Mountain Musings

4 weeks down...

The first month of market has wrapped up, and Hannah and I are starting to get into a routine as the weeks go by. And they are passing fast! When almost every day has some sort of market prep planned, they fly by with Saturdays coming again very soon. :)

Last Saturday was our first experience with rain, and while it wasn't terrible, it's not something we really care to experience again! I always am keeping a close eye on the forecast, trying to make a decision on whether to start my baking on Friday or not. This week it's calling for a 40% chance of scattered t-storms....hmmm.

Today was supposed to be lower humidity than other days this week, so it was fudge making day! The candies can be made earlier than Friday, which helps out alot with my time in the kitchen. Butter Pecan (on the right) was a new recipe tested today, and I was pleased with how it turned out. Cleaning up my mess after fudge is always a yummy job. Anybody want to help me? :)

~Sarah

Sunday Scripture

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:  I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;  and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

~Genesis 9:12-17

Preparing for Market: Part 2

The second in the series is here! Since my first post, much has been done, although there is still much to do.

My mini refrigerator arrived, and I was very excited - until Mom pointed out the dent in the side. Ahhhh! After going through the rigamarole of reporting the damage, returning it, and reordering, I now have a non-dented refrigerator ready to go. It's big enough to fit 2 pies and at least 16 cheesecake slices, and it hopefully will be able to keep everything cold enough through the summer. 

Hannah and I also set up the tent and tables out on the back deck and figured out how everything would be set up and displayed. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of that whole process. Oh well.

With scraps left over from my apron and some from the scrap bag, I finished a quick little placemat/runner for my side of the table.

The majority of my week, though, has been spent on
the computer pricing my products. First I had to go through each recipe and figure out the ingredient and packaging costs, then I plugged that figure and other costs into my Excel spreadsheet that Dad so kindly set up for me. I'm almost done with that so I can set my final price for each product.

Stay tuned for next week's happenings!

~Sarah

Top O' the Mornin'!

Edited to add the correct answers to the questions:

Dad's mom's maiden name was O'Connor, and her relatives came over from County Cork. So y'all picked the right place, but had trouble with the name. :) I also have other Irish ancestors - Dad's other side of the family (which I'm not sure what the name was or where in Ireland they came from...fill me in, Aunt Toots, if you know!) as well as in Mom's background. She had a great-grandmother named Virginia McSherry who came over with part of her family because of the Irish potato famine.

Three cheers for Ireland!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Around the Mountain Musings household, we're celebrating our Irish roots today! A few years ago on the blog, we posted about the story of the real St. Patrick, so go on over there to read more about him.

There's Irish music playing, the table is set with green checked placemats, the green shamrock plant is the centerpiece, there's a green key lime pie in the freezer for supper, and of COURSE - I'm wearing a green shirt and my new St. Patrick's Day socks. :)

Just as a fun little exercise, I have created a couple of polls here for all of our readers to guess where our Irish ancestors lived in the old country and what Dad's mom's maiden name was. :)

  

~Sarah

Preparing for Market: Part 1

This past month has been a busy time around the Girotti house! Hannah and I have been accepted into the local farmers' market for the upcoming season. There is much preparation to be done before the start date of April 7.

One of my first tasks was to research and order packaging supplies at a good price. Large boxes have been delivered, unpacked, and stacked on our ping-pong table. You can get a little glimpse below of some of the cake boxes, cake boards, fudge containers, pie plates, pie wedge containers, and muffin liners that are all ready to go. I think I'm all set in that department for awhile now! :)

Hannah and I are splitting a booth, with her half being soaps, and my half being baked goods and candy. We want to try to set each half apart, so it will be obvious that there are two different businesses. My business cards are black and pink with some gold swirls, so I want to go with that color theme in my whole presentation - the table, the product packaging, and the way I'm dressed. I decided to make myself an apron to wear that would bring in those colors. A quick trip to Wal-Mart for the main fabric and bias binding, and I was ready to go.

 

I used a pattern that was bought at a yard sale and added a cupcake applique to the center to emphasize the sweets aspect. My scraps from past quilting classes came in handy for that - they even had swirls! A flower and leaves replaced the cherry in the applique pattern.

There's lots more to do - setting pricing, figuring out the table layout, receiving more orders, testing recipes, planning what to bring the first day, and of course...the actual baking every Friday. :)

More updates to come over the next month!

~Sarah

Recipe Organization

A few months ago, I was looking through our recipe box. It was pretty hard to find the different sections because our divider cards had just about had it. The tabs on top were torn off or almost unreadable.

 

Finally, I said to myself, "Self, why have we put up with this for months? How ridiculous....just make new ones already!" Out came the cardstock, paper cutter and contact paper, and this time I made sure to reinforce the tab part that we would be grabbing a lot.

Notice that I tried to match the color of the divider to the category. At least in my mind they kinda do. :) Now we have to figure out what to do with all the recipes that we've printed out from the computer. Those are building up in the back of the box, and we need to put them in a binder or something. But then would that be able to stay on the counter with the rest of the recipes? Dilemmas, dilemmas.

How does everyone else organize their recipes? Do you have a box? Just cookbooks? Discuss. :)

~Sarah

Whistle While You Work

Yesterday was such a beautiful day here! Sunny, breezy, and in the mid 60s - not your typical January weather in Virginia. I took advantage of it, opened the windows to get some fresh air, and scrubbed the kitchen floor. Naturally, I also put on a CD to sing and whistle along with to make the work go faster. :)

It just so happens that I have gotten into a tradition of always playing a John Marshall Family CD while I scrub. I'd Do It All Again, Just For A Moment, and Peace are the three that we have.

I have gotten attached to the Mulfinger CDs when we're taking down all the Christmas decorations and cleaning up from the holidays, and Adagio Trio CDs when we're getting ready for company. Now when I hear that music, it instantly brings those occasions to mind. :)

Does anyone else have favorite music to work to?

~Sarah

The Great Christmas Light Debate

Every year in the Girotti household, there arises the annual debate over which color of Christmas lights is the best. We have some members who have the nerve to call multi-colored lights TACKY and GAUDY! Can you believe that? Of course, all sane people know that colorful lights are the perfect, cheerful, Christmas-y choice. :) So, I'm bringing the question to you in the poll below - choose well. (The poll may take a minute to load.)

Edit: Well, at the moment, multi-colored is winning by one vote - 32 to 31 with 2 votes for other! I can't really officially close the poll, so I'll leave it up for now, but I think we'll say that the best option is the official winner. :) Heheh.

~Sarah

Wordless Wednesday

~Sarah

Happy Birthday, Pepper!

Today Pepper turns 13 years old! It hardly seems that long since I first opened the Christmas card telling me that I was getting an English Springer Spaniel puppy. It was so exciting - I had been begging for a dog for so long! Our family had fun brainstorming ideas for names as we drove home after Christmas. Noel, Buttons, Oreo, and Pepper were on the final list. I'm glad Pepper was the winner, aren't you? :)

That winter there was an ice storm that caused many power outages, and the breeder called and wanted us to pick up Pepper early since there was no heat at her house. My puppy was soooo tiny, and she trembled and howled all the way home. Awww. She got used to us fast though.

Look at that picture of my young 12-year-old self! That was our first attempt at playing Frisbee outside - it was almost as big as she was! Nowadays, she prefers fetching rocks when playing outside, but most days she snoozes away on her blanket. Pepper is almost completely deaf now, and she's slowing down since those first puppy days. The vet just said this year, "At this point, consider every year a bonus." *tear*

I sure have enjoyed my dog these past 13 years!

 

Happy Birthday, Pepper!

~Sarah