Hello Extended SweetArt Family!!
Thank you for tuning in to this week's SweetArt Happenings. We truly appreciate the love and support as we learn the art of business. It's an art, honey, and some week's it's not easy.
This week's special is the Flora. Remember that? Our spinach and herb hummus wrapped with mixed greens, tomatoes, carrots, and avocado with a drizzle of love? So fresh. So delicious. So try it this week. It will be here all this week.
You will notice a few new things in the shop this week. The first major thing is our hours. We will be opening up Tuesday-Friday from 8am-6pm. Why so early, you ask. Well, the other new thing is our espresso machine. We will finally be making lattes! And during this first week, we're taking off a sizable percentage to all who order between 8am and 10am Tuesday-Friday of this week! How large of a percentage? You'll have to come in to find out!
The other new things you'll notice are the tables. We have our first delivery of certified-green and locally-sourced wood tables from Mwanzi Co., a Green Building Supply Company here in St. Louis, Missouri! Visit them at www.mwanzi.com We don't know if we are the first bakeshop/cafe in St. Louis to have a community table (a large table where many people/groups can sit together...you may not know each other, but that's the beauty of it all!) We started SweetArt to bring the community together and what better way than through a community table? We are so excited, and we hope you enjoy these tables as much as we do!
We've been doing some great things with our house-made puff pastry--namely our Puff Pockets: sweet or savory filled goodies wrapped in flaky puff pastry. It has become the new and improved muffin (in our eyes).
We are booked this Friday and Saturday for all custom orders. We apologies to those who were planning on ordering this week, but we have somehow booked up with orders and weddings (praise GOD!!) We will have PLENTY of cupcakes and other goodies on each of those days, so please be sure to visit us and get what you need.
This week's goody: try to love yourself. As always, I'm speaking mainly to myself. We can be so critical of all we do and all we are. I've decided to do a 40-day self-love cleanse where I say nothing negative about myself, and where I say something positive throughout the day about how glorious I am! It's not easy, but really--it should be. I bet I'm not alone with this one--especially as the season changes and shorts and sleeveless tops are required for the heat. It would be great to wake-up, put on my clothes, and say, "Damn, gone girl with yo' fine self!"--instead of the usual self-critical, non-loving verbage. 40-days. Wanna join me?
Thank you to you all for the love and support. Hope to see you this week!
grace & peace,
Reine, Cbabi, and the entire SweetArt crew!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sweet Happening May 10th-14th
Hello Extended SweetArt Family!
The weather is finally breaking (and it's officially time to get the ac fixed in our car), but more importantly--luscious fruits and veggies are beckoning us to put them in pies and tarts, make curds out of them and put them in cupcakes and shells of puff pastry (that we make in house-from scratch, bien sur, and whip them into buttercreams to fill between whoopee pies. And, just in case you didn't know, when fruit is added to any dessert, the calories and fat magically disappear. I know, I know--I didn't believe it at first either, but it's proven science in the In Your Dreams Journal of From-Scratch Baking.
This week we're introducing two new cupcakes: Grace and Tropical Getaway. Grace is a chocolate cupcake filled with raspberry curd and topped with white chocolate buttercream and a fresh raspberry sitting all-pretty-like in the middle of fluffy ridiculousness. Tropical Getaway is a surprise shocker (a surprise because I don't usually like coconut). This little gem is a golden vanilla butter cake filled with key lime curd and topped with coconut Italian meringue buttercream and toasted coconut. Not that it has to be said, but, we make all of our curds in-house, from-scratch without any junk ingredients. That's why it tastes so familiarly good. Is familiarly a word? Alas, who cares, it's good. Stop in this week to welcome the new babies
You've seen a change in faces in some parts of SweetArt. We have some new crew in the house! And this is the first time I have EVER spoken about our staff, and I can now because they are all good! This bunch feels like a family unit (finally). For however long everyone stays, I am happy to have them all. Our baking staff is Lisa, Tamar and Ken and myself (of course). On lunch we have Lena, Michelle and Annette. And for counter charmers we have Rena, Sympho and Laura. Fred is the dish engineer and cupcake-case refiller on Saturdays and we are working hard and loving what we do.
