Pictures??

Busy week and we're off to the Races!

A Catering Gig tomorrow and 2 more over the weekend! HEre is to CAtering picking up and keeping us busy!

In fact, store sales are still great!

Looking forward to an interior shots shoot with Kelly on the 1st as well! (www.kellymossphotography.com)

Slowly going to be adding to the website through it!

In fact, here is a picture that Kelly took a few weeks ago. We're using it in a Homes Tour for Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

You'll notice that the second photo includes our Favourite beer ! ! (www.beaus.ca)

I'm working on September Menus as we speak.... its coming... slowly... AND also working on our first Classes.

Keep those eyes peeled (or sign up for our Newsletter info@cibouletteetcie.ca) and be the first to hear about classes, evening private dinners... For those of you who know my Buddy Bruce who is now on the West Coast... HE's coming to visit in September which means we'll be selling a few seats........

Other then that, nothing much is new on the home front so I'll leave it at that!!!

AS

Vite-Faite

so today was a good day, got lots done, Jen and I (mostly Jen Actually) pickled some beautiful Onions and Beans(SPICY) from the Village Garden, all Organic, in Lafontaine! I will get some pics tomorrow I hope!

Just wanted to share avec mes amis Francophone!

J'ai oublié de mentionner que nous avons eu de la visite chez Ciboulette la semaine dernière!

Radio Radio! ya ya ya! Y sont venus souper, goodtimes! Puis la apres on est allé voir le show! C'est hot! Voici une photo!

Goodtimes de hanger avec des Stars! C'est certain!

Aussi je voulais mentionner des nouvelles pieces d'art dans la boutique!

àMon frère, Francois, nous avait fait des ptites toiles pour les rénos, puis jai finalement eu la chance de les avoirs monter! check!

Pas pire! Pas pire! Comme celle-la, un gros coq, pui sune fourche! Faudrais rentrer pour voir le restant!

Et finalement, I'm looking for a Baker! Yes folks, we're slowly growing and now are looking to add a few items to the menu such as nice rustic loaves and a few complimentary treats! If you know anyone, who has style in their baking, a little artisanal flair, send them my way!

info@cibouletteetcie.ca

Ok! Now I've got to run!

Take care!!!

AS

Been a looong Summer..

Definitely NOT the right words to the song... BUT, I did go and see them last month at Rama, my one night of repose :)

ok so yes, I know, it's been a very long while! My friend, Marysol (sheeatsbears.blogspot.com) reminded me that I do still have people who follow us on the blog... that being said, I'm sorry for neglecting you all. In fact, once I'm done this I have a Newsletter to write for August, yikes!

I will keep this one short and sweet however and let you all read the newsletter.

Things have been Busy with a Capital B :)

We had a Great June and a Great July... as far as I can tell, August is off to a swimming start!

Since we last spoke, we have introduced a daily line of Scones and Coffee! Las Chicas Del Cafe (www.laschicasdelcafe.com) Coffee is Wonderful! Roasted Fresh, by two sisters in London Ontario, we order it, it's roasted that very afternoon and receive by noon the following day!

And What a perfect match to our Blueberry ( LOCAL) and Lemon scones... selling like hot cakes! As I speak (type) Janice has since sold 8 scones in the last 8 minutes... not bad... We are making them daily but they go fast, so get in your orders or be early! :)

Other then that we have been working with Denise and her team at the Village Garden in Lafontaine! A beautiful 2 acre (almost-organic) community Garden!

We are getting all our greens, beans, peas, onion, cukes, tomatoes, etc from them. They are beautiful and fresh! Couldn't ask for more!

Ok I'll leave it at that, have that Newsletter to write!

À bientôt!

AS

Bonjour? Allo? anyone home?

Yup! I'm still here, in fact, we're ALL still here!

busy.... been very very busy...

Again, don't even know where to start, but figured on the 3 month anniversary of no days off, was a good way to start. Wow that sentence was upside-down... anyways....

We've been busy! 7 days a week, busy! Jen has been working her touche off, I've been working every day, chatting up clients, touching base with Farmers through Karma Marketplace, trying to invent and reinvent menu items... it's been bonkers!

Ok! so we now have a freezer case, and its FULL! Need to make more shortrib bourguignon tomorrow actually :) we have a cheese case, and it's FULL! In fact, I have HAD to make large cheese orders, every week now, for the last 3 weeks! yay! I LOVE that this stuff is selling and that people are so excited about it! In fact, tonight, and last night, I had a dinner of dips, cheeses, breads and salad.... all about taking advantage of what is on hand :) We have duck prosciutto hanging, pancetta is done, duck rillette is finished and SELLING!!! Need to find room to put all these lovely charcuteries too!!!

