Pyewacket

Several years ago, before legal absinthe was available in the US, my hubby and I did a bunch of research, blended herbs, redistilled them, did infusions and all kind of machinations to make absinthe. The results from all this work was uniformly disgusting. Then a few months ago, Hubby brought home a real bottle of imported absinthe. What a revelation! The drink created a beautiful green faerie in the glass, had a lovely licorice-like aroma and flavor and was easy on the taste buds. The result was nothing more than a nice drinkers' buzz-not the lyrical, floaty feeling I expected, but nice anyway.

I love ice pops! Since ice cream makes me feel uncomfortable (dairy) and messy I've decided that, for me, the perfect cold tasty treat is the ice pop. A single serving that can be eaten before the whole thing becomes a sloppy mess and refreshing flavors of fruit are just great. So a couple weeks ago when I read Florence Fabricant's profile of four new pop joints in Manhattan (does she even venture out to other boroughs?) I was so excited that I rushed out to try as many as I could. Since it was a Wednesday, I couldn't try la Newyorkinas pops, but did try People's Pops in Chealsea Market and Popbar. People's Pops seemed to be having some trouble with their freezer because one of their display pops was melting off the stick, but the raspberry-mint pop I got was kind of yummy. Although it dropped pieces of red ice mix all over my white shirt immediately upon pulling it out of the wrapper , the flavor was nice, but the texture was grainy, and seedy. Whoa. I was picking seeds out of my teeth for hours. PopBar, as FF stated is an Italian franchise. The pops are basically gelato on a stick with different coatings and sprinkles. It's nice, but the gelato had a texture I don't really care for-kind of like a jello background taste and texture. Not really pop like in my mind. I went to Griff's but they weren't available yet. My favorite ice pop joints are usually known as Paleterias and found in Hispanic neighborhoods. Though I can't remember their names, there are a couple in Westchester County-one in White Plains (great pops!) another in New Rochelle (OK but a little plastic tasting) and another somewhere else that I can't remember. Any one else love ice pops and know of cool places to get them?

Since moving to NY from NC we've had lots of fun going to nearby orchards and picking many varieties of apples. Love the Mutsus, Macouns and Honey Crisps. However, there are two varieties I used to be able to obtain pretty readily in NC that I NEVER see in NY How come I can never get Yorks or Arkansas Blacks? I love the Yorks for their funky, jazzy shape and sweet-tart flavor and crisp texture. The Arkansas Blacks had a deep purple skin with pinkish, lavender streaks running through the white flesh and were crisp, incredibly juicy with that sweet-tart flavor I love. Many great apples in NY, but really miss these two.

marshmallows, oysters, and lima beans okra, morels and mangoes?

Market research is not just about your specific business, but about the market in general. Basically, what you want to do is identify who your core market is and what percentage of the entire market of the area they represent. Here are a few questions you may want to research: What is the population of the geographic area that you will serve. What is the income breakdown of that population, meaning, what % of the population makes above say, $50,000/year per household. (This is probably your core market) What is the average income of your regular customers? What is the age breakdown of your core market? How many have kids? where do they go to school? majority public or private? What are their other interests? Where else do they shop regularly? Where else do they buy chocolate? and what types do they buy? Where to they buy the majority of their groceries? What kinds of restaurants to they frequent? How health conscious are they? How frequently do they make luxury purchases (ie fancy chocolate) Are there any culinary/book/movie/arts clubs in the area? How many people watch the food network? How many people belong to country clubs? Is there a university or college located nearby? Of all the restaurants around, how many are considered "fine dining." Knowing this kind of information about your core market will help you make informed decisions about your business like, what kind of product mix you should offer, who are the people that might become a part of your core and what do you need to do to bring them in. You can obtain this information in many ways. Go to the local chamber of commerce and see what info they have. The town government should also have population demographics. The public library is a great source to find out about social networking (clubs, etc.) and school demographics? Public school demographic information reveals a lot about the local population, like how many use the school lunch program. This can show you a lot about the growth potential of your business. For example, if the public schools have a low percentage of kids who use the free or reduced lunch program, you can generally assume that the community is relatively upscale with a good amount of disposable income. If not, you might want to reconsider. You can ask your regular customers to fill out an anonymous survey. You can call up country clubs and say your thinking of joining and would like to ask some general questions about the membership and see the menu at the dining area. Marketing is not advertising. It's fine tuning your message so that it is clear and understandable to your client base and appeals to others so that they want to become part of your core market. To do that, you need to intimately know who those people are and how you can fulfill their need and desires.