GLUTEN-FREE GLUTEN-FREE!!! After years of requests for gluten-free goodies we finally have a daily gluten-free AND vegan cupcake. Although we are still a bakeshop that uses gluten, we make our gluten-free cupcakes first thing in the morning on separate equipment and while using separate ingredients (obviously gluten-free flours) we also use separate baking powder, salt, etc. We want to keep things as safe as possible. For now, our gluten-free goodies are also vegan because that has been the most requested.
Our menu has changed...and I want to keep it the way it is for a while...or atleast until I tire of it:) Our Sweet Burger, Flad Burrito, Klemm and Shaw paninis are staples, while our Vegan Philly Cheezesteak, Vegan Banh Mi, and Magnolia Sandwich are our newbies. Try something new if you always get the same thing; it will be delicious!
Our sandwich special this week is a Hot "ham" & cheese panini: vegan ham, white cheddar, caramelized onion jam and a fantastic mustard are grilled to perfection on Companion's Bada Bind Hoagie roll. We have two salads: our Greek Salad which always gets love and a candied almond-cherry-goat cheese diddy that is so good I had it for lunch--it's the truth. Need it vegan? Just say "no goat cheese, please" and we'll make it happen.
What would you like to see as a special in the shop? The old Botanical? How about the Flora with the spinach and herb hummus? Anyone a fan of pimento cheese (or is it just me? I am from Tennessee, after all)? We are taking requests for what we are calling, "You choose next week's special!" Think seasonally if you can--it's cheaper for us:)
Also, drop your business card in our bucket (or a piece of paper with your info on it). Each month we will be choosing a winner of our "Happy Un-Birthday Cake"...cause cake tastes better when it's for no reason at all! We will make a 6-inch cake of your choice for you to enjoy with some friends or family or no one at all(we won't tell!)
As always, we couldn't do this without you. We are so so so grateful for your support and encouragement. We do what we do because of you.
grace & peace,
Reine, Cbabi and the Entire SweetArt Crew!
The weather is finally breaking (and it's officially time to get the ac fixed in our car), but more importantly--luscious fruits and veggies are beckoning us to put them in pies and tarts, make curds out of them and put them in cupcakes and shells of puff pastry (that we make in house-from scratch, bien sur, and whip them into buttercreams to fill between whoopee pies. And, just in case you didn't know, when fruit is added to any dessert, the calories and fat magically disappear. I know, I know--I didn't believe it at first either, but it's proven science in the In Your Dreams Journal of From-Scratch Baking.
This week we're introducing two new cupcakes: Grace and Tropical Getaway. Grace is a chocolate cupcake filled with raspberry curd and topped with white chocolate buttercream and a fresh raspberry sitting all-pretty-like in the middle of fluffy ridiculousness. Tropical Getaway is a surprise shocker (a surprise because I don't usually like coconut). This little gem is a golden vanilla butter cake filled with key lime curd and topped with coconut Italian meringue buttercream and toasted coconut. Not that it has to be said, but, we make all of our curds in-house, from-scratch without any junk ingredients. That's why it tastes so familiarly good. Is familiarly a word? Alas, who cares, it's good. Stop in this week to welcome the new babies
You've seen a change in faces in some parts of SweetArt. We have some new crew in the house! And this is the first time I have EVER spoken about our staff, and I can now because they are all good! This bunch feels like a family unit (finally). For however long everyone stays, I am happy to have them all. Our baking staff is Lisa, Tamar and Ken and myself (of course). On lunch we have Lena, Michelle and Annette. And for counter charmers we have Rena, Sympho and Laura. Fred is the dish engineer and cupcake-case refiller on Saturdays and we are working hard and loving what we do.