The space is slowly coming together. Janice and I were chatting and we've come up with a few more ideas for the space like blackboards and more blackboards! Mini and Small and Large!!! One over the freezer, one over the cheese case, one with the french culinary word of the day, one for our Pork feature of the moment! going to be beautiful!!!

OH yes! Of course! We had our very first class for 8 ladies last wednesday!!!! How could I forget!!??

Now it was somewhat of a dry run, no wine, not all the tools and just figuring out the layout and template of the class.. bUT, it was GREAT! They all had a blast! and not 10 minutes into us being open the following morning, I had 3 requests for classes! :) I wasn't going to take anything more til the fall, but really, it went so well, and as long as people are willing to put up with a lack of tools, SURE!!! In fact, I'm so ready to move ahead, going to finish my application for a liquor license this coming week! :) yay! 10-14 weeks! unbelievable, but need to start now if I want to do some in the fall!

The class went so well, and that, all due to the great staff that I have ! Janice and Jen were wonderful! If anyone knows my Friend Bruce and how well we worked together when teaching, you will understand that I felt extremely well supported, never had to ask for anything or move anything, I had Jen or Janice behind me at all times! If our first can be this way, Watch Out Midland!

Ok, have to go, but I'll leave you with some pics of the space!

Oops! Open House Night June 26th, 5-7pm. Come on out and see what we have to offer! Looking forward to it!!!!

In case you haven't noticed, I said a whole lot, but nothing really in this post! Haha! that's what fatigue will do to you!

On that note, looking for a full time cook for summer, possibly to carry on throughout the year.. Need passion and love for food. No cranks need apply :)

Short and Sweet... kinda - reprise #3

Ok let'S try this for the third time today...

blogger isn't seemign to work properly...

hehehe that being said...

trying to make this short and sweet.

Just wanted to post a photo of the new awning for those of you who haven't been able to , or haven't felt compelled to, come visit. Maybe this will do it!

going to be a busy week... need to fill a freezer and get ready for a LONG weekend! yay!

Ciao!

See you all soon!

AS

Mise-à-Jour

Wow! 3 incredible weeks!

Vraiment, incroyable! We have been pretty steady every day, and things just keep getting better!

I don't even know where to start really.. We FINALLY got our Awning! yay! and it is STUnning! JUST as we had imagined! Extremely happy! Food is rolling out, Jen and I are getting into a groove...

Annique came and spent a week with us last week! WHAT A GODSEND! On s'est bien amusés vraiment, une petite routine, en famille, comme si le tout était vrai :S

hmm.. je ne sais pas quoi d'autre dire ca fait tellement longtemps!

Bien, commençons avec les nouvelles caisses! yes sir, une caisse complètement dédiée aux fromages Canadiens que nous avons, qui se vendent, TELLEMENT bien, et au charcuterie que nous allons vendre! yay! Elle arrive la semaine prochaine! Aussi, nous allons avoir un congélateur! Pour celui la, je suis Vraiment pompé! Ca veux dire des grosses batches de nourriture puis moins de travail! yay!

Nous avons aussi eu nos comptoirs dans le fond du studio.. il manque juste les ilots... à venir....

Aussi, les gens commences a montrer un peu d'intérêts dans du sushi.. oui, Genevieve Everell va nous en faire! Sweet!!! Genre, commander mardi pour ramasser vendredi! yay! Logistics to be determined

So all and all, very productive first weeks.

Top Seller: (drum roll....)

Roasted Sweet Potato and Cilantro Dip! It's magnificient! can't keep it on the shelves! yay to Jen!

We also have a few new products on the way but are keeping things hush hush... create a little buzz maybe....

Alright, I have to go, sorry it's so short, but... my thoughts are a little all over right now... need... sleep... rest... maybe next march. :)

And no, no photos... Annique still has my camera, she's off to the Great White North, Yukon! :) I have a few on my Blackberry, but pour quality. Add me to your Twitter 'cibouletteetcie' and you'll see them as I take them! HOWEVER, I'm glad to say that I have met a lovely lady who is going to help us with interior shots, food shots and eventually some good photos of our staff ESPECIALLY on grand opening night! Stay tuned for news of that!!!! also, the release of our Newsletter and June Menu! Sign up info@cibouletteetcie.ca if you want breaking news as it happens!!!

Later!

my wifes, cousins, cousins, cousin

haha just had to share!

Just got a lovely order (our first official pre-order) and when he came in he told me that his cousin *name omitted had recommended us... and I said.. oh you mean, my cousin. my wifes cousin. our cousin. :)

Here is Southern Georgian bay, there isn't even 6 degrees of separation to everyone! :)

AS

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

How do you do Folks!?

Les choses sont bien allé pour notre deuxième journée! Sauf que le POS a fait défaut (POS crashed) vers 5h00.... MAIS, j'ai dit, parfait, lock up the doors, we're going home I need some sleep! :)

An excellent day, got tons done, jen, of course was fantastic, and Janice and Sue were great and productive!!