Ditto on the Danskos, but I like the ones that have the closed back. I also have orthotics that I always wear in them. I'm very happy with the result. I made a mistake when I bought my first pair and bought them too small. When they fit correctly, they're pretty loose.

pyewacket: you rock. thank you so much for taking the time to write this out! i am copying and pasting this list to my future landlord (since he is renovating the structure, and brad and i are going in with the finer details and kitchen equip etc) and yes, i am renting the first 1-2 yrs, with an option to buy (setting a price now) so that if (lord please) im successful, it would be wise then to buy and invest money into the finer detailing, outside etc...but again. wow. blown away by the info! thank you!

Since you are actually opening a food service business, you will need to obtain a license from your county department of environmental health services or whatever they call it in Iowa. Here in NY there are variable fees for this license depending on what type of business you operate. If you are preparing food for commercial sale, here are some building requirements that are pretty much universal: All floors, walls and ceilings in food prep area must be smooth and washable. You must install sealed coping around the entire kitchen where the floor and wall meet. The coping prevents rodents from finding their way into the kitchen from the outside or through the walls. You must have a bathroom with a toilet and handwash sink that is separately vented. If you do not have a dishwasher, you must have a three compartment sink with an indirect drain. This is basically where the drain from the sink is separated from a hole in the floor that drains to the sewerage system and prevents any possible backups into the sink. Instead, it backs up onto the floor. There must be a separate hand washing sink in the kitchen for people to wash their hands. Depending on your layout, I believe you will also need a hand wash sink in the food service area, though this seems to vary from state to state. You must also install a separate mop sink and provide an area where cleaning supplies and chemicals are stored. This stuff must be kept separate from any food or food supplies storage. Regarding these sinks, this means that generally, aside from the bathroom, you will need plumbing for all three, though I think they may share drains as long as they are indirect drains. It's a good idea to install grease traps as it will save you hassles in the long run, especially since you will be using and disposing of a good amount of fatty foods (dairy and chocolate.) This stuff accumulates in drains and causes a lot of trouble for local water and sewer utilities-they may have some specific requirements for you too. All food storage must be kept at least 6 inches from the floor. This is also the case for any utensils you may use to prepare the food. All large appliances like refrigerators, freezers and stoves will need to be food service/commercial quality. All cooling appliances will need to have an accurate thermometer living inside them. Make sure your place of business is connected to local water and sewer service, otherwise, you will have to pay for frequent water testing and the testing, maintenance and documentation of an approved septic field. The fire department will require you to have fire extinguishers and if you have any kind of stove and/or oven, ventilation and some kind of fire suppression system. You might also be required to take a food safety and sanitation course to maintain your license, though this might also vary from state to state and county to county. To obtain your permit to operate in a facility that is being converted to a food prep and service operation, you will probably need to submit your plans to the engineering department at the health department. Best to be as specific as possible in your plans and as detailed as you can because they charge you (at least in NY) a new approval fee for each revision. Contact the health inspector to get information about the local requirements before you start any building plans. Befriend the guy or gal and do plenty of sanitation and food safety research beforehand so that few of the department's requirements will come as a surprise (read, expensive) to you. Do not forget liability insurance, which you will need to show before your are issued a permit. The good news is that chocolate is a relatively low risk food item, though the dairy used has it's own requirements. Good luck with your new venture.

Last Christmas my three sisters and I agreed to gift each other a clutch of reusable bags from our local grocery stores. Since we live in NY, Chapel Hill, NC, Sarasota, FL, and Portland OR we each have a collection of mildly exotic grocery bags. My favorite is the Hannaford bag with a big picture of a piece of pie on it and the phrase- "life is short, eat dessert first" I HAVE to return my bags to the car after unloading. Otherwise, I forget them. I still wind up with quite a bunch of those cheap plastic bags. It's a good thing though, what else would I use for my two doggies' POOP containers?

