Ceiling grid, doors & hood!
Posted by: Jen on: February 4, 2010
Here are some of the photos I snapped during last night’s studio construction check-in. The ceiling grid is up, doors are in & the hood is up. I can’t believe how quickly it’s all going after such a delayed start!
Back of the store with the ceiling grid up
Utility room all closed up with a door!
My newest & most expensive “hoodie” to date 
What was a scary hole in my office, has been patched up with cement & is now GONE!
Walls? WALLS!
Posted by: Jen on: February 3, 2010
After MONTHS of delays, it seems as if the construction on my studio is now working at breakneck speed. Jay & I went to check on the progress last night & were shocked to find WALLS. I had been under the assumption that my GC was still waiting on approval from the town to move forward with construction, but apparently that wasn’t the case – and work has been moving along. So after months & months of waiting – the build out will be complete in four days!? At least that’s what my GC is telling me. I am SOOOO looking forward to getting in next week to paint the walls, furnish my office & wait for my equipment to arrive.
I cannot fathom the amount of money being transferred, charged, paid, etc. within the next week. Goodbye savings … hello dream. Doesn’t seem quite real yet, but it’s getting there!
Jay walking out of the utility room
Pile of plumbing equipment to be installed
Apple Cider Steel Cut Oatmeal
Posted by: Jen on: January 31, 2010
- In: Food| Recipes
- 2 Comments
With the recent plunge in temperature, I find myself really craving warm breakfasts, especially something hearty like steel cut oatmeal. After hunting around for the perfect steel cut oatmeal recipe, I’ve come up with the one below. There are a number of modifications one can make:
- If you like a sweeter version, you could use 4 cups of cider instead of 2 cups cider & 2 cups water
- The oats can be sweetened to taste with a variety of sweeteners (I prefer maple syrup or brown sugar, but you could use jam or a sugar substitute)
- Pears could be swapped for the apples
- A mix of spices (nutmeg, allspice, etc.) could be used in combination or in place of the cinnamon
- The dried fruit & nuts can be swapped out for your favorites.
- The recipe can also be made vegan by replacing the butter in the topping with a dairy free substitute or omitting the topping altogether.
One of my favorite things about this oatmeal is that you can make it on the weekend & it keeps in the refrigerator for the entire week! To reheat it, I place a square of it in a small bowl, cover the bowl with saran wrap & microwave for 3 minutes. Quick & delicious!
Apple Cider Steel Cut Oatmeal
2 cups apple cider
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup steel cut oatmeal
1 large apple, chopped
1/2 cup chopped whole almonds, toasted
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries
1-2 Tablespoon cinnamon (to taste)
maple syrup &/or brown sugar to taste
Strueselly Topping
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 Tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup chopped whole almonds (raw)
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring the cider, water & salt to a boil in a large pot.
- While mix is coming up to a boil, dice apples & chop almonds.
- When mix comes to a boil, add oats & stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken, then lower the heat & simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While mix is simmering, make topping by mixing all topping ingredients by hand until crumbly.
- After 20 minutes, turn off heat on oats (they should still be runny) & stir in the toasted almonds, apples, dried fruit, spices & sweetener (brown sugar or maple syrup).
- Put oatmeal in a greased baking dish (or if you made the oats in an ovenproof pot, like a le crueset, you can leave them in the pot), and place topping evenly over the top.
- Bake oatmeal for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown.
Cake Studio Update
Posted by: Jen on: January 20, 2010
Although exceedingly slow, there has been some progress with the construction of the now infamous cake studio. As proof, here is a photo I took on a recent visit. Yup, that’s my very expensive hood waiting to be put up, with framing for drywall behind it.
I never thought I would love little yellow pieces of paper so much in my life. The paper in the foreground as you can see is the electrical inspection approval & the paper in the background is the LONG awaited construction permit. I’m happy to report that my new electrical service is up & running! Now my electrician is just waiting on the general contractor, who is waiting on the architect, who are both waiting on additional money from me.