Now I'm in here, doing paper work, taking orders over the phone, greeting the odd client, super slow, but that's alright, I need some time to catch up on the 'managing' work :)

Je vais essayer d'y poster des photos cette semaine. JE vous le promets!

Going to try to post some pictures of the 'semi-finished' space this week.

We've been explaining to people about the concept of an organic space and how it will grow with time... the addition of a freezer section, another cold case JUST for cheese and Charcuteries, the 13 foot counter at the back with a recessed section that is Jennifers very-own bread making station :) and of course the islands dotting the studio for classes etc... VERY exciting it sounds like! Everyone has a keen interest! yay!

ok, I need to get back to work, but first....

j'voulais juste dire bonjour au deux jeune filles qui sont venu avec leurs papa vendredi! Elles étaient super excitées d'y être, et moi je l'étais de les voir! Continuez à suivre le blog attentivement! J'ai de vous revoir, on pourras se présenter officiellement! J'espere que vos souper étaient bon???

À la prochaine!!!

AS

Opening Day!

Yes, the title is almost the same as before... BUT now we ARE OPEN! WHAT A GangBUSTERS DAY IT WAS!!!! From 10am on it never stopped! wow! I AM Thrilled!!! In fact, at 6 o'clock, when our last rush showed, we were running out of food! Which on a regular day isn't a good thing, but considering that I thought we had over-prepared, I can't complain! :) of course, my apologies to people who didn't necessarily get what they were hoping for, but everyone was very accomodating.

We saw Lots of people we knew, but also a lot of new faces we now know :) and the support.. wow... We received 9 plants-flowers-pots and a bookshelf!!! from Friends, family and local businesses. Thanks muchly to everyone, we really appreciate the gestures. It's nice to know that everyone around is rooting for you

I have to say that I am very impressed with our Team! yay! Everyone was on the ball, moving and smoozing, talking to people as they came in, getting to what everyone needed as soon as possible. I couldn't have asked for better! 82 actual transactions and everything balanced at the end, to the penny! Yay Janice!

But André, you ask, how will you feed the hungry masses today??? No worries everyone, feel free to drop in anytime, I was in the kitchen, singing some James Taylor and cooking up a storm! We have everything in stock again! Just matter packaging a few items this am :)

Big sellers?

- Roasted Sweet Potato and Cilantro Spread (#1 seller by far!!!)

- Sandwiches we're out of the park! Roasted Vegetables, pulled pork, lemon paprika chicken, all on house Foccacia and Chive Buns. Oh and a last minute pick, Spanakopeta! Nice and large, filling and healthy, Jen made roughly 20, and NONE were left by 3pm :)

Other then that, mains flew out the door, dips, drinks and we FINALLY received some cheeses, sold a few David Woods Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese Rounds :) YUMMY!!!

Ok, I can't babble any longer, I need to finish some paper work and get out there with the team!!

Check out the website folks, it went live yesterday and is Magnificient!!!!! HUGE thanks to our Graphic Designer and Web man, Sylvain at Salamedia Design. www.salamedia.ca - He's been so busy with our site, graphics, stickers, etc, that his is still being revamped :)

O kI'm off!! Hope to see you all today sometime! If you read the blog and come, please let me know! I need to know that other people other then family and friends are enjoying this :)

Bon Appetit !

AS

An Over Abundance of New Work Surfaces

hi hi hi hon hon hon!

Yup! Half Berkshire Pig has been ordered! We received a load of sundries and a few starter goods from GFS yesterday. We are almost ready to start testing! In fact, Jen, our lovely new kitchen staffer, will be testing a couple of breads this AM :) But, not until I make a rapid run out to BArrie (45min) and back with a sheet pan..... in fact, quite a few sheet pans, as well as all of our other smallwares, robocoupe, spoons, knives, yazamm! :)

Another DElightful bit of news, we have gas, desks!, counter tops, bakers table and our baking station is on its way! :)

Our good friend JLG has been here for a few days working out of the Midland office of his workplace, and moonlighting as a carpenter with yours truly. We have been hard at work glueing table top, ripping boards and planing legs for new shelves in the store... everything of course, from reclaimed barn wood and joists! :)

He took it upon himself, and his unsuspecting brother, to build the base for our Harvest table from barnwood just East of Ottawa... it arrived sunday night, and is amazing... :)

Alright, off to Barrie!

AS

Opening Day!?

Hello et Bonjour!

C'est Officiel! Notre date d'ouverture est le 23 avril 2010, à 9h00! Soyez-y et soyez-y en grand nombre!

It's official! Our Opening day is April 23rd, 2010 at 9am! Be there or be square!

Not much to say for this entry, just that things are humming along... in fact, Jennifer (Our new kitchen assist) and I, are headed to the GTA tomorrow for a quick food show, stop at MacEwan foods for inspiration and a few others suggested to Annique and I during a WONDERFUL dinner the other night!!!