Oh will you listen to yourselves! As one who grew up in the Triangle and now lives in NY I can attest that there are few things more tiresome than transplanted Yankees griping about not finding NY style pizza in the south! Frankly, I've been here 10 years, eaten pizza at lots of famous and not so famous NY pizza joints and I can't for the life of me figure out what there is to be so nostalgic about! Chewy bland dough with ubiquitous sauce and gloppy cheese! So you can fold it-big deal! Blaming the water is a lame enterprise when waxing on about something so completely ordinary that sane people might wonder what all the fuss was about. Now if you want to eat something that tastes good, is round, resembles the ubiquitous NY pie, and is actually worth passing your lips, venture over to Chapel Hill and have a slice at Pepper's. Whenever we return home for a visit, a stop at Pepper's is always on the agenda. BTW-always liked Pop's poached egg and roasted prosciutto pizza.

Wheat and dairy prices are skyrocketing due to the fact that former wheat farmers are now planting corn to produce ethanol. Thus wheat farmers have more demand for their product and the price is increasing rapidly. Dairy is soaring because grain that was once grown for feed now goes to the large ethanol producers. All this profit is going to the large agri-businesses like ADM and Monsanto with the help of US subsidy policies spelled out in the Farm Bill. The reauthorization of the farm bill increases the amount of subsidy going to large corporate farming and squeezes the family farmer even more. There are also sweet deals for John Deere to increase production of large corn combines. Here is the problem shown pictorially: Hungry Mouths to Feed All this and it costs as much or more in fossil fuel expenditure to produce the ethanol than it saves at the gas pump or when CO2 emissions are factored in. When an acre of land produces 14 gallons of ethanol from corn and 48 gallons from sweet sorghum (which seeds itself, improves the soil, does not need irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides or special harvesting machinery) it's hard to understand the thinking behind this issue. The only reason I, and others, can come up with is the money and protection the government offers large corn growers in the form of subsidies. The new farm bill only reinforces these policies. If you care about this at all, write, email or call your congressman and push him to reform the Farm Bill to benefit hungry people and family farmers. This article is also interesting to locovores: Forbidden Fruits and Vegetables

You know, the best peeler I've ever owned is a Messermeister peeler that I bought at Williams-Sonoma for $5.95. This baby makes short work of butternut squash rinds-no protective gear or electricity needed. All this and I don't even have to go to the garage to peel them.

My Mom always made wonderful stollen every Christmas. For us, it's just not Christmas without it. I've looked into purchasing them and they always disappoint, so now I've taken up the mantle and bake them for my family. Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC made the only one that I thought was worth buying, but it's been 10 years since I moved to NY and don't know whether they still do. But they were great! Lots of dried cherries soaked in Sherry, I think. Hearty on the bread side, but moist and intensely flavorful.

Eat oats for breakfast every morning. If you don't like regular cooked rolled oats, try making muesli-equal parts grated fresh apples, rolled oats and skim, almond or rice milk. Granola is good too, but usually is high in fat and sugar.

I love, love love! Fairway, that is, the one on 12th Ave. and 125th St. The employees are nice and helpful and they always seem to have enough registers open, so the lines are not unbearable. Unfortunately, the store on the UWS always seems to get on my last nerve! The people working there are almost as irritating as the folks who shop there. It seems every time I shop there, someone spills something on me. Last time, an employee dropped a bottle of balsamic vinegar which splashed all over me. I smelled like yesterday's salad for a week. No one offered to cover the dry cleaning bill either, even upon request. However, the Harlem store (cue the violins and angelic chorus) is the best grocery store ever. I drive over an hour to stock up on the fresh roasted coffee, olives, cheeses and single origin criollo and forestero chocolate. The seafood workers and butchers are especially great when I call to order 16 halibut filets that are all 6" wide by 4" deep and 1 3/8" thick (I'm a food stylist and often have to order food to fit the chosen plate that we'll be shooting on. Normally, I'm not that picky.) I also love the selection of Greek Yogurt and labne- not just Fage, but 3 or 4 others to choose from too. The deli is also great and no one bats an eye when I ask for Meerrettichrahmkase. Unfortunately, the deli's selection of Shaller and Weber deli meats has dwindled over the past years due to pressure from the ubiquitous Boar's Head brand I really miss being able to buy Nussschinken and thin slices of Bundnerfleisch. One thing I don't understand is why they put their packages of fresh herbs on the top shelf of the lettuce cooler-just out of reach. The result is that if I need to choose a bunch of pretty fresh herbs, I must stand of the lip of the cooler and knock a bunch of them down to find a good one. One more observation- while I think it's great that they provide jackets for you to wear inside the refrigerated section, it creeps me out to do so. Who knows what kind of parasites or skin ailments or baby wee-wee or poop has been in them or when they were last washed! I guess I get kind of a kinky thrill giving the butchers a peek at my "raisins".

