When a staff becomes a family.

As small business owners, there are things  that frustrate us on a regular basis. Mostly wearing too many hats and not having enough time to fulfill all of our jobs in a timely manner. The rewards, however, at the end of the day, far outweigh the negatives. If you are very lucky, you get a crew that clicks and becomes its own family. This photo was taken at a baby shower for one of our Old Town crew, Madeline. The fact that even the male co-workers are in attendance genuinely show their affection for our new Mom, her baby Madison was born yesterday. (Although free drinks probably helped insure their presence!)  When you have a crew that enjoys and looks out for one another, they are truly a pleasure to be around.  Laughter in the workplace among employees that like each other is music to our ears. Again, like Mom and Dad, when laughter turns to silliness, we have to step in and gets the kids back to focus on work. Don't tell our staff, but this is the scolding that makes us feel like we really are a family!

Visiting A Farmer's Market on Vacation?

I admit, it might seem a bit strange to seek out a farmer's market while on a hotel based vacation. The reason you go to a farmer's market is to buy the fresh produce and food you are planning to turn into delicious nature-inspired dishes over the next few days. Really fresh food requires only the slightest of preparation, nature delivers things that are pretty darned tasty when they are first harvested! So what is point in admiring food you are not actually able to cook with? A good market is sooo much more than just what the vendors are selling. It is about the connection to the land, the farmers, the food community that enjoys the market, the tastes, the musicians, the children and even the dogs. The people you intermingle with in a market community  will usually give you the best tourist experience a city unknowingly offers. You all have something in common, and it is easy to get the folks here to share stories, and cooking tips.

A Fond Farewell to a Longstanding Customer

This past Monday, June 1^st, my husband and partner, Tom, was working the Evanston shop. We rehashed the day in the evening, as we often do when working in different shops. He said his day was a pretty difficult day overall, the manager had the day off, and many Monday-is-the-day-when-everything-goes-wrong type things occurred.   Then something happened late in the day to remind him of the reason we love this little business.  Why we are so proud of it, and also,  so humbled by the way in which our customers enjoy our products.