It was ever so scrumptious!

We were invited to come for dinner and wine and were in for quite the treat! Sitting down to 6 beautiful canadian cheeses, croustades, dried fruit, my favourite way to start-end-continue a meal!:)

Then on to a beautiful butternut squash soup with a touch of coconut and a hint of saffron. I may just have to use that SD! Main course you say... well... after a beautiful Rioja, choosen just for me and my ancestors (Spain) we were treated to a glass of Conundrum (fantastic flavour, a touch sweet but beautiful with our main) and the PERFECTLY cooked Lobster Risotto with Asparagus (still crisp!) and cremini... was devine!!!

and dessert you may all ask.... well.. at this point, we were all very full, but HAD to have SD's world famous, Maple Mousse made with local Maple Syrup and a perfect maple short bread cookie :)

SD outdid herself! Note: I am not a dessert person... i loved it!

We left with a full stomach, head full of ideas and the brain bursting with shops to visit!

Oh! and a lovely surprise!!!!! We now are the proud owners of a Hobart Mixer! Yes folks! the team is almost complete! :)

I'm still looking for staffing in the store though! Send in those resumes!

Ok I'm cutting it short, need my rest and have to make sure the dishwasher is working properly before I go home.

Have a great week folks!

AS

Wowzers Batman!

Bonjour les ami(e)s!

Well I haven't written in a while, but it's not because I haven't been busy! holy wowzers!

Let's make a list, as I have been making quite a few of those lately!

- Floors

- Lighting

- Equipment

- bathrooms

- Studio Layout (yes, I've figured out how we're going to make this work!)

- Kitchen Floors

- Plumbing

- Electrical

- Gas line! (almost.... there was an oops there let me tell you, but no worries, it's been fixed.. )

- T-shirts

- Paint

- Some Art

- Wall Tiles

- Walk-ins

All those items are DONE! yes M. et Mme, fini! I am just waiting on out 8 foot bakers table and a few stainless tables and we're good to go! Well.. almost.

We're getting closer to a firm opening date, I hope you're all excited! Won't be long now and we're going to purchase our first whole pig, duck breasts, cheeses, veggies and go to town! I'm so excited to put out our first pancetta or duck prosciutto.. or maybe a Caper and Green tomato relish! What about a house italian mustard fruit to serve with a DELICIOUS CHEESE!!!

hehehe

Deli cases have come in and they are perfect! Now if only I could get my cupboards and such...

ok, the purpose of this post was to make a few mentions... Along the way we have been coaxed along by quite a few locals as we try to spread our funds through the community during this building overhaul and business startup. Everyone we have had the chance of working with has been fantastic! Most have been more then willing to lend a helping hand whenever possible. Ok, now, as I make this list, I am bound to forget SOMEONE... please don't be insulted, and as some of you get to know me better, you will understand why I like when Annique is around... she reminds me of stuff..

Louis Maheu (www.lm-construction.com) Our go to guy, my FIL (Father in Law). He has been more then willing to help in anyway giving all his time. Merci!

Tripp's Paint and Decorating Shoppe- Wow... that is all I have to say. Jaime and his team have been going out of there way from day 1 to help. The amount of times they have carted over cans of paint for me, lighting, spray painted stems that are on back order to get them the right colour, offering up help, and promising to come for lunch. I have to say, I think they will be a hungry bunch! If you are in Midland and you need any lighting or paint solutions, visit Tripp's.

Karma Marketplace - Erin and Marc are great! This is a little shop in Penetanguishene where they carry nothing but locally sourced fooods!! It's amazing! They are also looking to setup a delivery and pickup service for different farms and chefs in the area! I have to say that they are both really go getters and are willign to do anything to make things work! Oh, penetang farmers market and community garden are also their doing!

Homecoming (www.homecomingstores.com) Trevor and Barb are wonderful! Trevor has been ever so happy to see me come into the community and has gone ahead and ordered me ceramic dishes, AND resealable glass dishes to sell multiple orders in! this way, less waste!!!! Yay!

Serendipitea - What to say about Dawn! She makes WONderful Scones and of course, the best buttertarts! She has been there to feed us coffee every day, what more could you ask for!?

Ok that's all I can spit out for now.... and no, no photos this time around... sorry folks! Want to keep some of it a secret, but also, we forgot the card for our camera in Ottawa....

HAve a Hoppy Easter All! enjoy that HAm! and hope that I don't catch that bunny, cause we'll be having him for dinner next week!

Hoodvents and fridges and Tiles, Oh My!

Bonjour les amis!

Well after a long hiatus from logging in the new and the old on blogspot, I have returned with much news, and many secrets....

Well the project is coming along fine, as you may have all guessed.