I know it's a useful word, but I really hate "moist", and especailly seeing "moistness" on menus ( isn't the proper term "moisture" anyway?) It always makes me think of really sweaty people-not something to be associated with food. Ooooo-how about a '"gelatinous drizzle" to really make your day!

I've eaten at Delicia twice and found the food to be true to its name. Don't go there if you're in a hurry, though. It's a great place for leisurely dinners and people watching.

Just in case anyone is interested in places back down the Hudson River---- We moved to Cold Spring a few years ago and have been checking out the (limited) restaurant choices in the area. Le Bouchon (which everyone seems to rave about) has proven to be nothing but a totally frustrating experience. We have attemped on about 6 occasions to dine there only to be met with arbitrary opening times, mysteriously cancelled reservations, rude behavior from hosts and service personnel, indifferent service style and rather ordinary french cooking. We have given up and choose not to attempt it again. They instigated a spitting match with another local restaurant owner in our local paper which only made them appear worse and they use as an excuse to this day for any criticism of their lack of hospitality and professionalism. One restaurant not mentioned is the Riverview-everytime we go there our food and service has been excellent. The views of Storm King and Crows Nest Mtns are spectacular. The seafood is always fresh, oceany and delicious. They have a peanut soup with harissa that is great on a cold day (though there is really no entree that would accompany this soup very well.) The menu rotates frequently yet the regular offerings are consistently top notch. I've never had anything like a bad experience there. Catharines' Tuscan Grill has been good, but inconsistent in both food and service. For Mexican, try Casa Maya on Rt. 9 just south of I-84. They moved from a small hole in the wall in a delapidated strip mall further south. Don't order from the standard menu as it's all ordinary Tex Mex stuff with refried beans & rice. Instead, order from the specials menu where to cooks really show off their skills and the surprising combinations of foods from their home regions. The pozole is wonderful and the seafood offerings are fresh with zingy flavor treatments. I can't remember specific dishes, but they are always pleasantly surprising.

Ok here are a few peeves of mine that haven't yet been mentioned here: The bloke who fills his/her cart with a few things and gets in line to check out, THEN decides to do more shopping while leaving said cart still in the check out line. Somehow, I ALWAYS end up behind them. On a couple occasions I've moved their cart out of the way when the cashier opened up and the jerk was nowhere to be found. Then I had the pleasure of being dressed down by jerk when he comes back to find they're not in line anymore and have to start over. The folks who believe it's a great idea to bring the whole famn damily (Mom Dad, 4 kids, Grandma and Uncle Zippy) to the grocery store and block every aisle as they amble around. Those stupid kiddie car carts that are six times longer than any reasonable grocery cart and the Mom with 1 kid riding in the kiddie car who parks the thing at the edge of the end-cap blocking the end of the aisle. This is a classic and granted, I've only seen it once, but what a sight! I parked near the entrance of a Walmart superstore. As I was walking to the entrance, a van pulled into a handicapped spot and no less than five 300 pound+ family members got out and made their way to the entrance. As they entered each of them commandeered everyone of those mechanical carts for the handicapped. I'm sorry to sound so unforgiving, but since when is a 300 pound 13 year old really handicapped and not just a lazy fat ass and why does the whole family need individual carts? Can't they share one or even two, trading off when they become out of breath? Stores that inject 10-15% saline solution into their meat "for extra flavor" indicating the fact in very small print on the label. Thank you, I'd like to salt my meat myself, please. The unavailability of large quanitities of fresh sprouts-alfalfa, clover and mung being my favorite. Now you can only buy them in those little plastic boxes and they're usually slimey in the center anyway. Since a lot of my time is given to grocery shopping ( a vocational necessity) I make a few more additions later.

I had this problem a number of years ago when cleaning a case (yes, an entire case) of anaheim chilies. These are very mild, but the constant rubbing of the cut edges along my fingers caused them to burn and even blister! My whole hands turned bright red too. I tried the yogurt, cream milk, soap and water soak to no avail. I was in a lot of pain so I called poison control. They said they get calls about this most often from states in the southwest, not often from NY. The fellow on the other end of the line explained that capsaisin is a concentrated base, or alkaline, and that the burning is similar to a burn from lye, though obviously, not as bad. He suggested soaking my hands in ordinary vinegar as the acid in the vinegar neutralizes the base. I did that and the pain was gone instantaneously!! I still love chilies of any sort and now when I get the burn anywhere I go striaght to the bottle of white vinegar. I dilute 4:1 it if using it near my eyes and it still works. The use of milk products is popular and works in the mouth due to the lactic acid in milk, but the skin does not absorb it as quickly, I guess, so yogurt does not work as well for chili burns on the skin.

