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