Le moins souvent que j'écris, le plus de travail que je fais à la longue... Je me trouve ici, tard un soir, apres avoir fini 150 pieds de tuiles... yup! bien, FIL les a monter sur le mur, moi j'ai eu la bonne jobe de grout....coute laisse moi te dire qu'il y en a de la tuile icitte.. en effet....150x3x6 plus ou moins, 2700 tuiles.... Wowzers!

The Walk-ins were delivered and installed this week, the hoodvent is actually in its place and is only missing duct work outside, half walls above walk-ins are almost done, tile is done, FIL had two old, but beautiful sinks in his shop, which will serve marvelously in ouir restrooms!

We also found some hardware for the office doors, amazing!

umm.. what else...

andré, you ask, what do you mean secrets? Well the hard part about today's entry is that I have a few pics, but very little... seeing as we are getting closer to opening and things are actually coming together, it would ruin the surprise if I were to show you all the space ahead of time... so I have decided that as of Monday, no more walk0in visits and no more pics of the space... I know... it'S going to be tough... :)

in other news, kitchen floors are being put in this week by my wifes cousin Alain! yay!

Oh and how could I forget! I have gone ahead and offered a position to someone to assist me in the kitchen! I'm pretty excited about getting her started and sharing in the creation of all of our foodstuffs. :) Should be good!

La il me faut une autre personne a temps plein pour travailler le magasin, mais il ou elle doivent être bilingue.. s'cuse!

Oh more sharing: I met with Erin Chapelle from Karma Marketplace in Penetanguishene! Her and her partner Marc have opened a shop where they sell nothing but local foodstuffs! isn'T that GREAT! She is also hoping to start a delivery system of these types of foods for local restaurants! guess who's the guinea pig!? :) Gladly! They have also started the market in Penetang, a community garden, etc etc... what busy bodies! I can't wait to meet Marc as Erin was fantastic.

On that note, I am meeting with Peter Belanger of Bélanger Organic Farms (http://belangerorganicfarms.net/) this coming Tuesday! I'm very excited about this as he is our first real contact with a farmer in the area. Check out the website as they have a full line of foods.

Reminds me a lot of Stuart (www.brysonfarms.com), a good friend of mine and farming mentor when we had our Epicuria Garden last 2 years.

Ok, this is has been all over the board and haven't really said much. Here are a few pics!

Ciao!

Living in Excess...

Paint has hit the walls and its hit the walls running! Yes folks, no more to do! (except some odds and ends)...

In fact, so much of it is done and I got soooo much help last weekend, that I am typing this entry sitting at the Restaurant in Montreal, at the airport, enjoying beautiful Québec cheeses for breakfast.... Que la vie est belle....

Je me conte chanceux d'être ici et de pouvoir régaler un peu au sein de toute ces foleries!

On as eu la chance de visiter un peu de tout a Montreal hier et quel beau cadeau d'anniversaire, Annique nous a fait des réservations Au Pied de Cochon ici et j'ai pu déguster à mon plein!

Chacun un entrée et chacun un plats principales, on a pas quitté le bedon vide.... CA, c'est certain!

Annique, pas une grande mangeuse de chose porcs et viande.... fut très courageuse de venir avec moi. J'en suis fière!

Elle a commencer avec une soupe à l'oignon incroyable :) Un peu de jambon dans tout fait toute la différence! :)

Moi, une terrine à la tête de cochon et tendons de porc :) holy camoly! Frits brun avec une ptite salade, parfait! Dieu merci pour la salade les amis.... dieu merci

Curieusement... une longue attente entre le premier et deuxième service... Mais, cela nous a permis de regarder autour et de pouvoir apprécier l'habit du staff, presque comme nous allons l'avoir! le décor, simple et riustique! les vieux meubles de comptoir de service.... puis, par chance, assis à deux pas de la ligne de service... comme s'ils le savaient! :) On a pas voir sortir toute sortes d'assiettes couvertes de sauce brunes, oignons.. mmmmm... on a même pu voir un rôtis de quelques sortes entré et sortir du poêle à bois tout le temps qu'on étaits la....

je dois dire, meme si les assiettes n'étaient pas incroyablement créative dans leurs présentation, elles en regagnaient dans leurs saveurs et dimensions ....wow

Assiettes arrivées, Annique reçoit une aile de Raie.... qu'elle splendeur! :) ET elle en a mangé la plupart! Fiere de ma bibitte! :)

Moi cependant... bien... moi j'ai commandé la coupe du PDC (Pied de Cochon).... Le serveur lui, ma dit que c'était gros..mais comme.... il n'a pas exagéré assez...... En apportant les assiettes, il nous dit: 'Êtes-vous prêts?'

NON!!! J'aurais jamais pu être prêts pour ça!

