Past Gingerbread Houses

Past Gingerbread Houses

As I write this post I am currently trying to decide what this years Gingerbread house theme should be! The last few years I have picked a theme for my gingerbread houses, because I find it challenging working within a theme. As of now on my facebook page I have had a few requests...and guess what has come up more than once??? Frozen. Hum coulda guessed that one, not only did every girl including my daughter dress up as Frozen...now they (Adults) want a gingerbread house. Well that may be too advanced for me! 

The first gingerbread house I attempted to construct was in college with my roommates in 2004, we may have been going to a Culinary Arts College but not one of us had a clue what we were doing...so the end result was not pretty and sorta ended up in a heap on the tray. The second house I made turned out better, but still not perfect. Six Gingerbread houses later and I am still not perfect at it, but practice makes perfect, so perhaps one of these years the gingerbread house I make will be perfect in every detail, but I may be 50 by then!! 

Gingerbread House #2

I like to think of this gingerbread house as my dream home...I love the look of log or wood sided homes, I find them very comfy, cozy and they give you a sense of relaxation. So for my Second house that actually stood. I went with a cabin kinda look. I make all my own templates, but for this house I think I eyeballed it. That may be why it is leaning. I don't have pictures of the first house I ever made that stayed constructed as its on film.

I love using all edible ingredients with my gingerbread houses! and lots of royal icing.

I cannot remember if I used fondant or royal icing for the siding on this house, It may have been fondant, and I painted with food coloring to get the wooden look. The roof is made up of tootsie rolls I warmed up in the microwave and flattened by hand.

Gingerbread House #3

I accidently labeled this house number 2 too, so as you look at the pictures each house now has the wrong number on the photo...lol oops thats what I get for forgetting how many gingerbread houses I have made over the years. I did skip a few years here and there..ran out of time! These things take forever!

 I really have no idea what I was thinking when I decorated this gingerbread house, may have been short on time again!

 

The Dr. Seuss Gingerbread House #4

 This had to be my most creative gingerbread house! I was so very proud of it. I may create another on this theme as my skills advance.

It's just soo cute!!! 

Since I made the houses so narrow I had no idea how to make them any different at the time, I used gum for the shingles,lots of piping and made a funny Grinch made out of gumpaste.





                                 I will be making another Dr. Seuss themed house in the future!

The Big Red Barn Gingerbread House #5

I had fun doing this one. It was huge!! The board I had it on barely fit through the door!

I used royal icing and dented it to get the crackled paint look, I then used my daughter,Lily's toy animals.

Here's a picture of the back, I didn't have a good quality camera years ago, so they may be grainy images.

Jack Frost Gingerbread House # 6

This is last years gingerbread house, my sister Anna helped with this one. She piped Jack Frost out of royal icing and let him dry a few days then painted with food coloring. Is'nt he the cutest thing?! 

We had no idea what kind of house Jack Frost might have lived in, since he is a fairy tale. So we made him a blue house.

I loved that it's so different from the others I have created. I just wish there was a master class to take in perfecting the constructing process...because no matter how much I measure and cut it still comes out crooked.

You see Jack Frost?

I really wanted to do more of a landscape on this gingerbread house, but so far the houses have all been the focal point..this year I am hoping to make a beautiful landscape to go with it.

I tried to create a sense of depth in the blue...but I should have used a darker blue...instead of black.

My favorite part of this gingerbread house is the roof. Since I had no idea on how to create a curved roof we piped our version of snowflakes for the ceiling. Loved it!

Hope you enjoyed looking at my past gingerbread house, feel free to comment on your favorite or ask me any questions on them and I am always looking to improve on my skills so if you have any suggestions on how to make a detail better please feel free to share.