GLUTEN-FREE GLUTEN-FREE!!! After years of requests for gluten-free goodies we finally have a daily gluten-free AND vegan cupcake. Although we are still a bakeshop that uses gluten, we make our gluten-free cupcakes first thing in the morning on separate equipment and while using separate ingredients (obviously gluten-free flours) we also use separate baking powder, salt, etc. We want to keep things as safe as possible. For now, our gluten-free goodies are also vegan because that has been the most requested.
Our menu has changed...and I want to keep it the way it is for a while...or atleast until I tire of it:) Our Sweet Burger, Flad Burrito, Klemm and Shaw paninis are staples, while our Vegan Philly Cheezesteak, Vegan Banh Mi, and Magnolia Sandwich are our newbies. Try something new if you always get the same thing; it will be delicious!
Our sandwich special this week is a Hot "ham" & cheese panini: vegan ham, white cheddar, caramelized onion jam and a fantastic mustard are grilled to perfection on Companion's Bada Bind Hoagie roll. We have two salads: our Greek Salad which always gets love and a candied almond-cherry-goat cheese diddy that is so good I had it for lunch--it's the truth. Need it vegan? Just say "no goat cheese, please" and we'll make it happen.
What would you like to see as a special in the shop? The old Botanical? How about the Flora with the spinach and herb hummus? Anyone a fan of pimento cheese (or is it just me? I am from Tennessee, after all)? We are taking requests for what we are calling, "You choose next week's special!" Think seasonally if you can--it's cheaper for us:)
Also, drop your business card in our bucket (or a piece of paper with your info on it). Each month we will be choosing a winner of our "Happy Un-Birthday Cake"...cause cake tastes better when it's for no reason at all! We will make a 6-inch cake of your choice for you to enjoy with some friends or family or no one at all(we won't tell!)
As always, we couldn't do this without you. We are so so so grateful for your support and encouragement. We do what we do because of you.
grace & peace,
Reine, Cbabi and the Entire SweetArt Crew!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Reacquaint Yourself...
The other day I found one of my old business cards...when the company's name was
Moon* Day*Soul Treats. On the back of the card I had information about our baking philosophy...always from scratch, no hard-to-pronounce, weirdo ingredients, etc. That is still our philosophy years later, and for that, I am very, very proud.
But what struck me was the last tag line: Reacquaint yourself with the old-school way of baking. Some of us have been fortunate enough to have a grandmother, great-aunt, Papa and maybe even mother, who took the time to bring those eggs to room temperature, sift some flour, cream some butter, and make some magic just for us. That is all we are trying to do at SweetArt. We get so excited when something delicious turns out just right. We're using ingredients that were kept at-ready in my grandmother's pantry. And we always will. And that people come in everyday to see what came out of the oven still blows my mind. So honored to do what I do...and so thankful to have good customers.
So, I know swimsuit season is approaching (I know, honey, I'm doing Zumba to offset the "taste-testing"--note the quotation marks :), but don't let that stop you from reacquainting yourself with the old-school way of baking. We do it everyday...and just for you.
grace & peace,
Reine
Moon* Day*Soul Treats. On the back of the card I had information about our baking philosophy...always from scratch, no hard-to-pronounce, weirdo ingredients, etc. That is still our philosophy years later, and for that, I am very, very proud.
But what struck me was the last tag line: Reacquaint yourself with the old-school way of baking. Some of us have been fortunate enough to have a grandmother, great-aunt, Papa and maybe even mother, who took the time to bring those eggs to room temperature, sift some flour, cream some butter, and make some magic just for us. That is all we are trying to do at SweetArt. We get so excited when something delicious turns out just right. We're using ingredients that were kept at-ready in my grandmother's pantry. And we always will. And that people come in everyday to see what came out of the oven still blows my mind. So honored to do what I do...and so thankful to have good customers.
So, I know swimsuit season is approaching (I know, honey, I'm doing Zumba to offset the "taste-testing"--note the quotation marks :), but don't let that stop you from reacquainting yourself with the old-school way of baking. We do it everyday...and just for you.
grace & peace,
Reine
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