C'était ce qu'il considerait, un porc chop........ coulda fooled me! I have yet to figure out the cut..... Puis en passant... La longue attente entre service... bien la vous savez pourquoi.. ca prends longtemps cuire .5kg de viande!!!!

de toute facon... j'ai pas fini mon assiette. Mais du bon choux mauve braiser avec oignons et champignons rôtis....mmmm

ok, j'ai fini mon fromage! Off to Downtown MonTREEE All! A bientot! je retourne à l'oeuvres demain! :)

AS

37 days, 370 hours, lots money later...

As mentioned last time.. we had so much help over the last week it was great! In fact, I was even able to get away to the CRFA Tradeshow in Toronto. :) Wasn't blown away by anything, but was able to reconfirm that I'm still in the know about eco products and availabilities...

This past week:

GFS Foodservice provider is supposed to touchbase.

Fire Inspector has approved hoodvent as is.

Town has issued Building Permit.

Looks as though I need to wait 6 more weeks to find out if the City is going to allow me to erect an awning... hmm.. yes.. that does sound as ridiculous as you think.... I'm willing to put up a fight... I don't care what I have to do or what it costs me, I am getting this awning!

Ordered Lighting or awning. After looking for 4 weeks for Gooseneck Barn Lighting , I find out the electrical company I've been dealing with all this time has them... bah... done!

All walls are PAINTED!!!! I will have some pics tomorrow hopefully!

Ceiling is painted!

Walkins arrive March 18th.

I found at that someone up the street is opening up a similar concept in the coming months.... ya.. need to get those horses going and open first. Trying to touch base with them though. Competition is a good thing. Keeps everyone honest and products at 125% in quality

I had a baby today... ok well.. not a baby, BUT I did get the rest of our Sexy Mac Equipment. Yes people, you will learn, Sexy is one of my favourite words... I think all food is sexy in some way.... I dare you to try to give me something that I can't describe or find sexy in some way.... And it's nothing obscene.. it just is... :)

Here they are! The reason I say baby is the cover... I opened it up and it was like a diaper.... BUT, Val, with a GOOD surprise in it :)

I've decided on a style for our shelving and will begin building shortly.

I am taking the weekend to spend it with my lovely wife in Montreal! And don't tell her, but I will take advantage of my time there and probably check out some shops... hehe inspiration...

My uncle left behind 2 bottles of home made wine... and it's good! Merci Mononcle!

Lighting went up this weekend thanks to my cousin! Yay! No bulbs or fixtures in there yet, but after my electrical inspection!

Electrical inspection on Friday! Which means I can close up those walls and finally move forward!

ok I'm leaving it at that... quite the list... lots has gone down... but there is so much more to come! I'll try to take pictures of the space tomorrow in the day light.

Also, I've added the Followers Widget to the site.... I'm not sure, but I think if you sign up you may get updates.... Merci Marysol!

A bientot les amis!

AS

A long, but VERY productive week

Fewf!

I'm back! Sent an e-mail to the 2 Ladies down at the Pastry Shop down the way (www.sweetandsavoury.ca) today to see if we can meet up and chat. I want to see what kind of arrangements and relationships we can develop. Which btw, GREAT shop! Space is beautiful, and the food is exquisite! In fact, the ladies don't know it, but they made a slab cake for our guests at our wedding, and it was FANtastic! Some of the best cake I've ever had!

All that to say that they mentioned that I hadn't written since the 19th....so I thought I would get to it... considering I've been getting to it every day for the last little while...

Since we last left off, we were lucky enough to have ourselves a little help! Thank goodness!

Last weekend we had my Dad, Uncle, Wife, Brother, Brother In-Law (www.salamedia.ca - yay for the Graphic Designer in the family!), and FIL and I! Holy! Did things ever move and groove!

First, drywall continued and is pretty much done until the inspector comes in to check out all the electrical I've been doing...... insane...

Secondly, and probably one of the biggest things, sanding..... We bit the bullet, rented the equipment and sanded.... when we weren't running down the stretch of the Space with the sander, we were on all fours spot sanding... thanks so much to my little brother and my wife...

Then of course... with all that extra help.... my office has come to life! Studded and ready for an inspector to see the plugs. :)

You now know why I haven't had 2minutes to write an entry. It's been go go go....

Now that things are moving ahead, I will be heading out to meet some farmers and producers shortly! Have to line everyone up so that we can make some food after all this work. I'm getting really excited to get our hands on a beautiful whole pig and work our way through it day by day, making new and exciting meals with everything... including our own pancetta and bacon....

Oh! I also met with the Curtis Refrigeration guys! yay! Its all ordered and ready to come in! Will be a few weeks, but things are finally coming together. It's always a nice feeling to see things being built. I told FIL the other day... It's almost real.... :)

A guy was in to get all the sprinklers together and legal today and friday... all done. Ceiling should be painted out this week as well (another job we passed along to someone else) and then we can do the walls shortly there after...

