Blue Steel... No, Magnum

Whole Foods had asked us to take a picture for their "Local Producers" display. Of course, we had fun with it!

1. "Are you kidding?I've been working on Magnum for the past 7 years, it's nowhere close to being ready!"

2. Masltov! So glad to be here in Amerika. Look at my vares!

3. I think this is the final version which will end up on the sign. I think I look slightly threatening...Oh well, let my competition shake in their boots.

Pictures from San Francisco

here is a selection of pictures we've taken while in San Francisco-enjoy!

When in SF, it is Das family tradition to survive on fortune cookies from SF Fortune Cookie factory. We buy bagfull and crunch our way through our visit!

Chinatown at night- that's where we hang out (again, because of the great proximity to food). We avoid the main touristy drag and head for Stockton st. By the way, at 9pm everything is absolutely deserted there and it's hard to believe that by day Stockton is so full of bustle and life. if you are hoping to grab a bite after 9pm- good luck!

Here is the yummy roast duck soup in New Moon (cafe?) on Stockton and Broadway- the duck and the broth were so delicous.

Dhruba has opted for a rice soup- not as gorgeous, but very tasty nonetheless. We found out that this New Moon place was good from other chow lovers on Chowhound.com

Muir Woods- heiress and myself- awed by magesty of giants around us

Palace of Fine Arts- postcard pretty (even better than postcard!)

...Finally- olives that grow outside one of the wineries in Dry Creek Valley.

I left my heart in San Francisco! - day 3

Day 3
So here we are heading to the beautiful Dry Creek Valley, armed with the following
Map of the Dry Creek Valley that has bee downloaded from http://www.wdcv.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=3
Our excitement and enthusiasm for wine tasting
Wisdom of all of the Chowhounds who have been to the region and provided the scoop on what’s good and where.
What we did not realize was the following
All of the wines were ridiculously over priced. I want to clarify something here: I am not a cheap skate. I will gladly pay if I believe that the product is worth it. Drinking and appreciating wine is an important part of my life. It is perhaps one of the last shreds of easy lifestyle I enjoyed for so long. Now it’s gone, but I am desperately holding on to my wine drinking habit (the other remnant of the day is my expensive Wall Street Journal subscription which I won’t give up even if I have to pick up my turkey from the local food pantry).
I sniff, examine the color and enjoy various imaginary fruits and notes. I say “blackberries on the nose”. I even buy wine by the case sometimes. However, paying $40 a bottle for a Zin that is barely passable is beyond me. The way I see the breakdown of this price: $5.00- wine, $35- setting and ambiance that ultimately suckers wine- lovers into buying whatever is put in front of them.
We stopped at the following:
Hawley- actually we did not taste the wine there because we didn’t even have a chance to get to the tasting room. As we were driving up the road, we saw the sign that clearly pointed to the small side street winding up the hill. We almost made that right turn, but something told us that perhaps it’s better to ask 1st. I saw a “native” who stopped to pick up her mail from the mailbox at the cross-roads and hurried to her to ask about the tasting room. She practically attacked me with a long and irritated speech about how sick everyone who lives along this road is of this vineyard. In fact, there is not even a tasting room there and the sign we saw was misleading. Apparently, “many people got hurt on this road” and native occupants don’t want to “be liable for that”. I promised not to drive up that road and hastily retreated. One thing for sure: it is indeed very strange that this woman who lives in such gorgeous surroundings can be so bitter. If I lived there, I would be running through the fields singing the opening song from the “Sounds of Music” all day long.
Our next stop was Quivira vineyard. The wines produced there are agriculturally sustainable and biodynamic. They’re also very pricey and fairly good. I personally am interested only in reds, and don’t like when the person who pours tries to force me into drinking some sort of Chard they happen to push today, which is what happened at Quivira. Most of all, I was sour about the fact that with our new financial situation I can’t buy anything here. Or anywhere, as it turned out. Vineyard after vineyard we went, feeling increasingly sorry for ourselves and for our empty wallets. Rita was also upset that she didn’t get to try any wines and kept pouting in the corner.
Lambert Bridge: did not taste anything because there were too many people waiting their turn and the flight of 5 wines was over $10.
Passalaqua: did not like anything
Dry Creek Vineyard: we tasted several Cabs and Zins. The best one was 2003 Meritage (award-winning Bordeaux blend) Excellent wines, but again, very overpriced. I found the same wines at around $20 at my local Binny’s Beverage Depot.
Needless to say, we left Dry Creek Valley rather earlier than expected. On the way back to SF we stopped at Muir Woods- it was truly the highlight of our trip. Majestic redwood forests made me temporarily forget about our worries and for the 1st time since the beginning of this trip I was able to breathe deeply and enjoy the forest. Awesome!
We also stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts (just 7 minutes away from Muir Woods) and took some great pictures.
For dinner we went to Pakistani-Indian place, called Shalimar on Polk street (between Post and California). The food here is truly one of the best I’ve tried either in India or outside. Check out reviews here http://sfsurvey.com/rd.asp?r=970 They’re BYOB and won’t open the bottle but will gladly provide the cups or glasses, depending on what’s available. I highly recommend everything on the menu, but if you have to choose, try Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Chops, or Palak Paneer. I did not try a lot of vegetarian dishes there, since I know that Pakistani cuisine is really big on meat, so that’s what I usually get in these places. The prices there are amazing (cheap!) and service is great. It is also Zagat rated. My kind of place, overall. We also picked up a bottle of Zin from Mazzocco Vineyard. We visited it earlier that day and were told that their Zins (2005) is only sold through their tasting room and is a steal at $38. The price we paid at Whole Foods was…. $10.99. This just shows the importance of ambiance. The wine was very good, though.

I left my heart in San Francisco! - day 2

Day 2
Morning was rainy and despairingly raw. The wind blew with sadistic force, as if to say “see, no sightseeing for youuuu”. As proper tourists vacationing in a different time zone, we woke up to our internal alarms, which is about 6:30am pst (8:30am cst). Since it was raining we decided to have a lavish breakfast in a nearby American Diner, called Lori’s Diner.

Chowhound did not offer any favorable reviews of this place, but we decided to go anyway, as if reading about disappointment of others wasn’t good enough for us. Sure enough: everything about this place, including sad and creepy Charlie Chaplin impersonator at the door was profoundly disappointing. Tacky ambiance inside (50’s movie stars and cheesy pinball machines), the menu (can you say: fat party?) and the quality of coffee. Once in every few years I decide to once again check out what authentic American diner experience is all about and most of all, remind myself why I hate it so much. Lori’s diner did not fail to fulfill this expectation: yes, I hate American diners. They are horrible and depressing places, sort of like the leprosy shelter for foods that no one wants anymore. Oh, those sad places where the food that is served is not even food: it’s feed, tasteless, and full of stuff that no one should be eating anyway. ( I am making exception here for the great southern Waffle House, however, mainly because I still hold dear memories of our very first drive from Columbus to New Orleans)
Plus any menu offering is guaranteed to leave you in lethargic coma for a while because everything is so full of fat and carbs. Yuk, yuk, yuk.
After breakfast Rita and I headed to SFMOMA: excellent choice it turned out. I was entranced by Joseph Cornell exhibit that is called Navigating the Imagination: check out for yourself here. Each box he has created is a world of wonderment.

The whole experience reminded me of starting into the night sky and thinking that each star represents its own galaxy. Rita loved Take Your Time by Olafur Eliasson: quite interactive and pop-culture-ish (in a good way). My favorite: the multicolored bridge-like structure. As you walk through you see all the beautiful colors (achieved via kaleidoscope type mural). When you turn and look back: all of the tiny pieces of glass are black and faceless. No colors, no joy. That’s how George Bush will be feeling after his presidency is over: all he left behind was a black hole of disappointment and human suffering.
It continued raining until around 4pm and then finally sun peeked through the clouds, but it was too late for sightseeing anyway. Rita insisted on going to the Floating Boat Sushi in Chinatown. I did not know anything about this place, and thought it was silly to eat Sushi in Chinatown anyway, so I abstained from eating and sat there pursing my lips in disapproval. I can be difficult if I want to prove the point and this was one of those times. The whole time, however, I sat there and thought that I wish I could be 16 again and get excited about floating boat sushi. I am just old, and can’t have fun anymore.
The day ended up on somewhat happier note when we found a Zagat-rated Thai place right around Union Square called King of Thai Noodle House. We had the very excellent Roasted Duck and Pad See Ew. We consumed everything back in our room, accompanied by an inexpensive Californian Cab.
Tomorrow we’re off to the Wine country. Our choice of destination: Dry Creek Valley (we’ve been to Napa, Sonoma and Russian Valley already). Dry Creek is known for Zins and Pinot Noirs. I can’t wait!

I left my heart in San Francisco! - day 1

Yes, even a hard working candy maker who is trying to make it is a cold, hard and highly competitive world of confections needs a VACATION! Finally, the three of us decided to take a short vacation and go somewhere exciting (and warm). So we went to San Francisco. I have been here several times and know the city relatively well, but still love coming here and get excited every time as if it was my 1st time here.
We took United flight from Chicago (once again, had some trouble checking in because we bought award tickets and turns out that the reservations agent did not subtract the miles from our account). Then Rita was searched at the gate by an over-zealous airport workers: apparently her ticket had some sort of a code calling for extra caution. Next thing you know: she is on no-fly list (who knows with us anything is possible!)
We arrived to SF around noon only to discover that it's just a chilly there as it is in Chicago. I don't know what I was expecting, but for some reason this was a disappointment.
We met Dhruba at the hotel (he arrived earlier). We're staying in Westin St. Francis , right on Union Square. Normally, we would not stay there, but Dhruba is here for the conference and his company picks up the check. I have to say: despite the "free ride" I still don't think that this hotel provides an exception guest experience. Here is why
1. No "Heavenly Bed"- whatever happened to it I don't know. Our bed is just a regular, old bed and does not have any heavenly characteristics. At least it's clean (I checked between the spring box and the mattress for the tell-tale brown dots and there are none). I am really paranoid about the bed bugs.
2. No coffee maker in the room: again, I am not sure why management here thinks that we don't really need coffee. I LIKE the option of brewing my own coffee: even when I worked for a large company and traveled on business I tried to expense as little as possible. If I have coffee maker in the room, I won't buy Starbucks or whatever else overpriced coffee is served in the lobby.
3. The wireless Internet connection: no explanation needed. There is a high speed access on an impossibly short cord located on the desk. Literally, only about 2 inches are available and if one wanted to, say, work on the bed instead of being propped next to the desk- that would not be accommodated by the length of the cord. Dhruba got really upset about this and wrestled the rest of the cord from under the table and freed it from a monstrous bundle of other cords that is hidden under the table.
4. The hotel charges $12.95 for the use of the fitness center. If there are two people are staying in the room- they are charged separately! - that is just simply ridiculous! Even Holiday Inn does not do that.
On the positive side: the hotel is centrally located and has a cable car stop right next to it. The lobby downstairs is very posh and is hopping with well to do Europeans and successful middle managers on business trips.
We had lunch/dinner at Chinatown where we filled on unbelievably inexpensive Dim Sum (mmm, delicious sticky rice and Chinese sausage!) After that we spent 1 1/2 hrs leisurely browsing grocery stores (Rita felt bad for poor bull frogs in the seafood section of the stores and refused to go inside). We also bought Dragon Pearls and Rose Hip tea in bulk. Finally we stopped by the San Francisco Fortune Cookie Factory and stocked up on flat cookie sheets.
Back at the hotel Rita and Dhruba immediately lapsed into a Dim Sum induced coma and I stayed up to plan the next two days. Tomorrow Dhruba is going to be busy all day while Rita and I will browse Castro and Noe Hill neighborhoods.

Steve: Drama in one act

Dear Steve (the Wrapping machine) has been giving us trouble for the past three weeks. At some point I actually gave Steve some undue human qualities and pretended that he (it) is actually thinking about things, quietly mocking Ryan and I while we're trying to do our jobs. Here are some examples that will actually make you think that I am completely nuts. Here they are anyway:
1. Situation 1: Steve does not want to wrap caramel (improper alignment of the wrapping fingers is the problem, but we did not know it yet). He spews caramels all over the place and jams paper feed every 2-3 minutes.
Us :"I can't believe this #$%& I just fixed the #$^& paper and here it is again jammed. What a..."
Steve (in low mumble, very Mr. Burn-esque voice) :" Excellent... You two are such angry beavers and yet nothing is wrapped yet. Perhaps some more patience would do you two some good. This is fun"
Us: "here, it's fixed again. let's try a different way of doing this...
Steve: "Different- schmifferent. I don't think so"
Us: "here, I think it's working" (peering into the receptable bin with some semi-wrapped caramel)" Crappy wrap once again!!!"
Steve: "Yep. Look, I think it's time to call it a day. I think everyone can use a beer"
Us: "Damn it, how many times we will have to adjust these stupid fingers. here, let's move them further back"
Steve: (irritated voice): "I feel violated and please take your dirty paws away from my teeth. Also, from now on I would like to be addressed as Steven if you please. No more of this "Steve" business because at 67 I believe that some respect is in order".
Katie: "He wins. Let's take a breather otherwise I'll explode"
Ryan:" I hate Steve"

Using tennis balls to relieve muscle pain

My lower back has been bothering me for a while, probably because of all the ingredients and other heavy things I've been lifting and carrying. Or perhaps because I've been going out for a run after a full production day. One way or the other I have to take care of this pain, as it is annoying and often debilitating too (especially in the morning). Since signing up for a "real" massage would set me back at least $80, I decided to try something new: a tennis ball massage. The 1st time I heard about it was a few years back when I came across an article in "Yoga" magazine. I did not remember exactly how to do it, so I went prowling on the Internet, looking for the clues. Right away I found what I was looking for (see the article below). Tennis ball massage did wonders to my back. Check it out!
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Tennis Ball Massage for Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Learn how to use a tennis ball and other massage tools to self-treat muscle knots and trigger points

by Paul Ingraham, Registered Massage Therapist (Vancouver)
This article expresses my opinion only, and cannot replace medical advice. More …
One of my clients was recently describing an experience she’d had with a physician, an orthopedic specialist: “He didn’t know about tennis balls. He asked what helped my back pain, and I told him I always lie on a tennis ball. He looked at me like he was going to refer me to a psychiatrist! How can an orthopedic surgeon not know about the tennis ball thing? Doesn’t everyone know about the tennis ball thing?”
Unfortunately, no: not everyone knows about the tennis ball thing. But it is one of the most time-honoured simple solutions for chronic muscle aches and pains, running a close second to “the hot tub thing.”
Indeed, a tennis ball is simply a handy tool that you can use in the self-treatment of knots in your muscles, technically known as myofascial pain syndrome.1 In this article, I’ll explain how to use a tennis ball properly to relieve knots in your muscles, and also why it works.
Other tools
There are, of course, countless self-massage tools on the market: sticks and widgets, rollers and thumpers, balls and wooden thumbs, and on and on. Many of these tools are handy and fun, but part of the idea of this article is to suggest that you don’t need to go out of your way to buy anything special: most people already have a tennis ball around, and it really is one of the most versatile self-massage tools.
Another tool that a lot of people have handy is a Kong dog toy, of all things. With it’s pyramidal shape, a hardness that varies depending on how you use it, it’s even better than a tennis ball!

The sock trick
Whether you work with a tennis ball, a dog kong, or a rock, most massage tools can be put into a long sock, allowing you to dangle it down your back into those hard to reach places. This gives you much finer control over the exact location of your tool. Of course, if you don’t have unusually long socks — and not many of us do — there are other solutions along the same lines. Kongs can be tied to a rope or string. A tennis ball can be put in a long, soft sack … or in a short sack.
The truly enthusiastic self-massager — you know who you are — may wish to actually craft their very own custom “massage tool sock.” You can easily sew one yourself, or go to any seamstress and pay probably less then $10 to get them to make you a long, narrow sock of sturdy fabric. Amaze your friends!
How to do it
Tennis ball technique is usually most effective in the muscles of the back and the hips: places where you can lie on the tennis ball, pinching it between your body and the ground or a wall. Other locations are awkward, and it is difficult or impossible to apply consistent pressure. However, pressure can be applied to muscles in many ways, and the same principles apply in every case.
Lie down on a tennis ball, placing it in approximately the right location. “Explore” by moving slowly and gently, until you’ve got just the right spot. Trust your intuition. If it feels like the right spot, it probably is.
The sensation should be clear and strong and satisfying; it should have a relieving, welcome quality — this is what we call “good pain.”
The key to successful tennis ball technique is to achieve a “release” by applying just the right amount of pressure: enough to do some good, but not enough to irritate the knot. The sensation should be clear and strong and satisfying; it should have a relieving, welcome quality. This is what we call “good pain.” If you are wincing or gritting your teeth, you need to be more gentle. You need to be able to relax.
Once you have adjusted yourself to achieve the right pressure, relax as much as possible and wait for the sensation to fade to at least eighty percent of the original intensity. This is the “release” — a change in the physiological state of the tissues, or a “melting” of the knot. This can take anywhere from ten seconds to several minutes.
If there is no change in the sensation, you may be pressing on something that isn’t a knot in your muscles: you should discontinue the treatment and seek assistance. Or just try again a little while later.
If you get a release, move on to the next point.
This approach usually gives only temporary relief. Here are some ways to help make it last as long as possible:
Do not use ice or an ice pack on the area.
Avoid drafts on the skin, and generally stay warm.
Use a hot tub, or take a hot bath or shower.
Drink some extra water before and after.
Gently mobilize and stretch the muscles after the release of each knot.
Treat only a few knots at a time.
Avoid sudden movements and strong contractions of the muscle for a day at least.
Why it works
A knot or trigger point is an irritated patch of muscle. The nerve that controls it is firing too quickly, and the tissue is full of junk molecules. The pressure has two effects: it creates a small, local stretch that tends to inhibit the motor nerve, and it deforms the tissue and literally squashes stagnant tissue fluids out of the area.
Or that is one of the theories, anyway. For the full story, see Save Yourself from Myofascial Pain Syndrome!.

Microtrends Book

Do you know this feeling that there is something important that is happening around us, and by the time one recognizes the opportunity, it's too late and there is fifty million people who have already recognized the trend, spoke with those who are at the forefront of the trend and created a nice little business out of it? Missed opportunity no more! Check out this book I heard about on Chicago NPR. It's called "Microtrends" by Mark J. Penn who was a campaign consultant for President Clinton and now is working with Hillary Clinton on her campaign trail. This book is immesurably helpful for both politicians who are trying to reconnect with their electoral base and marketers who are looking for new angle for their products and services. The book is divided into 15 chapters with headers like "Politics", "Teens", "Food, Drink and Diet", "Technology", "Looks and Fashion" etc and equally juicy sub-headers ("Archery Moms", "Militant Illegals", "Neglected Dads" and "Vietnamese Entrepreneurs" to name a few). Granted that not every microtrend will lead to the significant changes in the society, but knowing about these growing opportunities makes marketer in me rub my hands with glee and say in Mr. Burns-like voice "E-excellent"!

Windy City Wine Festival

Our weekend was quite exhausting: we signed up to participate in Windy City Wine Festival. It is a 2-day long event in Grand park area in downtown Chicago. We started our Friday at 5:45 am and shortly thereafter we were in our new production facility making caramels (Chai latte and Orange/Honey). After the successfull wrapping we moved on to downtown Chicago to set up our tent. This was our 1st big event and we debuted our new banners with the picture of the caramels having a " meeting". it was displayed on three split banners with just a picture and the website info in small font. People were very intrigued and stopped by our booth just to see what this was all about :)

Overall event was a big success: we sold a lot of caramels and spread the good word about other places that sell them. here is the picture of us at the end of Friday: clearly we're about to collapse!

P.S: apparently Dhruba and I were featured on Fox News on Saturday, 9/15. I didn't even know so could not TIVO it. I also don't know exactly what was featured: is there anyone out there who's seen it? Please let me know: drop me a line at katie@dasfoods.com

Eugene and His Bees

One of the ingredients in our caramels is honey from Gentle Breeze Honey, small family owned company owned by Eugene and Donna Woller. Dhruba and I visited Eugene and his apiary last Monday, 9/3 to pick up more honey and meet the bees. The 1st time we bought 60 lbs of honey from Eugene at Dane County Farmer's market in Madison, WI (a great venue for anyone who wants to support local farmers and get delicious produce at decent prices). This time we decided to actually go and meet "worker bees" (literally) and chat with Eugene about his business.

First of all: Mt Horeb, WI is a gorgeous hidden Elven land, very Tolkien: hidden and green, just off the highway about 12 miles away from Madison, WI. Bees were the 1st to meet us by the barn next to Eugene's house, where the honey is extracted and processed. Then, Eugene came and gave us a small welcome gift: little watermelon (yum- yum!) from his garden. It was very clear right away that Eugene found his calling in beekeeping: as he had said " I would be happy to die one day right here by the bees". I liked him right away: his passion for his craft was truly contagious.

Eugene had told us about bees and their collective behavior; seems that one could model

organization behavior on the life of bees. Queen Bee is the CEO and the president of each comb or the colony. They lay eggs or supply the colony with new workers. Each queen bee lives about 3 years (compared with measly 3o days for a worker bee). The other kind of bee that can be found in the colony is a drone: his lone responsibility is to come and sort of " have sex" with the Queen Bee. Drones are blind have hairy legs. Once the drone ejaculates he either dies or is not allowed in the colony anymore and wonders around until he dies. Poor bastards.

Queen Bee lives the life of luxury and constant pampering: she gets all the bling and everyone is there to serve her, groom her. In return she lays eggs and that's about it. Once the eggs are laid, the whole army of "babysitters" make sure that the embryos develop and get nutrition they require. The turn semi-developed embryos on daily basis. Gene had pictures of this process, which reminded me a little bit of the Orc hatchery in the Lord of the Rings movie.

If one of the embryos is not developing properly, it is kicked out of the nursery immediately: the real estate there is precious and only the fittest ones are allowed to survive. How very Darwinian, I thought. Here are the pictures of colonies. Each little "drawer" is a colony and at the center of it is a little pampered miss Queen Bee

Early each morning a small party of bees goes on "reconnaissance mission" to find nectar. Then the rest follow and all day bees collect nectar and bring it back to the colony. The season typically starts around May and ends in October. During the winter, bees hibernate and are busy keeping Queen Bee happy and warm. Even in the dead of winter, the temperature inside the colony near the center is perfect 72F!
Eugene collects honey all season and depending on the month it has a different taste. The honey we bought tasted like the end of summer: rich, decadent and buttery. It works perfectly in our caramels and gives them brightness and extra melty texture.
Eugene and Donna (below) were the most gracious hosts and were feel honored to have met the bees and their keepers!

Gene, Donna and Das Caramelini!

Wonderful World of Manufacturing

Last week was a busy one (and frustrating too!). That's the reason for not posting. Several things happened, that made life more difficult:
1. Steve refuses to wrap softer caramel; hence we had to struggle to get the right texture.
2. When the caramel is too hard, Steve also freaks out. In fact, two of the blades that cuts the caramels into the neat little cubes broke off last Thursday. As a result, we had to deal with replacing the blades. A tool guy came out on a short notice to take a look at the broken blades. After short consideration he announced that he has to take all of the broken blades plus the "healthy" one that we had to pry out as an example (after which it became unusable) to his shop and he would call me later with the verdict on how much it's going to cost. The blades are made of hardened steel (similar to what the kitchen knives are made of). Therefore, the replacement blades would have to be the same too. 1/2 hr later the guy calls back to tell that 4 blades that would be made of stainless steel (a temporary solution at best) would cost me $490. Naturally, I gasped at this obvious fleecing and started making more phone calls to find another alternative. Lo and behold: the blades were finally located by our mechanics, Larry and George in Detroit. Thanks to a guy named Dirk More (Moore?) who has a machine and tool shop there, I received 4 beautiful hardened blades the next morning at the acceptable cost of $64/each.
Additionally, Dhruba also found a shop in Racine, WI that fabricated two stainless steel blades for us for $200. they did a decent job, especially considering short notice.
After such an eventful week all we could do is retire for the Labor Day weekend, which was not entirely Labor-free. In fact, for the first time in my life I experienced a twinge of irritation at the fact that Monday was a holiday (darn it, I could have made caramels!). Here is why (so that you don't think I am completely insane)
We have a big event coming up this weekend, that will require large caramel inventory: we'll be participating in the Windy City Wine Festival in downtown Chicago. We'll be sampling and selling our caramels and need to accumulate enough caramels to sell.
So it's going to be a 5 am wake up for me tomorrow.... Oh well. At least I don't have to put together a long presentation to the upper management for corporate "alignment"

Long Live Steve!

Entrepreneurial Saga continues: It's all about Steve, the wrapping machine!
Those of you who might be following my blog already know that Steve is an awesome vintage wrapping machine that wraps our caramels. We just purchased it a few month ago and named it Steve: that's how much we loved it already! Today marks the 1st official day of Steve's life in our production facility. Our mechanics Larry and George of Elite Machinery delivered Steve, all wrapped up in tarp in the back of their pick up truck and installed it in our space. Steve runs like a song, has a few modern additions that make operating it a breeze and wraps up to 120 candies/minute. I was so excited to play with Steve, that I neglected lunch and bathroom breaks and wrapped all of the caramels I had on hand at the moment.
Tomorrow I will post a slide show on Steve so that everyone can see what a wonderful guy he is!
But for now: is Whole Foods venturing into energy now? See below. I hope you'll find amusing. I did!

Top Chef?

Due to the violent storms in our area I was not able to view Wednesday's Top Chef on Bravo at all: all I got was static. Damn you satellite TV!

Turns out, that after much prolonged Restaurant Wars (as if the creative team at Bravo run out of ideas for new elimination challenges! The should have gotten Brian "fired" after the 1st challenge) the very awesome Tre gets axed. Tre? Seriously, Top Chef judges you must have lost it. Tre was the only guy I (and thousands of others out there or so it seems by the passionate response from the blogging community) could vote to become a Top Chef. Calm, collected and true to his roots: a welcome change from the bitching, whining, back stabbing majority of chefs on this season's program. Perhaps he did not hold enough "controversy" potential? All he did was cook and competed fairly (except for the eavesdropping accident, but so what- that's nothing compared with Howie's constant bullying!). I believe he was eliminated because he was clearly too good for the fake reality show where everything depends on editing and people's merits are based on how much controversy they can stir up. Isn't it what the reality TV is all about?

Girls Gone Mild

Today I heard a very interesting interview on Chicago NPR Station: it was interview with Wendy Shalit , the author of the recent book "Girls Gone Mild". In short it is about the emerging modesty movement among girls, which is often driven not by the religious values but by their desire to live dignified life.

Now this topic is near and dear to my heart since heiress Das just turned 16 and so far has behaved very well. She is a true "Girl Gone Mild" which makes me very proud. As I was listening to the radio debate today I realized that to the large extent the path to "Mild" typically start at home, and it is parent's job to ensure that they stay involved and pay attention to what is going on in children's life. Not just nod or agree with everything they say because it's easier or because "we're too tired to argue" or, perhaps, because " my parents were very strict so I will give my child a longer leash no matter what". It is our job to be their parent, not their friend (they have many already!).

Here is the link to the full interview with Wendy Shalit : enjoy!

What do you think about the modesty movement: is it here to stay?

Oh, sweet memories of corporate life...
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A magazine recently ran a "Dilbert Quotes" contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert-type managers. These were voted the top ten quotes in corporate America :
"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks." (This was the winning quote from Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp. in Redmond WA )
"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter." (Lykes Lines Shipping)
"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business." (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)
"This project is so important we can't let things that are more important interfere with it."
(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)
"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule." (Plant Manager, Delco Corporation) "No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
(R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)
Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)
"My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists)
"We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

Because I am a girl....

... I am constantly worried about my weight. shopping has long become a treasure hunt in what I can eat "for free" i.e. without spending any precious "Weight Watchers" points. So I thought I'd post a list of all foods that I love that have very little points:

1. Crunchy and delicous Indian Papadams: they're sort of like wafers, but typically savory and spicy. So full of flavor and yet so less calories (perhaps 80-90 depending on the brand). Be sure to microwave them: some Indian cookbooks recommend deep-frying which clearly adds a load more calories

2. Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal: 2/3 cup for 90 calories and 7g fiber/serving. It also has great little pieces of dried fruit and even nuts!
3. Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup from Panera : 1-8 oz serving - 160 cal, 11 grams fiber
4. Dannon plain fat free yogurt: serving- 1 cup, 110 cal, tons of calcium and you can flavor it with anything you want.
5. TLC Original 7 grain crackers: 15 crackers/serving, 130 calories, 30 from fat, 2 g. fiber.
6. Carrots and Hummus (I make my own, but Athenos Hummus has approx 50 cal/2 tbsp)
7. Fresh fruit (Apples- 65 cal/1 cup serving 3 g fiber, Bananas - 200 cal/cup, 5.8g fiber)
8. Pumpernickel Bread: (68 cal) + fat free salmon cream cheese (fat free cream cheese is about 15 cal/1 tbsp+ 1 oz of smoked salmon 33 calories/serving)
9. Fat Free Farmer's Cheese, e.g. Lifeway: 25 calories/2 tbsp. You can also use fat free cottage cheese instead, but the texture of it is slightly different
10. Vegetables and Salads. My favorite salad is just a garden salad: any greens (the darker the better), tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, snap peas, whatever. Drizzle or spray with olive oil, vinegar (use fruit vinegars or red/white wine will do) and season with salt/pepper. Enjoy the salad with selection #8

Successful trial

We started up our new facility with only a few issues on Friday! Of course, this is a good start but we're not yet out of the woods. Here is what we've accomplished:
1. Made 50 lbs of caramel (with lavender) - it was yummy!
2. Cleaned up some equipment that we did not use that day,
3. Additional nesting activites included shelving ingredients and bickering about miscellaneous things
Steve the wrapping machine will be installed next week.
Here are some learnings
1. Copper kettle burns easily
2. It's easy to overheat the caramel in the final stages, therefore making the texture too hard (in which case it's difficult to say that our caramels are "deliciously soft")
3. We have a lot of space in Das Foods facility that will hopefully be filled by all kinds of exciting candy making gadgets soon!
On the emotial level however, the place still feels empty and unlived in. It has the same kind of feel as a new home, when there is no furniture, no clutter, no pictures on the walls and no bed to sleep in. The only thing that's missing is a bare lightbulb that is hanging from the ceiling on the bare wire.
A weird absence of excitement is somewhat buffling: we worked so hard to get here and yet it's somewhat anti-climactic, perhaps because there is not a lot of activity yet.

Making caramels at our new facility!- Entreprenural Saga, Chapter 2

Tomorrow is our "official" start up at the new facility: I am extremely excited but also scared since I know from multitude of my previous experiences that there are SO many things that can (and undoubtedly will) go awry.

The wrapping machine (named Steve- see my prev. posting) is not going to be up and running until next week. However, even before we start wrapping the caramels, I need to ensure we can actually making using our new equipment.

Typically, the best way to make caramels is to use copper kettle- a candy stove (below) Copper is a great heat conductor and the caramel mix cooks quickly and thoroughly. It also looks great: check out the faux antique "lion paw" legs!

The other essential piece of equipment that is necessary for caramel production is a cooling table. It is a steel table with water pipes running under it and is used for cooling the caramel quickly so that it's ready for cutting and wrapping.

Finally, caramels are wrapped and packaged in neat little boxes

I can't wait until tomorrow: I think we'll emerge victorious! More later....

Salt Story Necklace

Sometimes it feels like this business is one big party where I meet wonderful and gifted people that I otherwise would have never known!
For example, my new customer Karen McGovern has created this beautiful Story Necklace. She's handmade all the beads and pendants from polymer clay, and there are two bowls from antique sterling silver salt spoons in the design. The salt is inside recycled glass perfume sample bottles. With this necklace she's included a "story book" about the history of salt, folklore, and legend. She also included a wonderful poem about salt and it is on the cover of the story book:
This salt in the salt cellar
I once saw in the salt mines.
I know you won'tbelieve me,
but it sings, salt sings,
the skin of the salt mines sings
with a mouth smothered by the earth.
I shivered in those solitudes
when I heard the voice of the salt in the desert.
Near Antofagasta the nitrous pampa resounds:
a broken voice,
a mournful song
This series of art jewelry is called "Spice of Life" and this necklace is called "Salt of the Earth". I am making a matching ring, and perhaps bracelet using smaller glass vials, etc. Unfortunately, the necklace is already sold, and will be displayed in one of two galleries Karen work with (Gallery 50, http://www.gallery50.com/, or WildChild Gallery, http://www.wildchildgallery.com/).

Wine+Caramel

Yesterday we bought new wine, Bodegas Alejandro "Las Rocas" Garnacha '02, ($8 at Binny's Beverage Depot in Chicago). Being only a novice at tasting wines, here are my impressions
- Great nose: blackberry and dark chocolate- yum!
- Decent finish
- Gorgeous color, although not as deep as Zinfandels are
- Great value overall!
We also ate a few caramels with it: Classic with Lavender and Ginger/Pistachio - what a great discovery! Prior to this tasting I always recommended to pair our caramels (except for Dark Chocolate and Toasted Walnut) with Viogniers or Chenin Blanc (our fav: Boony Doon Pacific Rim Chenin Blanc . Turns out that when paired with full bodied fruity reds, caramels just blossom with flavor and the sweetness and spiciness of ginger is intensified dramatically. Yum- yum. Perhaps I will make an attempt to develop wine+caramel tasting guide.

can you find Das Caramelini? check out map below!

One Mean Caramel Wrapping Machine

This is the 1st in the series of posts that deals with Das Foods entreprenurial saga.
Chapter 1: Smooth operator
We're currently in the process of expanding our caramel production. Until now, we (all three employees of Das Fodos) have been painstakingly wrapping our little sweet jewels by hand for the past,oh, 10 months. We must have wrapped at least 100,000 caramels and have become quite good at it. However: this cannot last forwever and as much fun as it has been, with ever increasing demand, we simply are incapable of wrapping all of the caramels anymore. We have begun looking for the caramel wrapping machine in January'07. Turns out that these machines are in high demand and whenever one or two comes on the market they go as quickly as houses up for sale back in 2003.
another reason why these machines are snapped up so quickly is because they're used and some of them are really old.
The two options we had were:
1. Model K: can twist wrap or fold frap

2. Ideal caramel wrapping machine (this is the "official" name- no kidding!) - see video below to witness its might!
Even when we were still looking for the machine, we already endearingly named it "Steve". Steve was going to have a plush life with Das Foods: daily lubrications (this sounds vaguely dirty, but it isn't- old machines require daily maintenance) and cleanings.
Finally, Steve was purchased in May- he is about 70 yrs old, but still perky and runs well.
Immediately after purchase, Steve was sent to recuperate for tune up and repairs to our mechanics Larry and George. Since then we've been holding our breaths hoping that Steve's medical bills won't break our bank.
My prayers have been finally answered : our mechanics Larry and George have confirmed that Steve runs well and ready for action. So hopefully next week we'll be able to install and run caramels. Timing cannot be better as we're gearing up for Christmas :)
Check out Steve's Smooth Operatin' below

Steve is very fast and feisty!

The Greatest Pistachio Nut Ever!

Yesterday I was out in Milwaukee, WI for the in-store tasting of my caramels at Outpost Co-Op (a great local alternative to Whole Foods) Once again, the local favorite was our Ginger and Pistachio caramel. So I wanted to give a shout out to our pistachio supplier: The Eagle Ranch, home of wine and the plumpiest, most green and delicious pistachios.
Eagle Ranch a family owned business located in new Mexico and their pistachios are called Heart of Desert. George and Marianne Schweers have owned and operated this largest pistachio grove since 1970's and now they not only have the greatest pistachios ever, but they also now have a vineyard with 18,000 grapevines.


Eagle Ranch has a very impressive state of the art processing facility and their products are Kosher-certified.
Roasting Heart of Desert Pistachios
Before using Heart of Desert pistachios I roast them lightly in the nut roaster with some Sel Gris or (even better) Fleur De Sel and just a few drops of the vegetable oil (to ensure that salts sticks to the nuts). In just a few minutes, when the nuts warm up, a sweet fragrance fills the air: it's so hard to resist tasting just one or two nuts, just to be sure that they 're done :)


Pistachios burn easily, so constant stirring is required (especially if you're roasting them on the skillet at home!). Allow for about 5 min roasting time: they're done when the outside of the nut becomes golden brown.


After pistachios are done, I crush them a bit and add to liquid caramel at the end of cooking.

Other ideas for roasted pistachio flavors
(all recipes are for 1 lbs of pistachios)
Lime and Chile: add a few drops of the lime juice and 1 tsp of ancho chile powder (or a hotter chile- you pick!) and roast as outlined above
Chinnamon and Sugar: add 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar or (even better) Demerara sugar (can be found in specialty stores or on-line) and 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon (I prefer either Mexican or Indian cinnamon, which I also use in my Chocolate and Walnut Caramel because it is more spicy and potent)
Masala Pistachios: add 1-2 tbsp of Garam Masala (can be found in Indian specialty stores or see recipe below).

Garam Masala recipe
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds7
peppercorns
1 bayleaf
4 cloves
Roast each of the above till they turn aromatic
Powder to a fine powder using a coffee grinder and use as required.
This will keep well for 3-4 months in a airtight container.

Maccha Salt Pistachios
Mix 1 tbsp Sel Gris with 1/4 tsp Maccha green tea powder (can be found in Asian supermarkets- it's expensive but will last you for a long time!). Start with 1 tsp of Maccha/Salt mixure and add more as necessary to the roasting pistachios.

Chocolate Cake+ Fleur De Sel Recipe

Enough of painful memories. Here is the yummy recipe I made last night (see cakes on the left). Unfortunately there typically very little leftovers in Das household. We live by good old undergrad dorm principle: eat it now or in 5 minutes it'll be gone. Don't share. (credit for these wonderful babies goes to Bea at http://www.latartinegourmande.com/)

Molten Chocolate Cake
(for 6 small cakes)
You need:
110 g dark chocolate
115 g butter
2 large eggs
60 g flour
80 g sugar
Grated extra chocolate (or cut in small pieces)
Fleur de sel (don't know where to get it? http://www.dasfoods.com/ -)

Steps:
Preheat your oven at 400 F (200C).
Melt the chocolate and butter using a double boiler.
Greased 6 individual molds (silicone or large muffin pan).
Use an electric mixer to mix together the eggs with the sugar, until your preparation has a nice light white colour.
Add the flour and mix well.
Add the melted chocolate and mix.
Pour in the molds and add the extra pieces of crushed chocolate in the preparation.
Place in the oven for about 12-13 min and take out.
Let cool down a bit before unmolding.