Thanks Johnny D. Regarding the question raised by TAprice about styling for television and movies. As with most questions about food styling, the answer is usually, "it depends." It depends what kind of tv you are shooting. If it's just a prop on a sound stage that actors move around and maybe eat, you usually just cook the food and plate it as you normally would at home. If it is for a TV food segment or cooking demo, we take a lot more care into finding beautiful ingredients and using props and arrangements that show off the food and make the demonstrater look knowlegable and competant. Now if you are shooting a TV commercial for a food product or venue, that is completely a horse of a different color. Many, many versions are made and switched out over many takes to get just the right image to edit in. For film, the food is usually used to set a mood for a scene and a lot of care is taken in getting it just right, but again, it depends on the movie. "The Age of Innocence" has some sumptuous and historically accurate food presentations, but the food in "Dirty Dancing" is hardly noticable and is not really necessary for driving the story or setting a mood. Generally, though, film and video tends to be rather forgiving because the camera usually just scans the food for a second or two and then moves on. Budget is really tight on most of these projects and it's really just cheaper to have a stylist prepare real food beautifully than to manufacture fakes. A funny quirk about our business though, in advertising and editorial realm, we are known as food stylists. In the video and motion picture biz we are known as home economists. Go figure.

Your question about self regulation is interesting. I guess we are mostly regulated by the market. By that I mean that our work is judged on a job by job basis by groups of people that can influence whether we are hired again or recommended to others looking for our services. Those people can be photographers, ad agency execs., media triainers, on screen talent, art directors, food editors, photo editors and studio managers. If you do good work, try to bring out the best in all the team members, and behave ethically your career continues to grow. If not, no one recommends you or calls back. Regarding advertising ethics and that kind of regulation, this is controlled by the client company's legal department. If you are working for a company like McD's, Kraft, or Unilever there is usually a representative from the company at the shoot to assure visual adherance to the reality of the food they produce. There is a lot more attention given to this issue than there used to be. This stems from a law suit (several others too) from about 20 years ago. It's kind of an interesting story. There was a large food company that was shooting an ad or packaging for some kind of chunky soup. The food stylist placed marbles in the bottom of the soup bowl to lift the ingredients in the soup to the surface, leaving the visual impression that there was a higher ratio of veggies and meat to broth than there really was. The food company was sued and had to pay a multi-million dollar fine and stop using the ad. You can't completely blame the stylist here. The ad agency and the client accepted the photo and chose to use it. For all we know, he or she was asked to manipulate the food in that way and was going along to keep the client happy. After that suit and several others, companies and food stylists are keenly aware of the need to truthfully represent the food. Smaller companies are not so vigilant about the reality of how they represent their product. I have been asked by clients to do all kinds of crazy stuff (especially by some who are fond of finding out what all our weird "tricks" are). Usually, if I gently let them know about their liability in such a situation, they back off. Some really don't care and insist I give them what they want, eventhough the photographer and I both know that their ad will not be that effective anyway. They are usually the clients that at some point go cheap on you anyway and muck everything up by their persistent meddling. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my work and my clients. I have the luxury of some experience so now I can forsee and avoid the nightmare shoot scenarios (for the most part). Besides, they are really just a small percentage of the jobs I get.