As much as I love yellow pieces of paper … I despise orange. This one tiny little post-it sized paper has cost me almost $1,500 more in changes & another delay in construction.
The parallel I’ve been making, that this cake studio is very much like my child is oddly coming to fruition it seems. The whole process really started in June, and here we are in the middle of January progressing SLOWLY to an end. If I’m not in there by the end of February I think some nice men in white suits may be coming for me with a nice straight jacket.
Mostly Vegetarian for 2010
Posted by: Jen on: January 6, 2010
After watching Food Inc. & reading a few of Michael Pollan’s books last year, I decided I couldn’t support the meat industry in this country, and have opted to go mostly vegetarian for 2010. If you aren’t familiar with the movie or Michael Pollan, I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with both, if you are at all concerned about what you & your family are eating. And if somehow you are still eating fast food, please, please read Fast Food Nation. I’ve never walked into a Golden Arches since I read that book. As a little more scary fodder, check out this link.
So far, I am happy to say that it hasn’t been that difficult for me to eat vegetarian, since I ate that way 70% of the time anyways. However, with one of my best friend’s birthday celebrations coming up, and a bundle of restaurant dinners planned, I realized that it may not be completely possible to eat vegetarian all the time (especially since I can’t eat tofu, since I have a soy allergy). Oh yeah, and there’s also the fact that my husband is a phenom with BBQ … and if I turn down birthday brisket, let’s just say it won’t be pretty. Soooo, with that said, here’s my plan for 2010.
1. Eat mostly vegetarian (upping that 70% to 90%+).
2. If vegetarian eating at restaurants leaves only sides or no options (so sad nowadays, but it does happen), I will chose a sustainable seafood.
3. For rare occasions when I will do eat meat, I will make sure that it comes from an organic, local farm & has been processed by a small (preferably organic), family owned processor. In addition, I prefer that my beef be 100% grass-fed beef (no corn & misc. filler for the cows please!), since that’s what cows are meant to eat.
4. Steer clear of packaged foods with more than 4 ingredients in them.
5. Cook more.
6. Eat local whenever possible.
Ok, so with that game plan in mind, I thought I’d offer up two recipes that I love & have already made this year. One is vegan, the other vegetarian – hope you enjoy em!
Vegan Coconut Red Lentil Curry (adapted from epicurious.com)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger (or 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered ginger)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons tumeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeno/serrano chile, minced including seeds (if you like it spicy – add as many as you like!)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups dried red lentils (10 oz)
14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
2 medium zucchinis (~1 lb)
1 medium yellow squash (~1/2 lb)
4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 cup frozen green peas
-Cook onion in oil in a 4 qt pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until edges are golden, about 6 minutes.
-Add ginger & garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
-Add cumin, coriander, tumeric, salt, and chile and cook, stirring, 1 minute.-Stir in water, lentils, and coconut milk, then simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
-Stir in zucchini, squash & potatoes and simmer, covered, until all are tender, about 15 minutes.
-Stir in frozen green peas & heat through, about 1 minute.
-Season with salt and serve over rice or with naan bread.
*FYI – this recipe creates wonderful leftovers. I think all curries are best on day 2 or 3 anyways, so if you want a make ahead recipe – this is a keeper!
Fettuccine with Mushroom Cream Sauce (adapted from finecooking.com)
1 lb dried fettuccini
kosher salt
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large shallots, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
1 lb cremini mushrooms, cleaned, and sliced 1/4 thick
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons tawny port (plus more for the chef )
1/2 cup heavy cream (hey, didn’t say this was a diet recipe)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup reserved pasta water (don’t forget this!)
chopped fresh parsley (optional)
grated parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino romano (optional), for serving
-Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions until al dente.
-While pasta is cooking, heat oil & butter in 12″ skillet over medium-high heat & cook shallots 1-2 minutes until just starting to brown.
-Add garlic to shallots and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
-Add mushrooms, 3/4 teaspoon salt and fresh ground pepper (to taste) to garlic & shallot mixture and stir constantly until mushrooms begin to release their liquid, about 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft & lightly browned, about 5 more minutes.
