daniel
Yep.
Cannon is starting up the Teeball very shortly here. He had his tryouts a week ago, and his team assignment party yesterday... looks like we're about to get into the swing (ha, ha ha) of things here fairly shortly. And I'm kicking myself for leaving my baseball glove in San Diego, as it would've come in handy right about now. The thing was broken in, fit wonderfully... although maybe it was a bit too small, considering I used it for little league. Still though, I prefer a smaller glove as the longer ones tend to weigh down my catching hand.
And so, after about a dozen store visits and several dozen fittings, I settled on a cheap-o glove that was about the size I remember mine being, and have begun to break it in. We had a catch session a couple days ago that went quite well, and I look forward to seeing where Cannon's baseball career goes.
In regards to marshmallows, I'm impressed with how things have gone. I think we're near about four dozen orders in the first six weeks of being active, which hasn't really allowed for too much experimentation on our parts. Everything has shipped out on time, but finally we caught the break we were looking for to have a go at round 3 of the Bacon Mallows.
They've yet to be cut, but I expect it to happen by tomorrow.
Daniel
Monday, March 5, 2012
Makin' art and stuff...
Steph and I had date night a couple nights ago.
We painted Klimt's "The Kiss" and drank a bottle of wine in the process. Good things ensued.
The fuel was a 2009 Terres d'Orb Rouge, and we had ample working space to make some quality art. The cool thing about Spirited Art is that they're relaxed and let you bring your own food and drink to the class... plus you get to pump out a semi-quality painting in about two to three hours. We decided on the Klimt class, but my second preference was the Giraffe painting class. We'll have to do that one next time. I really like giraffes. Just sayin'.
Class wasn't too big, which I think I'm partial to as a large congregation of people in classroom settings tend to freak me out, as well as test my patience.
Stephanie clearly has a knack for painting... she's artistic, and I've always been impressed with the things she's done on canvas. Me, though, not so much. I even made the bold mistake of declaring that I had the best canvas in class, to which Stephanie corrected, "That's not a canvas... that's an easel. The canvas is what you paint on."
Yep. And that was before I started in on the wine.
And, Steph's nearly finished product looks fantastic.
Mine looks a lil' rough, though. I mean, look at those fingers. I'd have been better off taking the finger painting approach... is he trying to strangle her? I think he is.
Things have been busy here in our real life. I think we got about 7 orders over the past 24 hours, so the kitchen is in full-on marshmallow mode. I like it, because I get to snatch up the trimmings.
And now, I must go run errands.
-Daniel
We painted Klimt's "The Kiss" and drank a bottle of wine in the process. Good things ensued.
The fuel was a 2009 Terres d'Orb Rouge, and we had ample working space to make some quality art. The cool thing about Spirited Art is that they're relaxed and let you bring your own food and drink to the class... plus you get to pump out a semi-quality painting in about two to three hours. We decided on the Klimt class, but my second preference was the Giraffe painting class. We'll have to do that one next time. I really like giraffes. Just sayin'.
Class wasn't too big, which I think I'm partial to as a large congregation of people in classroom settings tend to freak me out, as well as test my patience.
Stephanie clearly has a knack for painting... she's artistic, and I've always been impressed with the things she's done on canvas. Me, though, not so much. I even made the bold mistake of declaring that I had the best canvas in class, to which Stephanie corrected, "That's not a canvas... that's an easel. The canvas is what you paint on."
Yep. And that was before I started in on the wine.
And, Steph's nearly finished product looks fantastic.
Mine looks a lil' rough, though. I mean, look at those fingers. I'd have been better off taking the finger painting approach... is he trying to strangle her? I think he is.
Things have been busy here in our real life. I think we got about 7 orders over the past 24 hours, so the kitchen is in full-on marshmallow mode. I like it, because I get to snatch up the trimmings.
And now, I must go run errands.
-Daniel
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Springtime Eats (and Drinks)
It's been hitting the 60's for the past week or so... I'd venture a guess that winter is done for out here. I'm secretly let down, as the southern California city boy in me was jonesing for a lil' slip and slide action on the roads but no dice this year.
That said, we're trying to delve into some new flavors to compliment all the things that come with spring. This includes some targeted flavors to coincide with holidays such as St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Mother's Day, and a few others to make a part of our year-round offerings. Steph already has her own list of mallows she wants to do for all these holidays, but the one I'm most excited to try is the Guinness Mallow with the aim of having it ready for St Patrick's Day.
I was more of a mild stout drinker about five to seven years ago, but started taking a liking to the more hoppy and higher gravity brews like Stone IPA and BJ's Tatonka Stout around my mid-twenties. I am ashamed to admit that I've had maybe only a dozen pints of Guinness in the past few years, and I hope that will change now that we've got some of this stuff in-house.
We're signed up for the second year in a row with a local CSA run by Colvin Family Farms, and expect to start receiving our shares near the beginning of May. We found that over the course of our membership last year, we tried a grip of new recipes that I don't think either of us would've attempted as a lot of the produce that our local grocery stores offer aren't nearly as fresh looking as what a CSA can offer. It was a very interesting experience, and the value was immense.
And of course, we plan on utilizing some of what we receive from this CSA to produce some new batches of Mallows, possibly to swap with other shareholders and to make available to our customers. Maybe something a bit more savory depending on what we receive in our shares. There has been chatter of producing a strawberry and basil mallow, of which we should be getting as part of our share at some point.
Now, I am hungry, and I shall go bug Stephanie about making dinner. I think we're having pork chops.
Also, Stephanie ran seven miles today, and she wanted me to mention it here. She's got a marathon comin' up, wooo!
Daniel
That said, we're trying to delve into some new flavors to compliment all the things that come with spring. This includes some targeted flavors to coincide with holidays such as St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Mother's Day, and a few others to make a part of our year-round offerings. Steph already has her own list of mallows she wants to do for all these holidays, but the one I'm most excited to try is the Guinness Mallow with the aim of having it ready for St Patrick's Day.
I was more of a mild stout drinker about five to seven years ago, but started taking a liking to the more hoppy and higher gravity brews like Stone IPA and BJ's Tatonka Stout around my mid-twenties. I am ashamed to admit that I've had maybe only a dozen pints of Guinness in the past few years, and I hope that will change now that we've got some of this stuff in-house.
We're signed up for the second year in a row with a local CSA run by Colvin Family Farms, and expect to start receiving our shares near the beginning of May. We found that over the course of our membership last year, we tried a grip of new recipes that I don't think either of us would've attempted as a lot of the produce that our local grocery stores offer aren't nearly as fresh looking as what a CSA can offer. It was a very interesting experience, and the value was immense.
And of course, we plan on utilizing some of what we receive from this CSA to produce some new batches of Mallows, possibly to swap with other shareholders and to make available to our customers. Maybe something a bit more savory depending on what we receive in our shares. There has been chatter of producing a strawberry and basil mallow, of which we should be getting as part of our share at some point.
Now, I am hungry, and I shall go bug Stephanie about making dinner. I think we're having pork chops.
Also, Stephanie ran seven miles today, and she wanted me to mention it here. She's got a marathon comin' up, wooo!
Daniel
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Bacon and Coconut, but not together...
Hello, intarweb.
Our place smells of bacon, and I love it.
Batch one of the Bacon Mallows was made last night, only to turn into goop by the morning. I wasn't around to witness the fluff test, but Stephanie assures me that there was nothing mallow-like about it. We've had this happen before with some previous flavors, but often find that just a small tweak of the cooking process will set things right. I won't even feign understanding on how the chemistry of this works, but... it's definitely a science.
Mind you, we probably have a couple more batches to go before we give the okay to deliver these guys, but I'm excited and hopeful about it.
Steph's most recent success is a Toasted Coconut Mallow that she nailed with her first batch only two days ago. It came out pretty awesome... we used ZICO coconut water to get the flavor, and then topped it with toasted coconut flakes. It is delicious, and we think it'll become part of the flavor line-up within the next week.
In other news, all pending orders have been shipped as of today! We've got some local custom orders we're working on now, but rest assured that if you ordered mallows, they are either to you by now or en route.
Also, look what I made.
Stephanie plugs her electric water kettle thing into this every morning as she prepares her daily tea or coffee. I'm proud of it.
-Daniel
Our place smells of bacon, and I love it.
 |
| This mixer contains the venerable beginnings of Bacon Mallows. |
Mind you, we probably have a couple more batches to go before we give the okay to deliver these guys, but I'm excited and hopeful about it.
Steph's most recent success is a Toasted Coconut Mallow that she nailed with her first batch only two days ago. It came out pretty awesome... we used ZICO coconut water to get the flavor, and then topped it with toasted coconut flakes. It is delicious, and we think it'll become part of the flavor line-up within the next week.
 | ||
| Toasted Coconut Mallows |
Also, look what I made.
Stephanie plugs her electric water kettle thing into this every morning as she prepares her daily tea or coffee. I'm proud of it.
-Daniel
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Photo Day
We just wrapped up photo day here at The Tine.
Neither of us are classically trained in the art of photography, but I like to think we have a keen eye for what does and doesn't look good. My approach is to take as many photos as possible, and eventually one will turn out okay. I've been known to take in upwards of 500 pictures in a day whenever I have a camera in tow.
That said, we have some new flavors we're about to introduce, including some revamped ones that were in dire need of rephotographing. See below for a quick snapshot of today's results:
I'd say it was a productive day.
We're hoping to knock out a Pink Grapefruit one in the next couple days, a Coconut, a Buttered Popcorn, and a couple of others.
Bacon is somewhere on the list, as is licorice. Those will be some exciting days.
I also need to mention that my personal favorite from the above listing is the Lime Cardamom. It is absolutely killer, and packed with flavors that make your taste buds tingle.
And so, things are going well here. We've been open for nearly two weeks, and have averaged about an order a day... an easy pace for us to handle. I'd love to kick it up a notch, which is why we're starting to delve into marketing ideas to help our name get out there. I think Etsy will be a major forum for us, along with the local market here in Knoxville. We made a gift certificate in hopes of capturing the Valentine's Day stragglers, and expect to make this a permanent part of our offerings.
Also, Stephanie still refuses to make me an Ovaltine flavored marshmallow, so you guys should bug her about it. :) Please, and thank you.
-Daniel
Neither of us are classically trained in the art of photography, but I like to think we have a keen eye for what does and doesn't look good. My approach is to take as many photos as possible, and eventually one will turn out okay. I've been known to take in upwards of 500 pictures in a day whenever I have a camera in tow.
That said, we have some new flavors we're about to introduce, including some revamped ones that were in dire need of rephotographing. See below for a quick snapshot of today's results:
 | |
| Pistachio |
 |
| Jasmine |
 |
| Honey Lavender |
 |
| Lime Cardamom |
 |
| Red Velvet |
 |
| Almond Raspberry |
I'd say it was a productive day.
We're hoping to knock out a Pink Grapefruit one in the next couple days, a Coconut, a Buttered Popcorn, and a couple of others.
Bacon is somewhere on the list, as is licorice. Those will be some exciting days.
I also need to mention that my personal favorite from the above listing is the Lime Cardamom. It is absolutely killer, and packed with flavors that make your taste buds tingle.
And so, things are going well here. We've been open for nearly two weeks, and have averaged about an order a day... an easy pace for us to handle. I'd love to kick it up a notch, which is why we're starting to delve into marketing ideas to help our name get out there. I think Etsy will be a major forum for us, along with the local market here in Knoxville. We made a gift certificate in hopes of capturing the Valentine's Day stragglers, and expect to make this a permanent part of our offerings.
Also, Stephanie still refuses to make me an Ovaltine flavored marshmallow, so you guys should bug her about it. :) Please, and thank you.
-Daniel
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