Thanks for viewing my gingerbread houses,

~Esther~

Epic Fail

Starting a small business is confusing and not as easy as some make it out to be. As a graduate of a leading culinary institute I had some of the education and tools needed to develop my own restaurant. But I soon found out after a few epic fails that the catering world and the restaurant business are very different. Sure both prepare food and serve it-but the atmosphere, location and variables are very different. Here I has this brilliant idea and no clue as to where to start. I was super excited to finally be able to create my own menus, be the boss for once, use my endless creativity and make my own schedule. The last being very important to my family and I. I knew the summers would be the busy season, living in a state where the winters are super harsh and cold- we tend to hibernate come winter. Catering would fit my life perfectly!! Living in a small community,  (by small I mean- we have two churches, two bars, a grocery store, cafe, post office and a Cenex that provides gas & chemical for the farmers, no pizza at this one) that is filled with farmers and ranchers I knew it may be a very slow start.

First big event, I made John Deere cookie favors and a big meal.

My first obstacle to hurdle was the need for a certified kitchen!! Most states require a commercial kitchen to sell retail or cater out of, it cannot be your home kitchen. That was fine with me since I'm sure my trailer house kitchen wouldn't fit all my stuff. But I did discover I could start out at a personal chef, no commercial kitchen needed, since you would be preparing all the meals in the clients house. As along as I didn't advertise myself as a caterer I was kosher. Over the period of two years I started picking up more and more business, events started getting bigger and trying to find kitchens to rent was becoming very hard (they usually consisted of Church kitchens). One night while talking to my hubby, he mentioned the kitchen that was located in the old Tolna High School.( OMG WHY DIDN"T I THINK OF THAT!! I'm married to a genius !!)  After making a few calls I finally landed myself a commercial kitchen and I could finally start my catering business. So of course typical Esther style I jumped in with both feet.  After 2  epic fails (the clients were happy), but after the events I would mentally beat myself up, did I even cover my costs, why did I forget that pan again, it could have been better, presentation could be better, my business could be better!!! I finally sat down and decided I'm going to make this business a success and it will grow, I can do this. Time to put that brain of yours to use Chester!! 

 After a lot of research online..after many Google searches,after a quick search on amazon for books on starting a catering business, I came to the conclusion that anyone even thinking of starting any business, let alone a catering one is out of their minds! well what the heck no one ever accused me of being sane!

So here are a few lessons I learned the hard way, hopefully they will come in handy for the next crazy person. 

 {Have a Business Plan}

I had no business plan to speak of other than an idea of what I thought my business would be. I later sat down and developed one. Not only does it help if you need to borrow  finances to get started but it also helps you keep track of your goals. You can contact you local Small Business Administration(www.sba.gov), they will help you start one. But if you don't have the time for that, here are a few details you should include in your business plan.

1) you need to know what kind of business you will be starting, sole proprietor or partnership etc.

2) Starting with your name, location write a overview of your business...kinda like a resume, what qualifies you for this kind of business?, market you will be reaching or targeting?, how you will deal with your competition?. also include a very descriptive idea of your plans for the future.

3) Also include the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead of your business. You will do this by researching your competitors! Make list of what they offer, prices ranges, years in business, and how you think they should improve. (Keep this for reference, it comes in handy when advertising or improving on your business) In your business plan include what you offer that your competitors don't, audience your targeting (old rich people),) demographics of your local area(average age, income level, ethnicity)  (In my area we have lots of Norwegians) How the local economy is doing, define the niche you're planning on filling? Also how your catering business is needed and will become a valuable addition to the local community.

4) If you have staff you will need to include a staff sheet, that labels their names and responsibilities. I didn't include this since I usually hire part-time and I never seem to know who will be my next servers or cook.

5) Include a sheet describing the management of your business and operation. Include in this...your personnel (important workers! like yourself, attach a up-to-date resume, special talents etc.) Get a detailed description of your kitchen plans (I never did this because I never had to borrow money and I was renting)

6) List your capital investments..such as anything you've purchased for your business...also list whether they have been paid for or not.

7)  A detailed list of your first year operating agenda, such as:  January - Attend local food show to get new inspiration and check out food vendors. February-  Cater wedding for 450 at the Convention Center in Devils Lake. This should take up a page .

