Corn chowder recipe coming this week. My Chicago family is going to truly appreciate this homey and satisfying recipe with all the snow we are due for [...]]]>

I found the cutest little vegan website. I love their simple and easy recipes and their cute little drawings. Please go visit them. The Vegan Stoner

Corn chowder recipe coming this week. My Chicago family is going to truly appreciate this homey and satisfying recipe with all the snow we are due for this week!

Love.

It seems a simple enough sentence to finish, but, of course, I had to make it complicated.  The complication, however, is a good one.  Instead of ‘a’ winner, we have two winners.  The original winner was to be chosen by a random number generator.  So, after the close of the giveaway, my wife [...]]]>

It seems a simple enough sentence to finish, but, of course, I had to make it complicated.  The complication, however, is a good one.  Instead of ‘a’ winner, we have two winners.  The original winner was to be chosen by a random number generator.  So, after the close of the giveaway, my wife ran the number of comments in an online random number generator and produced number 17.  So commenter number 17, Emily, is the winner.

Not so fast.  Since I had not communicated with my wife yet, I also used my online number generator – Twitter.  I posted I needed a number.  I received several replies, but only one duplicate number.  That was 18.  So, my random number generated winner is commenter number 18, Andrew.

So, Emily and Andrew, you lucked up and are both winners for the 5 cheese giveaway.  Thanks for commenting and enjoy the cheese. For me, I’ll be working on my matrimonial communication skills.

Let’s start with these. The shelf life of our vegan cheeses is 3 weeks. I have been thinking about how to extend this. We currently sell our product in plastic containers and I have been thinking about vacuum sealing for a while. I want to keep the oval shape of the cheese, but [...]]]>

Let’s start with these. The shelf life of our vegan cheeses is 3 weeks. I have been thinking about how to extend this. We currently sell our product in plastic containers and I have been thinking about vacuum sealing for a while. I want to keep the oval shape of the cheese, but how to get a clean edge when vacuum sealed? And, I would want to find some kind of eco-friendly wrap. I haven’t found a green vacuum bag yet.

So, if I do vacuum seal, what would I get? Another 3 weeks or so. Our product is produced fresh weekly, so I don’t know if that “freshness” would last 6 weeks no mater how tightly sealed.

Do I go for freshness or shelf longevity?

Either way, I definitely am changing the packaging. So I have to keep meditating on that aspect as well.

Let’s eat some vegan goodness and think

Sounds good to you, huh?

Yesterday was the VeganMania event in Chicago. It was a great cap to a very busy week. After months of delaying our company’s growth with my “I’m taking it slow” mantra, the time has arrived to expand. Gearing up for the VeganMania event has revealed that Ste Martaen can handle a dramatic increase [...]]]>

Yesterday was the VeganMania event in Chicago. It was a great cap to a very busy week. After months of delaying our company’s growth with my “I’m taking it slow” mantra, the time has arrived to expand. Gearing up for the VeganMania event has revealed that Ste Martaen can handle a dramatic increase in business. This week alone, we produced over 250 pounds of vegan cheese. And we did all this without breaking a sweat!!

The last month has been kind of crazy, full of hurdles. We successfully cleared all but one…getting our business cards shipped to us before the VeganMania festival. However, dealing with things has energized me out of my not-quite-ready-for-primetime stance. One of our major issues was a monkey wrench thrown at our packaging. We have been using an oval shaped container for our 1/2 lb. retail cheese. We loved these containers from first sight. For some reason I have an oval fetish when is comes to logos and containers, so naturally it seemed a perfect fit for our cheese line. The packaging stands out from other cheese producers and provides a sturdy casing for our product when transported or shipped. So a month ago, we go to restock on our packaging and our supplier is sold out with no plans of getting more!!! Now I was floored. We are nearly out of stock and the festival is coming soon. I start calling around. Come to find out, the packaging is manufactured in Holland and they stopped shipping to the US because of the cost. Great, little-ole start-up Ste Martaen gets bit by the Economic Recession beast.
Now what!? Well, we eventually are going to vacuum seal our products, so why not start now.

I have a few reasons why…but mainly, it is going to be too costly and timely to start that process now. We tried it, at you can see, but the look is sloppy using low grade equipment. So, I send an email to Holland asking how much it is going to cost us to get some packaging shipped. The response…$1,300!!! That is just for shipping a couple of cases. Well, I guess that’s not going to happen. But, they did send a follow up email, giving us a contact in Ohio who may be able to help us. The contact said that several people in the US have been requesting the packaging same as us, so he is putting a shipment together. This shipment wouldn’t arrive in the US for another month or two however.
Back to the drawing board again. Searching online; no similar containers. Calling custom manufacturers; they can do it if I order 10,000+ units…uhh, no. With a week and a half left before VeganMania, our last effort was to go back to our supply store and see what we can purchase to get us through the event. Guess what? Yup, they had 4 cases of our packaging mysteriously appear on their shelves. Of course, we bought all them. It must have been all the positive Vegan energy permeating Chicago that caused these to appear. Thanks, VeganManiacs!!