Ok I'm going to leave it at that.... Hopefully all approvals come through early this week with the City and we can move forward. As soon as I finally get the electrical all in order we'll have an inspector in for the rough in inspection and then we close walls up.. wow.. it never ends!

Can't wait to meet with Sweet and Savoury Tomorrow!

À Bientôt!

AS

PIG DAY!

so.... I just received a Tweet... about one of the greatest things!

Why didn't I think of this before!

National Pig Day!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2125964_celebrate-marchs-national-pig-day.html

Check it out!

AS

I'm back!!!

Haha!

So after many an e-mail, and many a long day, we have gone ahead and done quite a bit of work in the last week. Hence why I haven't written.... well kind of.. that and the fact that now that we're not demolishing things, there is nothing 'big' going on....

We have FINALLY nailed down all the plywood at the back of the shop and the plumbing is in :)

In fact, thanks Robert... we had a few additions as things went ahead.

Met with Curtis Refrigeration as well to discuss our needs and get the drawings for the Walk-ins! :) I had to poor a little cement to even out the floor behind the safe ( I thought I was done with that) but now we have the Perfect little nook for 2 refrigeration units :) yay!

I have to say that it's nice to be able to walk on solid ground now and not worry about falling through.. which.. I have....

Another great milestone is the Drywall! yay!

Fil and I got about 6 sheets up today and the rest will be finished tomorrow. Better get things going, I have a slew of helpers for the weekend! My dad, uncle, brother and my Wife! Holy cow! mmm cow..... :)

Ok I'm cutting it short here.. not much to say, I'm pretty much babbling now.

Don't expect anything til wednesday night. I'll be pretty busy doing about a million things.

Have fun! I will!

AS

The Joy of Joists

Most days we get off on the right foot, today we started on the right joists.

That's right, after negotiating with my landlord to cover almost the entire cost of the floor

reno (which btw, is his responsibility really, and plus, I'm covering all the labour, it's the LEAST he can do) we purchased all the materials and had them delivered to the Shop.

A few days ago I posted a photo of the large hole tha

t was at the back of the building, well today, that void was filled with PLENTY of wood and nails! To top it all off, it's all level and plum! Wow, what a concept. Now I won't be scared of installing my walk-ins right over top of the rotted out floors :)

I decided that some people reading this may want to see what I look like, in case we meet in the street. So popped into the washroom and took this, oh so flattering, self portrait. It's my 'reno, things are banging, and I'm too cheap to let the furnace run before I make any money' Get Up. Not bad eh? You'll also notice that I'm wearing my ever comfortable Winter Beard. My beautiful wife dislikes it... In fact, she doesn't dislike IT per say, she doesn't like giving me a kiss when I wear it. It tickles her nose. So this season, we're both in luck, I get to keep it uninterrupted, and she doesn't have to worry about the tickle. Win win I'd say... kinda.....

Anyways, on to one last thing and this is directed to all my friends and collegues from the kitchen. So working in the industry (food) you get to use all these Extra Large Tools that you wouldn't see in a regular home cook setting. Working in the Construction Industry, you Also get to use tools that are oversized, even, I would go as far as saying on steroids.

Today I used a Paslode. Now I had used one many times before, but not before I met FIL and he showed me one. Today I was thinking to myself, I wonder how many people have seen a Hammer on Steroids....... and then it came to me! This is EXACTLY like a Commercial Immersion Blender! Colours and all! I just thought I would share this piece of knowledge with you all... you know.... for betterment of the general public.

All and all productive day.

and before I leave you for the evening, I'd like to share an epiphany of sorts that FIL and I had today. Plumbing, is for plumbers.... Hence, we decided to hire a plumber to do the work... This may have ensued from several things. Could have been the amount of work we Already have to do. Could have been that it will be fairly lengthy process. OR it could have been from the 16 inch wide crawl space, full of god knows what, that we saw and realized that one of us, probably the younger of the two, was going to have to be on all fours crawling through. In case you didn't know, I'm claustrophobic. THIS; not a good idea. And really, even if I wasn't, I don't think it would have happened. So we hired a plumber. Needless to say, I'm going to have to cut somewhere...

A quick question (wow this never ends): I've been thinking of posting the blog address in large letters on brown paper in the windows of the shop.. get people going and looking.... thoughts? Eventually i was going to put the website, but.... I was thinking of waiting. Is it too early?

Please stay tuned....

It continues...

Well it continued on again today.... one slow step after another... I'm going on two weeks and one day off... and you know what... NOT even tired! I'm excited each and every time we walk in and walk out of the room!Firstly, I'm glad to say that we are finally getting to a point where we aren't necessarily tearing things apart, and more so, putting them back together. I showed you up to date pics yesterday, but really, this is what it looked like, not 2 weeks ago.