8) Write a review of your marketing strategy, how you will create a image for the business, attracting new customers and keeping them. Think long term strategy! Provide a estimated cost of advertising....bankers always want to know about cost. Also include if you will be marketing something different from competitors, such as cooking with only fresh and local ingredients, this will help you stand out in the marketing industry.

9) Create a menu, best tool you have! Be creative and descriptive, you want to have people drooling. Make sure to include a signature item and a profit margin.

10) Create a financial statement, if you need help go to an accountant. You want to be very accurate on this.  Here are a few things that should be included on this page. assets & liabilities, you will get your equity by subtracting liabilities from assets.  You will also need to include a profit and loss statements. The first one you will make is a monthly analysis using actual sales and expenses. The next should project your income and expenses over the next year.... this part is a little confusing to describe, it takes into account bad weather, holidays, popular months etc. You will have to be current on trends in the catering industry. Here is a site you can locate that kind of info from. http://www.nace.net/ (National Association of Catering Executives)

Include cash flow statements! such as bills paid and money coming in.

11) Include a closing statement. sorta like your summary. Sum up the challenges you are sure you will face and the growth you expect to have with your business.

Creating a business plan is just one of the many things to do when starting your business. It is also one of the more important ones. It helps center you and focus you as you begin a very hard and adventurous journey. Hopefully the next time I post it will be a more fun blog post!!

Journey to Catering

Hello Everyone, I have decided to change my blog layout and theme. This blog will be dedicated to Catering, recipes and everything nummy. I will be posting events that I have catered for, information for those looking to prepare food for a event themselves, helpful information for those already in the industry. Hopefully my pictures (now that I have a new camera!!) will look like the real thing! Since I am not a professional photographer or blogger. Follow me as I educate myself and others as I journey through the mysterious world of owning and operating my own catering business!!

First off I will begin with how I started my path to were I am now. Being a Graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, in M.N. I hold a diploma that entitles me to call myself a Chef...but that title is not to be taken lightly and nor do I believe you have to go to a fancy college to earn the title "Chef", if someone had told me before going to college that the degree would cost so much and not make that big of an impact on my income working in the food industry I wouldn't have believed them. But I learned the hard way, just a little hard headed!! I don't regret going to college. I was taught the profession of culinary arts and now can educate others. Two of my roommates became my best friends, that was the best part making life long friends! In going to college I payed for a brand, got a good education in how food can be served, presented and proper Chef like behavior. I would've got the same education interning under a good Chef...but they are sometimes hard to find.

After graduating I job hopped between lots of restaurant's never quite finding the perfect fit, but then again I have a particular way I want to cook and its not out of a box. I grew up on a small farm located outside of Tolna, ND, we raised our own sheep, rabbits, chickens, pigs, hunted deer and grew fresh veggies to be canned in the fall. I was taught to butcher animals and we ate everything we raised. Mom and Dad had 7 mouths to feed so we were taught from an early age livestock meant food on the table, not pets. Mom also educated us in Lefse Making! a tradition we still carry on to this day. We can sure make some great lefse! 

In the middle of my job hopping I had been dating a great guy from my local hometown, he wasn't sure what life had in plan for him either, we ended up getting pregnant, after having our first child we got married, he became a Farmer (which was his destiny and in his blood) I worked full time at a casino but the long drive was becoming to much for me and raising a baby with a farmer husband that worked the same hours as me (longer hours depending on what season it was) was not working for either of us. I quit my job, I loved working the line and I missed it something fierce! I loved the fast paced atmosphere in the kitchen!

 Before we had got married I had never even thought of Catering as a profession, in college catering was not that big of an industry yet so it was neglected. During the process of planning my wedding I had to settle for a local caterer, who's menu consisted of roast, mashed spuds and gravy. I had no other choices. In some ways as I look back now, God threw that in my path as if so say "Esther I found the perfect spot for you!" But I don't listen very well, it wasn't until a local Wedding Rental and Event Owner hired me to cook her a meal for about 150 people, that I was hooked! It was totally different then working in a restaurant kitchen, it was a challenge and I loved a challenge!! After some hard thinking , alot of praying,  too many sleepless nights and tons of research Modern Cuisine Catering was born.