Category Archives: Starting a Business Stories

Why Animals are better than Computers

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Daylight Savings Time has a way of wreaking havoc on computer systems.  I mention this because I set out to post about the Colorado Springs Local Foods Meetup March events this morning, but I can’t get WordPress to post the pictures.  What is a post about food without pictures?

I blame this on the time change.

Things like this used to happen twice a year at the big corporation where I worked for ten years.  The computers didn’t know what time it was anymore, and they got all tied up in knots.  Paralyzed with anxiety, they would simply stop or they would frantically start doing things that didn’t make any sense.

Computers are surprisingly rigid about these sorts of things.

This does not happen on the Homestead.  We are very adaptable.  The chickens were pleasantly surprised when I let them out earlier.  The cats and dogs merely wondered if I was going out of town, which is what usually happens when I get up early.

Even the coffeemaker adapted well, since we just push the “on” button when we get up.

Why do we change the time twice a year?  It seems like an awful lot of trouble.  What time will we eat?  How do we know when to get up?  How will we remember what time it is in Arizona?

I would write to Congress to suggest they pick a time and stick to it, but they never listen to me.  Instead, I’ll just post this pictureless essay and spend the day being grateful my homestead is not governed by confused machines.  Everything will go pretty smoothly.

Even if no one around here knows what time it is.

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© 2013 Hungry Chicken Homestead

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Urban Cupcakes: The Cupcake Girls Downtown

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The cupcake flavors were ET Phone Home, Eat Your Greens, Pink Velvet and something we devoured before it had a chance to tell me its name.

I can’t take credit for this lovely picture. I’ve borrowed it from the Cupcake Girls website.

The Cupcake Girls, energetic bakers of creatively flavored (and named) cupcakes, have just opened a store at E. Platte and N. Weber.  I’ve been waiting for this store since they described the concept at a DivaDOM (Dessert of the Month Club) outing last year.  The Cupcake Girls have only been in business for a year or so.  They rapidly built their business through smart marketing, beautiful cupcakes and what I believe is sheer force of will.

The shop is cool, uncluttered and has wifi, making it the perfect spot to linger over a cupcake and a cup of Colorado Coffee Merchants’ coffee with your laptop.  It caters to its urban clientele and the interior acts as an extension of the neighborhood.  Andrea and Lisa, the owners, found lovely secondhand pieces of furniture, which they’ve used to create a shop that invites you to linger.  It’s a comfortable space, like an old house, which makes sense since most of their cupcakes come from family recipes.

They feature four flavors each day, which you can buy as mini or full size cupcakes.  They also have cupcake shaped cookies and brownies.  Want specific flavors?  Not only will they take orders for your party, but they’ll rent you a cupcake stand to display them!

 

I walked in and the conversation went like this.

Me:  “I’d like one of each, please.”

Lisa:  “Would you like mini or regular cupcakes?”

Me:  “Mini, please.  I’m overwhelmed by regular cupcakes.”

Lisa:  “I remember you from the DivaDOM event.  You only took one bite of each cupcake.”

It’s true.  I admit it.  A person my size can’t taste every cupcake in town without the risk of needing a new wardrobe, but I promise I carefully savor those single bites.  I’m just saving room for the next visit and the next batch of cupcakes.  Next time I’ll get all their names before biting into them.

The Cupcake Girls on Urbanspoon

“Purveyors of Fizzy Living”: Squeak Soda Shop

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Let’s start with the name.  I love the name.

Squeak!  Makes you think of a kitten greeting you or a puppy chewing on his toy, doesn’t it?

Several fun loving members of the Colorado Springs Local Foods Meetup group met last Thursday for ice cream, sodas and sandwiches.  It was an eclectic group, ranging from a young military wife to a long lost friend of mine, to a friendly young man who reminded me of my late husband in our younger days.

My favorite thing about Squeak Soda Shop is the soda.  Not that I drink soda very often.  In fact, I just threw out a year old case of Pepsi someone brought for a party last year.  But Squeak’s 70 flavors always draw me in.  They’ll make the soda with sugar or Splenda or neither, to your specifications.  Ask for lots of sugar or hardly any, and they’ll make it just the way you want.  They will also make it with or without color.


I usually get the lavender soda, but this time I threw caution to the wind and tried a cucumber soda with minimal sugar.  It was so good!  I forgot to request no color, so it’s green.  Green makes a better picture anyway.

