Phaedra's Journal - Eat, Play, Live

[Mini Horses]

Sampling sells!

Your shop is new, make flyers and take samples to local offices. Post flyers in bulletin boards at other businesses...groc stores, churches, etc.

Get your product shown & known. . The tryers will talk to others.

 

[Phaedra]

A whole new day

The new daily routine is to make two cake rolls - today's rolls are earl grey tea and coffee flavor.

Earl Grey Tea - I'm impresse that the tea flavor is stronger than I thought.

As earl grey tea has a citrus tone, I added fresh orange as filling and orange dark chocolate ganache on the top.

The coffee one is with some crisp apple and 90% dark chocolate in the filling, together with whipped cream, and candied pecans on the top.

I love how the coffee roll looks like, low profile but elegant.

One of the customers today is a young couple. They came with their one-year old girl, who kept smiling at me, so cute. I am so happy to have a nice and long chat with them. They are also happy to find a small shop where they can get good coffee, good food, and enjoy some chitchats - which is not easy to have in normal shops nowadays.

As they are not in a rush, I can even grind the coffee beans and made a pour over for them. They got two coffee, two pigs-in-the-blankets, one piece of cake roll, and one tart - and left something in the guest book! Oh, I love this old-fashioned way so much.

They told me that they enjoyed both coffee and food - this makes my day.

The journey just begins, and I'm not in a hurry. I would like to keep learning, meeting more interesting people, and enjoy the process.

 

[flowerbug]

i would be a cake roll, as in big belly roll full of cake trying to get in and out of the door. i would enjoy trying one of each of what you make and chatting.

 

[Phaedra]

i would be a cake roll, as in big belly roll full of cake trying to get in and out of the door. i would enjoy trying one of each of what you make and chatting.

I wish I can beam some lovely food to you now.

 

[Phaedra]

The soft-open week is over, and it's quite different life from what I was used to for a while. Although the shop only opens during 12am to 6pm, the preparation takes time, too. So, suddenly, I didn't have so much time 'playing' in the garden.

Well, different chapters, different stories. I kept my practices on certain baking goods like cake rolls, cheesecakes and bread buns. I can see my improvements compared with those trials done in the winter months. Besides, I keep improving the workflow and ensure things can be done with less time and unnecessary steps.

I love cake rolls - the batter is simple, and I love to use fresh fruits and some whipped cream. There are just countless combinations.

I also have intensive practices on bread buns - most of the time, two varieties daily.

Savory one - cheese, sausage, and sea salt flake

Sweet one - dark chocolate and ram raisins

Many things are happening. For example, we will have a one-page interview (free of charge) in the next town's monthly magazine. Someone from the Municipal Office and someone from the tourist center will visit my shop this Friday for the interview.

In the meantime, we are providing some free samples (and flyers) to the police station, vet, and firefighter station, and we will do the same for the hospital.

It's an advanture, for sure. Without the shop, we won't meet those customers.

Ah, and we really need to order some signs to lead people find the way to the shop.

 

[flowerbug]

I wish I can beam some lovely food to you now.

if only you were named Scotty! it's ok. i'm in no danger of starving.

i hope your first week went well?

 

[tortoise]

Your cake rolls are beautiful! I'm amazed at the flavors you make! I make a cake roll for Yule. It's very satisfying to make. One of the few fancy things I can do. But I only know how to make chocolate flavor.

 

[RoseTeas]

Hi, I would like to open a thread here and share our days in a small town in Germany.

I used to post with photos (in both TEG and BYC) but didn't really know if it was proper. English is my second language - enough for communication but far away from a native speaker. So, allow me to use a bit more photos from time to time, and I admit that some of my wording might be funny.

I love improvised home cooking, planting, music, learning, and reading. Currently, I am a freelancer and take on projects from the manufacturing industry. As I work from home, we have hens, quails, cats, and dogs after buying the house in 2018.

For me, "Self-sufficiency" is a lovely concept that covers physical and mental aspects. It's a process of getting balance under different stages/circumstances of life and level of maturity. It's an interesting and meaningful lifestyle, too.

Nice to be here and have the chance to become one of your neighbors on the internet.

I made a simple pumpkin stew today, no recipe as usual - beef short ribs, a few plum tomatoes, a homegrown kabocha pumpkin, water, and salt. It's satisfying and can be presented in fully different ways - I love both.

After the first stage of cooking, a natural, tasty, and fresh meal (our lunch)
View attachment 21463
After it's done - more delicate and complete (part of our dinner)
View attachment 21464

I'm re-learning to cook. At 65 finding old ways not as beautiful or nutritious as yours!

 

[akroberts]

@ Phaedra, I am so happy for you. Congratulations on your new cafe. I have been purchasing different products for baking. I'm not a baker so I have decided that through your pictures and words I will start trying to bake more goods for the family. Thank you so much for being such an amazing person.