Spring Fever!

Today the thermometer jumped into the 70's on a Saturday and I was thrilled to throw open the windows, throw off my shoes, and get moving! After a few months of depressing economy news, unemployment (my part time job expired in December), and cold weather keeping the dogs, baby, husband and I cooped up, today was a rebirth. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as warm; it's great for getting the creative juices flowing, especially with the extra hour of sunlight we'll gain tomorrow! Zouga has been hibernating a bit, with me getting our books in order and Kether picking up some extra shifts at Laurey's, her other "job". We're thinking of growing bigger still but have some business deals to iron down in order to do so. The website is next......I hope.

February ...

It's been pretty quiet for us the past month. After the rush of the Christmas season we've taken some time to reflect on which direction to take our business. We've been puttering along, working on the never-ending red tape of running a business, getting our taxes done, developing a business card and sample package; as well as how to package and sell our delicious product. The economy is nutso right now, with many many people losing jobs, restaurants closing left and right, and no end in sight to the "global financial meltdown". All more the reason for people to indulge in something sweet and chewy, to cheer them up and warm their discontented spirits. Buy Zouga!

The birth of Zouga....

Once upon a time Kether was pregnant with twins, (really it's only been two years, but that seems like forever ago)... and she was craving nougat, the kind she remembered eating with her relatives in France. Alas, she couldn't find any here in Asheville ; she had to send for it from the old country when she was just a (insert witty French term for little girl/tot). She called me, (I was pregnant as well) waxing poetic about the chewy nut and honey confection. She couldn't get enough! Or maybe it was the twins who couldn't?
Only one yummy bite later and I was hooked too! After many, many home batches later, we took the plunge in December, moving into the incubator kitchen here in town where we can produce nougat for the masses! We're really excited about joining 1000 markets, developing our store, and finding our adoring fans.

Back into the kitchen!

We hadn't planned to produce any more nougat before Christmas but thanks to our standing orders and very sucessful day at the City Market yesterday we're headed back to Blue Ridge Food Ventures to make more salty peanut and cherry almond Zouga nougat! !

The BIG mixer rocks my world.

Itching to work on Zouga

We've got so much to do! The to-do list just keeps getting longer and longer and Evie's naps just keep getting shorter and shorter...
On Thursday we were working in the incubator kitchen alongside local apple farmers making fresh applesauce. There was also a local chef making vegan chili, plus a 3rd generation jam maker (Imadris Farms) working on his product, too. We traded some plastic bags for fresh applesauce, and some nougat for chili. What fun! We met with the Small Business Center Director Jill Sparks and had a really productive meeting with her about branding and wholesale contracts. Thus the to-do list. We're going back on Sunday to package again and tweak the peanut recipe a bit. The dads are getting together to watch Ian, Grant, and Evie while we work. I wish we could do this everyday!

So much to do,

not nearly enough baby free hours to work in. Tomorrow we'll finish printing our labels, Thursday we go back to the kitchen to package the rest of the first batch of nougat as well as meet with someone to review our business plan, and Sunday we'll go back to start on batch two. Whew! We've got orders to fill, thank goodness, and we'd love to get our Zouga in stores in town by the middle of the week.

It's really that good.

Okay, you can't even imagine how much nougat we've eaten over the last few months. Yet I can't stop eating the walnut raisin Zouga. Kether sent me home with the scraps from the first batch, tiny bite size noogies, if you will, and I've actually put them out of sight to stop myself.

We started the time consuming, labor intensive process of handcutting and hand packaging the first batch of nougat. We packed a ton of samples and about 50 bars on our first go round. Plus more than a few Christmas presents. We'll go back Monday to finish?!