I knew about the soda, but what I did not know … listen up small business owners and wedding planners … is that Squeak makes custom sodas with custom labels.  In other words, I could order 50 or 100 or 1000 clear cucumber sodas and they would put my Hungry Chicken Homestead label on it.  (Cucumber is appropriate because chickens like cucumbers).

 

Just think!  I could hand them out at networking events or raffle them off at the upcoming Colorado Springs Community Alliance Community Dinner!  Ooo!  Good idea!  Maybe I will!

All in all, we had a great time.  The panini cheese sandwiches were delicious and don’t get me started on the Death By Chocolate ice cream.  Our hostess, Bethany, made it into a shake for me and I lived to tell the delicious tale.

We hardly even got to the retro candy and the Wii.  I had to ask for the Wii controllers.  Bethany explained that she had to cut a few youngsters off earlier in the day and had them behind the counter.  Oddly enough, we hardly saw any children that afternoon.  One adult after another streamed into the shop, keeping the place hopping!

Look for Squeak at Rockrimmon and Vindicator, in the shopping center with the Safeway.  You’ll know it when you see the cheerfully colored patio wall.

Among other things, it says, “No Curmudgeons Allowed”, not that anyone could remain a curmudgeon within its happy walls.

Squeak Soda Shop on Urbanspoon

Shoo fly. Don’t bother me. I’m enjoying my coffee at Stir.

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I didn’t ask the most obvious question.

What on earth is a Shoo Fly Pie and why do we call it that?  Does it contain raisins?  Raisins kind of look like flies.  I have learned recently that it is not a “shoe”-fly pie, which would suggest flying shoes, a concept that has doesn’t make sense at all.

 

 

Obviously, I had never encountered such a pie until I visited Stir, the new coffee shop in Bonn Shopping Center at Wasatch and E. Jackson St.

 

 

 

It was 7:30 AM, a bit too early for me to eat or think about pie and I’m sorry to say I didn’t try it.  I also have to admit I’m not sure which of these is the shoo fly pie, though both of them look mouth-watering as I write this after dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I did do was drink a lovely and delicious latte.  Stir buys the espresso from R&R Coffee Cafe, a shop in Black Forest that roasts as well as serves coffee.

The best part of the experience for me was meeting the owner!  I saw her behind the counter and said, “Hey!  I know you!”

Sabrina had worked at Colorado Coffee Merchants, another favorite coffee shop of mine.  She told me she had wanted to open a shop for some time and decided to take the plunge when the interesting space Stir now occupies became available.

I love that!  I love that a person can be working for someone else one day and the next time you see her, she’s the owner of her own coffee shop!  It’s the American Dream in action.  With hard work, good friends and a little luck, you can live the life you choose.

Here are Sabrina, her sister and a happy young man, living that life.

 

Stir is a comfortable spot with good coffee, and Sabrina and her sister make the pies.  (Uh oh!  See that statement corrected below).  I hope you’ll check it out.  If you like it, visit again and support this local endeavor.

And will someone please, please tell me what a shoo-fly pie is!  I’ll try it, but only if it didn’t get the name from raisins!

(Correction:  Sabrina wrote to give pie credit where credit is due.  Most of the pies are made by Jackie Conway, with the occasional experiment in-house.  Whoever makes them, they sure look good!)

Stir on Urbanspoon

An urban store for urban homesteaders: Buckley’s Homestead Supply

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Remember the Great Pickle Experiment from last summer? I made fermented pickles in half gallon Ball jars, causing friends and family to be concerned about the science experiment bubbling on my counter. I made them in the jars because I do not own a pickle crock. So you can imagine my excitement when I attended the Grand Opening of Buckley’s Homestead Supply and they held a raffle for just such a crock!

That’s my kind of store.

 

 

I didn’t win the raffle, but I feel like I hit the jackpot with the shop. It’s hardly a mile from my homestead, in a friendly looking building at West Colorado Ave and 15th Street. They have everything I need, from chicken feed to soap making supplies and even a cheese press!

“I’m so tired of plain goat cheese,” I said on the phone. “Do you have the culture to make chevre? I haven’t been able to find it anywhere.”

“We do have that,” was the response.

See. Jackpot.

Owners Ed and Allison Buckley mind the shop, answering questions and sharing stories with customers. I mentioned my pickles fermenting in their jars and Allison shared her grandfather’s story.