Now don't get me wrong, that's a pretty unbelievable sight, but I was glad to see it go. Thanks to great friends that come to Help (Merci JL)

Today however, there is an entirely different scene on hand. FIL(Father In Law) and I Finished all the patching of hardwood with old wood he had sitting around his shop. Here it is in 3 easy steps! I jack hammered the cement slab, REFILLED the cement slab, and then we set down the wood.

Once everything is done, we will resend the entire room and give all the wood the same natural finish. Should give for an interesting look.

You can really see the contrast between the old and the new, but that's mostly because the old is filthy :)

When we were tearing up the carpet (they used to offices for a bank) at the back of the building we found that all the carpets were humid.... very humid... I would even say wet. There had been no vapour barrier set down just below and about 1.5 feet down was the ground. Yay.

So after a few conversations with the building owner (no, I do not own the building, and yes, we are STILL pouring our heart and souls into the work) he finally agreed to pay to have it set down and the floor taken up. I, being a good guy, and not wanting it left to someone who may do a Half-*** job, said we would do it if he covered materials.

Well, turns out, 100 year old joists, covered in 35 year old gravel, start to Rot.... so once everything was opened it was just as easy to convince the Landlord for a little more money and Voila! we're replacing joists tomorrow!

Here is what it looks like now that we've torn them all out... bear with me... you'll understand why I'm going on about these in a few seconds...

Now that you've seen the mess, see what we pulled from the mess...

That's right, these 100 year old babies aren't all in that bad shape... and will soon become shelving and or a centre table for display! Yay! yes, yes, I took the ones that weren't Dry Rotted.

Also spoke with our lovely Neighbour, Dawn, owner of Serendipitea; a nice little tea room beside us, and she is interested in purchasing breads, wholesale purchasing jams and chutneys etc.... could be a nice thing...

Ok that's enough for today... hopefully soon, we'll be talking food... but I doubt it...

I dreamt of home made pancetta last night..... Insane!

Ok no, I really need to go. Jamie Oliver at Home is waiting anyways!

Tomorrow I build a brand new floor! Joists and all!

Wish me lucK! (wow this is long!)

AS

Renovation Marathon

Alright!

so you've read the first post, you know what I WANT it to be, but what about how I GET it to look that way...

Over the course of the next few months, I will post as many renovation updates and pict

ures as possible... and somewhere, in there, I will try to post some food photos too!

Where: Midland, ON

Building: 248 King street, and Old Bank and once General Store (I know, that's soooo cool!)

What: A Locally Focused Food

Shop, Take-Home Meals, Catering, and hopefully, in due time, Culinary Learning Studio

We got our keys on Dec 31st and have since started gutting, and tearing apart this space to get it just right! We have removed the Carpets, Tiles and 5-8 plywood.... We discovered ORIGINAL hardwood and for the most part, it's beautiful! A couple of patches here and there. Luckily, my father-in-law is a contractor and knows what he's doing!

We have removed the suspended ceiling and extra wiring and discovered original tin....again, amazing! Thank goodness for my beautiful wife and her ability to let me dream! At this point, she has stayed back in Ottawa, waiting for an opportunity to join me. I know, crazy....

I'll keep this short, but lots of pics!

(FYI - they guy in the photos, not me, my little brother, ain't he cute!?)

AS

The Creation of a Destination Food Shop!

Hello to all!

You find yourself here probably for the same reasons I did; curiosity.

Some 5 years ago, I decided that working at a desk was not for me and that I needed to pursue my dreams of being a Chef. Working in the world of Communications and consulting was just not going to be enough to keep me stimulated. Before I knew it, I was immersed in a world or scrumptious foods coming from all corners of our Region (Ottawa at the time) and couldn't get enough of it all. After meeting my mentor, Bruce Wood (Check him out on Salt Spring Island, Bruce's Kitchen) I was inspired to cook with as much local and sustainable food as possible. It was love! With the ingredients, not Bruce ;)

Since then I have in my circle of friends, people who raise geese, make cheese, grow and forage mushrooms and make artisanal breads among other things.

I felt however, that these people needed to have their products and the love for their products better represented. The further along I went, the more I felt that these people, our producers, farmers, foragers and bakers, needed a medium of their own. And so, Ciboulette et Cie was formed. As the name implies, we are a partnership. We have started this shop and catering company in order to create an exposé of sorts. A place where we can showcase local products and their producers. Now don't get me wrong, I love the avocado and from time to time a lemon will find it's way into our cooking. But for the most part...

In order to continue this journey, I find myself knee deep in old wood, tin ceilings, work boots, jack hammers, etc etc etc... A dream come true to be honest.

This blog is to help chronicle the new beginnings of our food shop.

Alright. For my first entry this is a fairly long one, so I will cut it short here. Stay tuned for posting of Several photos of the renovation.

Cheers and bon appetit!

AS