Ok guys, I thought I'd chime in here because, believe it or not, I am a professional food stylist and can speak with some knowledge of this issue. I've worked styling photos for many of these fast food places' ads and menu boards. In looking at the comparison photos, the styled food does not look significantly different from the "as received" food. Of course, even the styled food would not look as appetizing after being manhandled by a minimum wage teenager, wrapped in paper, shoved into a bag, several other items jammed on top, dumped on a counter, then swung back and forth while being juggled with a 32 ounce drink on its way to being dropped on a car seat and driven to another location then dumped again onto a counter, flipped over, unwrapped and photographed with indoor light by an amatuer photographer with a "point a shoot" camera. The purpose and function of these photos is to visually communicate to the customer each individual ingredient contained in the dish they plan to order AND of course, to encourage the customer to buy something they may find appetizing. This is so the minumum wage counter person does not have to memorize each ingredient in every offering and recite it to each and every customer. As a rule, we use real ingredients and in cases like this, are provided with all the ingredients by the company. Stylists take a lot of care to find and choose buns that have not had their tops crushed, burgers that are evenly formed, cheese slices without tears or wrinkles, tomatoes that are bright red and lettuce that is crisp, fresh and green. We cook and preserve burgers and meat to show texture and browning and make sure to stack the ingredients in such a way so that the consumer can easily see what is there. As far as "plastic food" I've never seen it or use it nor have I seen any other food stylist use it. Ever. Even ice cream, for the most part, is real ice cream. We just super freeze it in dry ice, so that it melts extremely slowly. I do occasionally make fake ice cream, but only for situations where it must stay on a set for long periods of time when I cannot change it out with a fresh scoop, or where budgetary reasons do not allow me to use multiple containers of ice cream (usually satellite media tours where we shoot 20 live food demos back to back). I don't know where to find any particular governmental regulations, other than general truth in advertising ones, that dictate specifically what can and cannot be done to food in what particular scenario. However, professional ethics required by our clients and agreed upon by credible, experienced food stylists require us to use real food and enhance appearence by using only real food products (like dabbing a little vegetable oil on a dull, dry spot). If we are advertising (selling) ice cream, we use real ice cream made by the particular company that is employing us. If however, we are selling the chocolate syrup that is poured over the ice cream we can employ fake ice cream to make the day go quicker and reduce the number of sundaes we must build. There are food stylists out there, and I know a few, who are very taken with using cheap tricks to make food look a certain way. My belief is that they do this to make their skills seem mysterious, inflate thier own sense of importance and make up for a lack of cooking skills. For the most part, those stylists are kind of old school and are definately in the minority. But in my experience, using all those styling tricks is much more difficult than choosing the most beauitful and appealing raw materials and preparing them with a lot of care and attention. Many people like to complain to me that their food never really looks the same as what they see in ads or in magazines. My reply is to encourage them to take their food next to a sunny window, touch thier nose to the edge of the plate and look at it closely from the same angle as the photo they saw (usually 0-20 degrees). Food always looks great in real sunlight and close up. I can't conclude this without a nod to the artistry of the photographer. Their expertise is truly remarkable. The human eye can discern over 300 different grades of light- a camera only 9-15. The skill a photographer has in controlling light and how it falls on and illuminates food is still alchemy to me. I'm always bowled over by what some of my photographic colleagues do with white cards, mirrors, sheer curtains, glass and other items to create a beautiful food picture. It's also very interesting to see how challenging shooting food can be for photographers who don't specialize in it (ie high paid fashion photographers). For any of you who are great cooks and think this is a line of work that would be easy and fund to do, here are a few realities to consider: 1-every shoot is a location shoot. You must pack and transport everything you might need including knives, pans, work tables, dishwashing bins (and sometimes water), portable stoves and refrigeration in addition to all your raw materials. 2-most jobs are freelance. There are very few places that have on-staff food stylists. 3-you are part of a team; the other members of which you usually meet for the first time on the day of the shoot. Your work is only as good, in the eyes of the client, as the weakest member of that team. The team is made up of art director, the ad agency rep, the photographer, the prop stylist and the food stylist. Any one of those people can make your work day a joy or a living hell. 4-there are many reasons for your phone to stop ringing with calls from prospective clients. The ad market (remember 9/11/01? I had three months of upcoming work cancel on 9/12/01), your attitude and flexibility, your ability to schedule at the last minute among myriad others. 5-There are only a few places in the US where there is significant demand for stylists. New York, Los Angeles and the areas surrounding Chicago to Minneapolis where the large food corporations have their headquarters. 6-This is the BIG one. You must buy all of your equipment and raw materials up front out of your own pocket AND a stylist doesn't usually see any pay for his or her work OR EXPENSES! for 60-90 days after the job is done. If you are still interested, email me. I am always looking for a good assistant.

I'm not sure I believe all these "back in the day" statements. Only if "back in the day" means "last week." By the way, is anybody, ANYBODY familiar with a Pluto Bar? or maybe a Flower Power?

I wish cocoa nibs were more widely available. One way I love to use them is grind them to a texture like espresso coffee and run it with a little coffee through my espresso maker, maybe with a pinch of cinnamon or chili powder. Dark, rich, scrumptiously delicious. Plus, all the health benefits built right in.