The event yesterday, I would label a great success. We produced twice as much than we sold and lost some money. However, we introduced our cheeses to a ton of new people and we made some great contacts. This last week we got our labels finalized, marketing material, business cards and updates to our website. Most importantly, we now feel confident we are ready to increase our production. From our first sale to now has been exciting and we look forward to the next stage of our growth.

Yes, yes he is back to normal. The swelling of his eye went down approximately 48 hours after surgery. Why it took approximately 48 days to share that tidbit of information is all my daughter’s fault. Blame it on the infant. Anyway, I made some spinach pesto the other night and when the [...]]]>

Yes, yes he is back to normal. The swelling of his eye went down approximately 48 hours after surgery. Why it took approximately 48 days to share that tidbit of information is all my daughter’s fault. Blame it on the infant. Anyway, I made some spinach pesto the other night and when the little one awoke from his nap, he was ravenous. Have you ever seen a toddler ignore bread with such gusto?

A major milestone was reached yesterday.  My baby younger sister Azania  turned 30.  July is a very interesting month for me because all three of my biological sisters are born in the month of July and I stand alone in the month of August.  My other sister Emily turns 21 this month and [...]]]>

A major milestone was reached yesterday.  My baby younger sister Azania  turned 30.  July is a very interesting month for me because all three of my biological sisters are born in the month of July and I stand alone in the month of August.  My other sister Emily turns 21 this month and that is yet another milestone among birthdays. 

Anyway, my sister had a wonderful surprise party yesterday with friends and family in attendance.  I wasn’t in attendance for obvious reasons and my mother well she has become a slave.  She’ll deny it, but these days I have to drag her away so she can enjoy life.

My sister had a marvelous time and she will never ever forget this birthday.  She even got to wear a couture dress!  Her boyfriend and best-friend planned the soiree and she told me this morning that her day was just perfect!

I’m not a middle child, so I have less of a hankering than my middle sister to be the center of attention.  When we were growing up, I never imagined that we could be such good friends, and that we would need each other so much, that we would call each other every other day or every day or every hour if need be or that I would cry when she surprised me at my wedding. 

There were many days I wanted to push her down the stairs, ring her neck.  As little sisters go, she was probably on the naughty list for a very long time.  She wore my clothes without asking, she purposely embarrassed me in front of my boyfriends, she was a tattletale, a showoff, a knowitall a busybody!  That was the shortlist!  As a woman, she is strong, resilient, talented, intelligent, opinionated, beautiful and intuitive.

Angola, our baby sister was in on the surprise and made her amazing lasagna.  People talk about her lasagna for days!  Angola celebrated her birthday on the 5th and as a single mom, she is most like our mother.  She is finding her way in the world and raising a child all on her own.  Angola wasn’t half as annoying as Azania growing up.  I always had a soft spot for her anyway, she was always my gorgeous chinky eyed scrawny baby sister.  Scrawny no longer and curvy as ever, she is the most giving, sweetest woman you will ever know, did I mention that she is beautiful too!  We all are.  I must say mom, that you did good!

Anyway, my baby sister Emily will turn 21 very shortly and she is the only sister that I don’t know very well.  Unfortunately, my biological father, although he has fathered three children, has only raised two.  To the annoyance of my grandmother (my father’s mother), he has not been very involved in my life, nor has he had me involved in his.  This past May I promised my grandmother that I would reach out to my sister Emily and bring her in to the fold.  We have done OK communicating online, it’s just that yesterday reminded me how swiftly time passes by, so I think I will write my sister a note and invite her to the big city when I make my next trip to NYC.  We’ll see what happens.

Happy Birthday to all of my little sisters!

HE

his kiss is like the [...]]]>

Happy Father’s Day to all those wonderful fathers out there.  As a gift to myself, I am posting my favorite poem that was written by my wife entitled ‘He’.  I absolutely love this poem & I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

HE

his kiss is like the sweetness of bliss if it could be tasted

he makes me fell like each moment spent without him is wasted

our bodies dance completely in tune vibrating underneath half moons

he looks at me in that way “don’t go baby, please stay.”

I didn’t know I could feel this way

so soon after walking away

from a lonely place

I thought I had to stay

until I realized I could not go another day.

Now I wake up to him

his eyes looking at me with such intensity

and in his reflection I see the beauty that used to be me

he touches me so softly, my hair caressed and kissed

and when we part

I am missed

He

is the  one I seek to spend every day and every week with

so how could I not try at least

he might be my destiny

he seeks to bring out the best in me

and when I am naked, he still want t see the rest of me

I am appreciated from my mind to my lips to my face to my toes and my embrace

when I think of him, I smile

he asks me to come on over and stay a while

but it’s not just me that’s stunned

he’s known me for some time now, but still asks “Where did u come from?”