-Add port to skillet to deglaze the pan.
-Add cream & sour cream to pan and bring to simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid reduces to a saucy consistency, about 2 minutes.
-When the pasta is al dente, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Add the pasta and reserved water to the sauce.
-Season to taste with salt & pepper.
-Serve topped with parsley &/or cheese at the table.
*FYI – this pasta reheats best on the stove, over low heat mixed with tongs (and add a little additional heavy cream if needed to rehydrate). We’ve found that if you microwave it, the pasta dries out too much and the sauce tends to separate.
Limbooooooooooo
Posted by: Jen on: November 20, 2009
Yup, I’m still here. Still WAITING. I never considered myself a very patient person, and being at the mercy of so many different parties in order to get MY shop opened is beyond frustrating.
Lemme tell ya, there’s nothing like getting a frantic call from your landlord before you have your first cup of coffee in the morning to bring on a major headache.
I never thought I would be so looking forward to a demolition party … but I really am. We have two small rooms to tear down in my space so that it’ll be empty and ready for my contractors to get to work & with the help of a few friends, we’ll be ripping down some walls & a small ceiling this weekend. Even with paying for a dumpster (a whole other crazy racket), it’s still cheaper doing the demo ourselves than paying someone to do it. Besides, at this point, demo is also cheaper than a therapist.
Symptoms: anger & frustration
Rx: mallet, crowbar, drywall, 2×4’s
On the bright side, I have an awesome general contractor on board, I’m through (I hope) with our completely @!#(^$@#^$%*@# architect & have been keeping busy with a few orders that have been helping pay the bills. While people keep telling me that I am not unemployed, I feel unemployed rather than self-employed a lot of these days. I have NEVER spent this much time without a steady stream of income since I started working in high school. Needless to say, once I am actually in my space – it WILL happen – I’ll be doing a HUGE marketing push and a little praying that living through this pre-construction, pre-built phase will be all worth it in the end!
Gains … & losses.
Posted by: Jen on: September 17, 2009
I’m happy to report that there’s been a few steps forward in the road to getting the new Sweet Studio up & running 
Last week I finally got to submit my architectural plans to the town building & health departments!!! I know it seems like a very *tiny* step, but it was definitely an expensive step to get to! Now the plans sit in their hands for at least 21 more days (they have a total of 30 days to review) and hopefully I’ll get their approval to move forward with construction. In the interim, I’ve been meeting with contractors to view the space and get some estimates written up to see exactly how much the build out is going to cost.
So far I’ve met with two general contractors & one electrician, and already one GC had to back out because he has a conflicting job. *Sigh*. Two early morning meetings – for naught. Hopefully I’ll have everyone lined up for work when I’m given the go ahead from the town.
If only building a sweets studio was as easy as building cake…
On that note … gotta get back to work on tmw’s cake!
Delays
Posted by: Jen on: August 24, 2009
Alright, I’ll admit … I’ve been in a SERIOUS funk lately. I’ve seen enough “building a restaurant” shows and read enough horror stories to know that the building of my cake studio would require a lot of patience & I had as much of a chance of winning the lottery as I did having everything go smoothly and ON TIME. However, knowing what to expect and living it are two very different things.
At the end of July, I was supposed to have my architectural drawings done to submit to the building & health departments (who then has a month to review them), and as the end of August quickly approaches – I still don’t have them. The last email from my architect says I should have them by the end of this week or early next week (*SEPTEMBER people!!!!*). So let’s see … I’m already a month behind and I haven’t even gotten to the fun part of construction yet, where I thought all my delays would happen.
In the interim, I’m hesitant to really plan a big marketing push for the fall market, because who knows when the studio will actually be open and ready to go. My personal guess is sometime in January 2010, although in my heart of hearts I really want it to be November 2009. I really don’t want to be majorly putting myself out there when I am still working in a very small environment & don’t have the capacity to take a slew of orders.
