Hey Big Spender

So what comes after the first big business meeting? The first big supply shopping trip, of course!

After dealing with a bad cold and a grueling week of work, I'm still working my way through How to Open a Financially Successful Bakery. Nicole on the other hand spent the week researching low-fat baking and healthier ingredient alternatives. When we met up yesterday night for the big spree, she was sounding more like a chemist than a future baker.
"Now what does that do?" I asked as she plucked a tiny box of arrowroot from a huge rack of spices in Chef Central. "Wow, you really didn't do your research," she scolded me. "Arrowroot is a leavener."

"Well, what's that?" I asked. She ignored me.

Some half-assed Google research of my own says that arrowroot is a thickener, which I don't think is the same as a leavener. But I'll debate this with her tomorrow...

This first stop was mainly to pick up some essentials, including a re-usable pastry bag:

And a whisk:
You can't really see it too well, but that little guy had a cute chicky as the handle.

I tried to act as the voice of reason as best I could, but it was hard for even me to ignore the adorable accessories that they had for sale in the cupcake section:

We did manage to get outta there pretty much unscathed. Nicole might beg to differ:
Then came the fun part of the evening...WHOLE FOODS!!!!!!!
Let me just say, we didn't want to leave. The store has a great energy, with an extremely knowledgeable staff, and, get ready for this...a sugar and salt bar!
From raspberry to cinnamon to green chili sugar, the aromas were intoxicating. Then we turned the corner to find a nuts station where you can grind your own butters. I tried the almond and to quote Alka Seltzer, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."

We bought a variety of flours and some LEAVENING and sweetener replacements, as well as some alternative thickening agents. All of which are going to help us make our cuppies not a random indulgence, but rather a diet staple. Core competence baby, core competence!

Skinnie Minnie will cater to those who want a healthy, lower-calorie baked good, but don't need it to be wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, or most importantly, taste-free.

Trials begin tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Eat our crumbs!

~AnnMarie

Onward!

So I've got a few of my creative geniuses working on logos for our soon to be launched "minnie" site...hehehe:)....

And I'm excited by what I see so far!

I'm thinking it should be up and running by the first week of April or shortly thereafter. Then we can most-likely go ahead with our trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I could file an "intent-to-use" app before then, but we'd have to file ANOTHER application after that once the name finally is officially being used in commerce. And at 325 bucks a pop, I think it's wise to hold off. I'm consulting with one of my trademark experts on that one.

So our business meeting ended with Nicole and I sitting on the floor of Barnes & Noble scouring a variety of low-fat cook and baking books. We purchased a few, as well as this book:

How to Open a Financially Successful Bakery, by Sharon L. Fullen and Douglas R. Brown. So Nicole got to take the fun books (the cookbooks) and has been having a ball researching and brainstorming on combinations of a variety of ingredients from alternative oils to flours to flavors and I got to take THAT one. And have been watching my blood pressure creep higher and higher as I read about loans and business plans and "demographic research."

But we haven't been discouraged so far! We're ready to dive head first into the baking experimenting (which should result in a few fights and a few extra pounds) as we need to get our healthier recipes and menus down pat, first and foremost, with the appropriate healthier alternatives. That's a big fat DUH.

We'll be making a visit to Chef Central on Friday night to get the first round of bakeware and ingredients for lab on Saturday. The lab being my mother's kitchen.

We'll also be signing up for a few baking courses at the Institute of Culinary Education come next month, when they post new courses finally.

~AnnMarie