I suprise him at every turn

we twist and moan and speak soft words

we touch and whisper and smile and laugh

we share and stare int the eyes of each other

and wonder what would one do without the other

I want this feeling to last forever

but we must be quite clever

he knows that things aren’t always easy

but he spiritually feeds me

mentally meets me

and physically heeds me

he is sunshine when my day is gray

he makes all doubts fade away

he is solid and stable like the strongest tree

and he neveer lets me go, always holding me

cause he know I need stability

he is honest and silent and strong

his vision is farther than the day is long

he is the one you think about

dream about

can’t do without

he is the reality, never the fantasy, because I have tasted him and it’s not a dream

it’s better thant it seems

I must confess, no words can express the wholeness of

He

who is he?

friend. lover. father. husband.

he is

my reflection. my connection. my protection.

he is

the object of my affection

it is HE

Ever since we did a tasting for the Chicago Vegan Meetup, things have been moving quickly. Our website was barely set up + ordering and shipping = forgetaboutit! All in stride! This all adds to our charm of course. Doesn’t it? Anyway, I am overwhelmed at [...]]]>

Boca Burger with our Pepper Jack Cheese

Ever since we did a tasting for the Chicago Vegan Meetup, things have been moving quickly. Our website was barely set up + ordering and shipping = forgetaboutit! All in stride! This all adds to our charm of course. Doesn’t it? Anyway, I am overwhelmed at how positively, things are moving! We met up with the ultra kewl peeps from delicious cafe. They were not bothered by the fact that we showed up to a business meeting with four kids in tow. They loved our cheeses and meeting with them was so positive that when we stepped outside to our car and the meter man was writing us a ticket, we didn’t get upset. We said more to each other than to the meter man, “I guess it’s too late.” He exclaimed that it wasn’t, stopped writing us a ticket and moved on. Awesome!

Right now, we are setting up meetings and gearing up for production to go into the stores. We get the proofs back tomorrow for our labels and soon, very soon, we will be busier than even we can imagine! I am currently searching out another template for our website. I like this one, but it has some encrypted code that I cannot figure out (doh it’s encrypted). Also, at present I can only adjust one of the sidebars, how bonkers is that? So if anyone can suggest a nice clean theme, easily adjustable that I can incorporate my logo into, that would be awesome.

How many times am I going to say awesome? I don’t know, I just know that it is…

I guess vacation time is over…It is the middle of the afternoon and I have finally realized My wife and I have embarked on a venture that requires us to WORK!! I quit/retired/resigned from my last job on my birthday a little over a month [...]]]>

Chili cheese fries...teaser shot, recipe coming soon!

I guess vacation time is over…It is the middle of the afternoon and I have finally realized My wife and I have embarked on a venture that requires us to WORK!! I quit/retired/resigned from my last job on my birthday a little over a month ago. At that time I had a vision of what I wanted to do, but that was it. I didn’t have a plan, a financial budget…in fact, I don’t have a clue as to what the hell I was doing. All I knew was my current job was unfulfilling and I wanted to create something on my own again. I am one of those forsaken souls blessed with the excruciating desire to be an entrepreneur. So what do I do…I resigned from my job (I really quit with two weeks notice, but resigned sounds so much better) and said honey, let’s start a business. Why not be presumptuous and spontaneous. Let’s see – we don’t have a lot of savings; we are behind on our rent; our car is barely making it; we just had a baby; we are home schooling our two elementary aged children; we have a high energy toddler; you just got laid off from your job – Hell, it’s a perfect time to start a business in an arena we know nothing about. All I know is that we love each other and have perfect faith in each other. Perfect ingredients to start a successful business, right?

So I spent the last month meditating, cooking great vegan food and tweaking our cheese formulas. The final results, I must say are spectacular and very tasty – on all levels. However, starting a business is a lot of work and I have been chilling more than working over the past month. Well, it’s time to wake up and I am happy to say I am awake. My wife is doing her best to get this website together. There are still some issues, which I am sure some of you have noticed. As they say in the real world…”Excuse our dust as we remodel our store.” She has the hard job, because everything she does is out there for everyone to see. Me on the other hand, I can mess up all I want and none of you will know. Isn’t life grand? I get us into this mess and she gets all the up front blame. That’s how marriage is supposed to be…Husbands are idiots and wives have to clean up behind them. I love you baby, you’re doing great!

Okay, it’s viral.  I got e-mails coming left and right.  Not only am I the photographer, I am the blogger, the homeschooler, the coder (not very good might I add), the mommy, the wife and business partner.  This company is the brainchild of my [...]]]>

Roasted red pepper and pepper jack cheese panini bliss!

Okay, it’s viral.  I got e-mails coming left and right.  Not only am I the photographer, I am the blogger, the homeschooler, the coder (not very good might I add), the mommy, the wife and business partner.  This company is the brainchild of my wonderful husband.  We are running this business together and today I am a little frightened and overwhelmed.  Frightened because I love this theme, I am just finding it harder than I thought to tweak the code for this theme.

To do list for the day:

• Give final approval for the cheese labels.
• Get logo up on the website so we look like professionals (instead of parents homeschooling 4 kids crazy enough to run a business from home while homeschooling)!
• Get PayPal buttons up on the site (we are in business aren’t we?)
• Respond to every single e-mail of everyone who wants a piece of our fabulous cheese
• Post pictures from our homegrown photoshoot of our cheese (photographing food is harder than I thought)!

I can do it!