I’ve tried to be productive & stay positive through these early delays, but it’s increasingly difficult when your entire life is kind of ON HOLD waiting for this cake studio to be born. At least expectant moms know that they have a MAXIMUM of nine months before their kid is here. Sigh. (Total side-bar: Although, like expectant moms, I do find myself knitting like CRAZY to stay calm & not totally lose it – and NO, I do not knit cake ;p Let’s just say that my entire family & lots of friends will be warm this winter!)
I’m already behind on my goal of one cake a week until the studio opens … but I’m hoping to catch up in the next few weeks. I have a paid order for this coming Saturday, and I’m hoping that being in the kitchen will help me stay out of the funkitude. Maybe, I’ll even be inspired to squeeze in the two cake designs that I should have made in the last two weeks.
It’s a weird see-saw effect when it comes to the equation of making cakes for me … it’s goes a little like this:
1. Funkitude b/c of studio delays = avoid the kitchen & anything cake related as it is a reminder of how I need more SPACE!
2. Being in the kitchen & making cake (& or other savory food or sweets) = funkitude disappears & clients/friends/husband/me get to eat the rewards
I think I’ll be taking the kitchen path this week …
Construction Paperwork
Posted by: Jen on: August 6, 2009
It’s official … I had my first official breakdown today. I had a sneaking suspicion that the waiting & the pre-construction phase would be the hardest on me … and I was right. The architectural & mechanical drawings that were supposed to be completed at the end of last month STILL aren’t done & I’m just now realizing that I’m going to need to find a G.C. before I submit these drawings (whenever I do get them) to the town building department because I need to submit the construction permit application with them, which requires a lot of information I won’t have until I know who my G.C. is going to be. GAH!!!!
Initially I thought it might be the best (& most economical route) to act as my own G.C., but after speaking with Jay, I’m beginning to see that I might be better off hiring someone to schedule all the tradespeople (plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc.).
At least I have partially updated drawings from our architect & engineer to review with Jay tonight. Maybe if I understand exactly what is going on in the space I’ll feel better. This total lack of control & lack of knowledge is making me lose my sanity.
Tomorrow, after cupcake baking (something that truly brings me peace), I shall deal with the daunting task of trying to find a general contractor I can trust that won’t cost me a gazillion dollars to build out this teeny tiny cake studio. I feel like I’m picking a needle out of a haystack blindfolded. Biggest factor in selection = trust. Second biggest factor = price.
Knitting Catch-Up
Posted by: Jen on: August 5, 2009
Whew. It’s been a long time since I can actually say that I’ve had this much time on my hands. So, what better way to fill some of it than catch up on some much (sadly) neglected knitting projects!!!
As I was updating my ravelry projects, I realized that I had never posted a number of prior knitting projects on here on my blog …. so without further ado, here they are!
Here’s a hoodie scarf (aka Grown Up Bonnet from Knit 2 Together) that I made & gifted to my mom (*gasp*) for Christmas 2007!!! Geez. Guess knitting took a back burner once I started working in the agency world. The hoodie scarf was made out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a lush black color.
Here’s my mom in the purple Solaris sweater that I made for her for the very same 2007 Christmas, posing with her mom. This was officially her birthday present, since her birthday is on Christmas Day! The hoodie scarf was a part of her Christmas present. The sweater was knit in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino instead of the suede called for in the pattern.
Here’s another view of mom in the sweater flanked by her god-daughter (my cousin) Kim & her older sister Candy.
Yup, that’s me modelling the grey Pimlico shrug from Knit 2 Together that I loving re-named the grey “Jersey” shrug after our beautiful Jersey who passed as I was halfway through this project. It took a long time for me to pick it up after she passed, but finishing it was very theraputic. I made a few modifications to the pattern, none of which I quite remember now – but overall, I “shrank” the pattern a bit in order for it to be a little more snug, since I recalled reading that many people who had made this pattern before complained that it turned out rather large. I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a very light “Jersey” grey to knit this up.
Here’s a few more shots:
