Monday, November 26, 2007

Fabulous Food Show - Part 2 - Food and People

The Food Show was a great time to observe mass human behavior around food.

Clearly, many go there to graze, and we're all for that! The whole idea is to get some of our samples in their mouths so they're tempted to buy -- whether now or later. The grazers tend to line up at one end of an aisle and just slowly work their way through as the line moves. It's kind of a grab-and-go thing, but Brian and I have gotten pretty good at trying to engage them in conversation and find out what they think about the samples they've tried while they wait for the line to move.

Then you have the browsers. They're interested, want to talk about it, but aren't ready to buy until the end. There were fewer of those this year, and I think that was partly due to the Shop and Drop service offered free to show attendees. This was sort of a coat-check for purchases that allowed people to freely buy and not have to carry their bags during the entire show. Maybe a lot of browsers did come back later to buy, but the show is so big, it is hard to tell for sure. The great thing about browsers is that they are picking and choosing what they want to try, and they love it that someone wants to actually talk to them. Many are surprised that we are the owners and manning our own booth the whole time. This is where the personal touch becomes really important.

Finally, you have the true aficianados. They are there to get to know you (if they don't already know you) and have a deep interest in what you do and the flavors, quality, assortment, etc. that you have to offer. This group is a pure pleasure, though since many are already customers, they're actually not our primary target demographic for getting a booth at the show. While many vendors like us would like to make some money (or at least break even on the costs of doing the show and giving away a lot of free food), the real point is marketing -- getting our name in the minds and our heat and flavor on the tongues of large numbers of people who might not otherwise find out about us.

For us at the booth, it is kind of a juggling act. You have to quickly figure out which type of person is in front of you and react accordingly. It is kind of a game for us, and is actually a lot of fun. I don't think Brian or I sat down the entire time -- we were exhausted -- but it was great getting to know so many people and talk about the things we love. The biggest frustration is that there are so many people to talk to, you feel like you can't always give your full attention to friends and family who stop by to say, "Hello."

The Fabulous Food Show is a wonderful microcosm of the many different types of food and people in Cleveland, and we're proud that the show has been so successful. I like to think that we really surprise folks at the Food Network, who are tempted to treat anything between New York and Chicago as fly-over land and not worth notice. Of course, even more than the show, we're tremendously proud of Michael Symon and the national attention he's brought to the incredibly wonderful and diverse food scene in Cleveland.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Cheddar Pumpkin Soup

What the heck do you do with all of the pieces leftover from carving scary or funny faces into your Halloween pumpkins? Why, make pumpkin soup, of course! This year I tried something a little different, using a basic recipe and using what I happened to have available around the house. That's what's fun about soups -- substitution is easy. Some of the best soups and stews have come from creative use of leftover ingredients!

Ingredients
1 large onion (sliced into approx. 1" pieces)
1/4 lb. unsalted butter (1 stick)
2 lbs. pumpkin pieces (remove seeds and skin and cut into 1/2-1" chunks)
2 containers Kitchen Basics Chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Key lime juice (regular lime or lemon juice is fine, too)
1 Tablespoon orange zest (fresh or dried)1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon Tupelo honey
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie spice
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 lb. finely grated sharp white cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste (we also added about 1 teaspoon cayenne chile powder)
Croutons, chives, sour cream or sherry sauce for garnish -- your preference

Instructions
Sautee the onion and butter, then add pumpkin, chicken stock and bay leaves and cook over medium heat. When the pumpkin is cooked through (I think I let it go for about 20 minutes), take the bay leaves out and puree the mixture with a wand blender, or let it cool a bit then run it through a standing blender, food processor or food mill if you want it extra smooth. Mix in the other ingredients, stirring in the milk and cheese slowly in small batches last. Cook for another 20 minutes, then serve. Garnish with croutons and chives, or make it extra special for guests with sour cream and a sweet sherry sauce. This soup reheats quite well.

Croutons
I happened to have some leftover inexpensive hamburger buns, so made some quick croutons by cutting the buns into small squares, placing on a cookie sheet with raised sides, drizzling with olive oil, kosher salt, ground pepper and a little Greek seasoning. Toss with fingers and then place in 400 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes until lightly browned and crisp. Keep an eye on them to be sure they don't burn.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Fabulous Food Show - Part 1 - We're Hot, Hot, Hot!

Well, the Fabulous Food Show this last weekend at the IX Center in Cleveland, was indeed, fabulous for us. For the second year in a row, we set up a Heather's Heat and Flavor booth and invited one of our sauce vendors to join us. This time it was Chooch & Pootan from Painesville, Ohio, who make award-winning hot sauces and wing sauces. The weekend was a resounding success and we were tickled to see so many of our good customers at the show.

Everything went smoothly -- if you weren't behind the scenes with us. The first of our challenges came on Friday morning, the first day of the show. I was setting up the booth and Brian was getting some last minute product at our warehouse on the East side of Cleveland. He was having some difficulty getting in and out, as the abandoned warehouse next door to ours had caught fire overnight. The three-alarm event might have been a spectacular sight, but we weren't feeling so hot about it. Happily there was no damage to our warehouse and Brian was eventually able to join me at the show after loading his truck with cases of sauce -- carrying them by hand down the street through the office door of the warehouse. He really got a good workout that day.

On Saturday morning, things continued to heat up when Brian stopped at the store to print a few extra labels for our 100% Pure Jolokia Chile Powder vials. As the labels were printing, blue smoke began to billow from our cash register (which is also our main computer). Being a "Holiday" weekend with Veteran's Day, our 4-hour computer service turned into a 4-day service. Low-tech was the name of the game for our busiest day of the week.

I know that our name says it all, but I'm lookin' for some love on the flavor side now. I'd rather keep the heat on the tongue!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Our First Salsa!

Two weeks ago, Brian drove down to an apiary in Kentucky to make our first salsa -- Heather's Peach Blueberry Merlot salsa. The balance of fruit and jalapenos creates a pleasant heat that won't burn,and a Chilean Merlot rounds out the flavors.

For several years, people encouraged us to bottle our own products, but we resisted because there are so many great things already out there. But this one was just too good to resist and we had nothing else like it in the store. Getting to this point took some doing. We had to taste an awful lot of salsa (happily most was not awful) to get the right combination.

Funny how the salsa world has changed over the years. It all started with just tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and spices. Over the years, other flavors were added to make salsas with chipotles, habaneros, fruit, carrots, and tomatillos. The fruit salsas have really taken off, and are some of the most popular sellers in our store. Some are pretty sweet and really feature the fruit up front. What I personally like about the Peach Blueberry Merlot Salsa is that it isn't too sweet or fruity, so you can still use it to top mac & cheese or add to an omelet.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Halloween at Legacy

While there were more princesses and Spidermen out today than ghouls, goblins and ghosts, Halloween was definitely here today. More than 500 children and their parents crowded Legacy Village for the annual trick-or-treat event. What struck me was the different candy preferences that kids today showed from my childhood memories.

Opting to stay away from chocolate, our store offered an array of non cocoa-based treats including Laffy Taffy, Sweet Tarts, Skittles, Twizzlers, Nerds, Tootsie Rolls and an assortment of hard candies. What surprised me the most was that, aside from the Skittles, kids seemed most excited about the red licorice Twizzlers. I guess it is a generational thing. I just never really got into the gummy bear-type candies, so licorice was about the last thing I wanted to see in my plastic pumpkin. Of course, chocolate trumps all -- one thing that seems to transcend age, gender and ethnicity.

Most of the kids showed pretty good manners, being prompted by parents to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" to my "Happy Halloween!" In fact, it was mostly the older kids and adults who disappointed. Call me old fashioned, but I really don't understand how people can justify ransacking a mall for free candy without putting any effort at all into a costume. I'd say at least 50% of the kids and adults who carried bags and asked for candy for themselves were not in any semblance of costume. Maybe that's justified if you look at it from the point of view of decronstructing what this "holiday" has become -- a blatant excuse to beg for sweets. So, by not dressing up, they are inadvertently pointing out how absurd the holiday has become. One kid blew me away when he came up for candy and refused to say "Trick or Treat," opting instead to leave after a brief look into our basket to see that there was "nothing good." Egads!

Enough of my rant on that, though. Brian and I actually really enjoy Halloween. Dressing up is fun, and most of the kids (and quite a few adults) really get into it and have a great time. And it's a great excuse to make our favorite Halloweevil Pumpkin Pies (very spicy and tasty) and hang out with the neighbors during the local trick-or-treating hours. While I dressed up as a "pink princess" in the store today, with my pink and gold wig and velvet dress, I may opt for something more subtle on the actual day. More on that when the time comes...

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Hello, Heat and Flavor Enthusiasts!



Everyone's been asking when I'd start a blog, since I can't be in our stores all the time. Beware, though, you just might get what you asked for!

I will post at least once a week, and more often when my culinary and writing inspirations happen to converge.

Enjoy!