“My grandmother made those same pickles in jars, but she screwed the lids on too tight. My grandfather said they were sitting quietly in the house when …

BOOM!!”

The fermentation gasses couldn’t escape and the jars exploded. It wasn’t just one jar, either. Since they were started at about the same time, they exploded at short intervals, like pickled demolition explosives.

“My grandfather loved to tell that story,” Allison said.

In addition to great stories, Buckley’s also has a great selection of canning supplies. They have beautiful, high quality water bath canners, and pressure canners too. They also have Ball and Weck jars, as well as the salts and pectins you might need for your recipes.

Sign up for my next canning class on Tuesday July 17th, if you’d like to learn how to use the water bath canner. Local farms have an abundance of fruit right now and it’s a great opportunity to save some money and eat local all winter!

And whatever homesteading activity you’re working on, check out Buckley’s for supplies. Especially if you’re making fermented pickles. Those pickle crocks might just be more important than we think!

Five Reasons You’ll Love Her Story Cafe (Or Mac and Cheese and me)

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I have two words for you.  Ranch Seasoning.

Ranch seasoning in the macaroni and cheese is the first reason you should visit Her Story Cafe.  In fact, go right now.  I’d hate for you to miss the mac & cheese if the cafe runs out.

Yes.  It’s that good.  The cheese sauce is made from scratch and lightly seasoned.  The macaroni has just the right texture, not too hard and not too soft.  I devoured this warm, creamy bowl so fast, I burned my tongue.  (Note to self:  Please be more patient next time.  The mac & cheese isn’t going to sprout legs and run away).

Reason #2

If you’re a history buff or the parent of one (or would like to be), visit the cafe for its women’s history theme.  The sandwiches have names like the Sally Ride Blast and the Molly Brown.

Liz named her most recent offering, the Jerri Marr Sandwich platter, after the highly capable U.S Forest Service supervisor who recently kept us informed about the Waldo Canyon Fire.  Choose three sandwiches and two sides for $10.  Share the platter and the story with a daughter who needs a role model.

Reason #3

The cafe is bright and cheerful, with very reasonable prices.  A good, home cooked lunch can be had for less than $10 and eaten in a clean space with plenty to spark conversation.  If the women’s history theme doesn’t provide enough inspiration, check out the story board where colorful sticky notes finish sentences like “I am proud of…” and “I promise to …”

Reason #4

My lunch companion heard this statement during our conversation.

“So I put the kittens in the bathroom so Snowball could eat after … HEY!  THERE’S A BANANA IN MY BANANA PUDDING!!”

Ok, so maybe I got a little overexcited.  But actual slices of banana were hiding in the Jane Goodall Banana Pudding.  I wasn’t expecting the pleasure of fresh fruit!

Reason #5

Liz, the owner, is reason #5 and maybe the best one of all.  She built this business from scratch (just like the mac & cheese!) and now she’s busy promoting other people’s businesses as well as her own.  She wants to see the southeast quadrant of this city thrive.

After the dreadful Waldo Canyon fire, I’m not the only one who can claim to know something about the importance of community in hard times.  You know it too.  We all want to contribute and with the interruption in tourism, small businesses especially need our patronage now.

When you need a sandwich, drive past the chains and check out a business owned by your neighbors, owned by people with a stake in Colorado Springs; stop by a business like Her Story Cafe.

Her Story Cafe and Lunch Truck on Urbanspoon

Class Schedule

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“Squawk!  We have classes on the schedule!  Make us some jelly!  Squawk! Make us some jelly!”

That’s what the chickens said this morning when I told them I’ve scheduled some water bath canning classes.  It’s not that they are so fond of jelly, but they love the scraps.  Last year, we had little purple chicken footprints all over the place after a class where we made beet pickles and fruit is even better!

I have three classes on the schedule.  The first, on June 5th, will be a jelly class.  We’ll talk about pectin and how it makes juice jell.  We’ll also talk about the role of sugar, how to make no-sugar jelly with another kind of pectin and how to use other sweeteners.

The class on July 17th will be sponsored by Grant Farms.  I asked for the best date to get rhubarb and Megan suggested the third week in July, but cautioned that it’s impossible to know for sure when it will be ready.  She’ll bring fresh fruit.  It may be rhubarb, but it may be something else, like apricots.  We’ll talk about different ways to can fruit, including different concentrations of sugar syrup and, my favorite, canning in fruit juice.

Venetucci Farm will host the third class, in August.  We haven’t settled on a date yet, but it will be a Saturday morning.  Last year, we were just in time for the beet harvest.  We’ll pickle a vegetable harvested from the farm and talk about the role of pickling in food preservation.  This class is held outdoors on the farm at the same time as the farmstand.  You can learn to can the produce and then get more to try it at home!

Each class has 12 spaces and costs $30.  Sign up by emailing me at bonnie@HungryChickenHomestead.com or go to the Class Schedule page and click on the Buy Now button for the class you’re interested in.

Canning gives you the power to preserve the local harvest and continue to eat locally through the winter.  I know this for a fact!  I bought a preserving share from Grant Farms last year and as soon as I finish this essay, I’m going to eat a breakfast of peaches canned in cherry juice with a little cherry-almond preserves.

I’ll add a strawberry or two, as well, and I’ll save the tops.  The chickens need their scraps!

 

Chickens stealing whatever scraps they can get. In this case it was tapioca balls.

Changes

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Happy new year!  It seems everything is changing all the time, isn’t it?

It’s true with the chickens.  They could have written a great Christmas letter this year!  A year ago they had just started laying eggs and now two of them have completed the infamous second year molt.  Actually, Specklehead recently started her two year molt, just as the others were finishing.  Redhead hasn’t molted at all, which is evident from her tattered wing feathers.  Everybody has to do things their own way, I suppose.

That last statement includes me (a.k.a, Food Bearing Monkey).  I’ve cancelled the Fermentation series due to lack of enrollment and you may notice the Class Schedule page is missing.  I have some opportunities to work on the development of programs for local organizations and have decided to focus on those instead of classes, for the time being.

This won’t be the end of classes, though.  Sign up for emails (on the sidebar to the right), if you’re interested in hearing about them in the future.  We have many small food businesses in Colorado Springs and I am working with some of them to offer special classes.  For example, Maun of Maun’s Rib ‘N’ Roll and I will offer a class highlighting a traditional Indochinese dish and Michelle of Simply Bliss Desserts and I have talked about a cupcake decorating class.

Sign up to stay tuned for the next episode in our homesteading and entrepreneurial adventures!

The December CSA Delivery from Grant Farms. Food for Everyone!!

Where is Everybody?

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Hello again,

You’re probably all wondering what happened to me. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything! I got word in early June that Chickens in the Kitchen, the business the chickens and I are running, had been admitted to the Colorado Farm and Art Market. Since all my prior work experience had been in the corporate world and the chickens are only a year old, we’ve been scrambling (no pun intended) to figure out how to run a small food business.

We … well, I am at the Fine Arts Center market on Wednesdays from 3PM – 7PM.  Stop by and say hello, if you’re in the neighborhood!  It’s a great place to do a little shopping.  I’ve been buying ingredients from the other vendors and incorporating them into ready to eat foods, like dill casserole bread and ginger peach muffins.

The menu is a little different every week, so the chickens and I send out a newsletter on Tuesdays.  You can see a sample and even subscribe by clicking on that link.

It’s hard work, but I’m having the time of my life trying to start this business.  I’ve been calling it my “homemade MBA”.  I’m learning all about the world of entrepreneurship, all about the American dream.

The chickens, in the meantime, are enthusiastically digging up the backyard and obligingly spreading a bale of straw around.  They raid the compost pile every morning.  Well … I call it the compost pile, but there isn’t any compost because the birds eat all the fruit and vegetable scraps.  They have daily meetings under the deck.  I know this because I can hear them talking whenever I stand at the door.  They run around the yard, roost on the log and lay good eggs which I promptly steal.  We’re all very happy, very lucky and peace rules the roost.

Survey

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An interesting life generates interesting problems. I learned last week that someone has recently trademarked the phrase “Urban Homesteading”. I guess that means I shouldn’t call my business “Hungry Chicken Urban Homesteading”, like I had planned.

I’m solving this problem by doing business in Colorado under the name, “Chickens in the Kitchen”. What do you think?

In the meantime, want to help me figure out how to bridge the gap between local farms and local dinner tables? Here is a survey. It only has a few questions and I really appreciate any responses. Starting a business is a big, scary undertaking and you know what they say …. Knowledge is Power. In my case, it will be the power to make this crazy idea work!

Click here to take survey