Child Hunger by the Numbers

Loose tea makes great iced tea & a few remembrances

I've been thinking for a while that we make great tea & it would be a good idea to let everyone know how we make it.

Right now we have about 50 varieties of tea. Black teas, green, white & herbal tisanes along with flavored teas in all the tea leaf varieties - black, green & white. Last spring we decided to try a few of the teas as iced tea. Lemon Mango, Berry berry & white blueberry were very popular.

This year we've added a green tea - raspberry bohemian.

How do we make it?

We put 1 cup of the tea onto a piece of cheese cloth & wrap it tightly, self-tied. When this tea ball is ready, we put it into a large plastic bucket (I recommend glass in your kitchen). We then add water at just below boiling, 1 1/2 gallons are added. The tea steeps for 1 hour or until the color is just right. Then the tea ball is removed with a slotted spoon. The tea is cooled & then refrigerated before serving. The tea ball is opened, the tea discarded & the cheese cloth air dried to be used again.

Cheese cloth - not only for cheese anymore.

At home the tea I favor for icing is the Red leaf, Provence. I have been making it for several weeks now & the patina that my cheesecloth is taking on is lovely.

Goes without saying, the tea is fab too!

Remembrances of the past year plus are with me tonight. I think the idea of a holiday and the memories of the last two years (one @ BR & one in planning for it) have juggled a few very vibrant memories from our opening weeks that juxtapose substantially with today's days.

In the first couple of weeks, we had a table of two - sitting at the front end of the banquette in the front dining room. (for some reason where people sit/sat is one of my most vivid memories tied to their visit). They had lunch. The fellow had a comment for me - I should let people know that I'm serving day old croissant. My heart sank. We were not serving day old croissant, yet at the time I had no track record of fresh & we did have a big problem with making our laminated dough in the kitchen. We stopped trying to make laminated dough until we had upgraded the AC in the kitchen.

Laminated dough is made by layering dough & butter and working them together to create the unique pastry that is croissant. Our kitchen was so hot that the butter was melting rather that working in & the resulting pastry was just not on. There was so much being created each day and it all needed a breaking in period, which we were doing live. I have no idea if that fellow has been back - hope so as the croissant now are delicious, consistently.

And then there were the cupcakes. Our plan was always to have a few items that would be low cost to our customers and would be great tasting all the time. We made 4 cookies & 3 cupcakes. The cupcakes sold, but we did not do a great job taking them off the shelf quickly if they did not sell. So, we had a takeaway story of 12 beautiful cupcakes, taken as a gift that, upon arrive were found to be not 100% fresh.

We kept a refund for this customer in our drawer for a month or more. She did not return to claim it.

WE make fewer cupcakes now & they are on the "shelf' for less than 24 hours. They are always totally fresh.

Occasionally someone will ask - is this made today? The answer now for all breads & pastries is "yes". All are made today.

Most recently we have made the move to breads on the shelf, along with breakfast pastries, at 7 am (when we open) or very close to it.

We are evolving as a successful bakery and each of the stories, interactions, calls from customers and repeat business are part of what helps us evolve and grow. We take it at the rate we can with the skill and manpower we have. We respect each of our customers points of view with regard to what we do well, where we can improve and how we can serve to the best

of our ability to meet the needs of those who speak up.

Rambling done!

The Memorial Day weekend is upon us, again!

Coming full circle with seconds of the yearly events is making it real - we are coming up on 2 full years in biz.

I remember Memorial Day the year before we opened. Bob and I on the porch with a host of friends, just watching the parade. The construction project was well underway, the issues to be resolved were many & the time before opening continued in flux. Finally setting a date was a major milestone in my mind.

That year, all the drinks & snacks were brought in and we went on to the South Main St picnic. Needless to say, the parade was great, as always!

Last year we were open and the unknowns were many - will people be mainly out of town for the weekend, hence we would not be too busy or would those who were home want a great breakfast or lunch, the busy, busy. We had a good busy weekend and on Monday we did a big breakfast and a bit of lunch with some folks enjoying the parade from our porch. I was invited by a few to join them and watch, however I had my work cut out for me inside!

This year we will be well staffed up and we hope to see a good number of new and "old" friends over the weekend.

One datapoint does not a trend make, however it feels good to have that one datapoint anyway.

We do a good bit more planning when we know that we might have a fun holiday weekend. Putting interesting special items on the menu and making sure we are well staffed up.

This weekend the specials include something I've wanted to offer for a while - a jam omelet - it is a really great item that not many folks will have had, so I'm hoping you may try one if you are in this weekend. Also, the ever popular chocolate pancakes with wild blueberries or raspberries or chocolate chips.

And a few great seafood oriented dishes for lunch -- enough said.

I find an amazing number of "unintended" consequences and results of being part of The Blue Rooster. One that I never thought would have the impact it does is our feedback card.

I expected to hear the issues of portion size, flavor, hotness / taste / - I guess what I'm really saying is that I expected to hear the negatives.

We do get a few - and we take action on them all - thank you to those who write about issues and concerns. Also, thank you to those who are willing to speak up about something that isn't right in their view about the dining experience at the BR. It is not easy to be the one saying - the bean salad is just 'alright' - but it really is so helpful to me. Just Tues, a woman was in for the first time & when I asked how everything was, she did say that a new item - a white bean with rosemary & garlic salad was just OK. Just OK is not how we want any of our food to be and so I went out and had a bit of the salad. It did not have the flavor of the trial batch made over the weekend that prompted me to put it on the menu and so we went back and adjusted the herb and garlic to bring the flavor to where it should have been. Without this feedback, it would have been the next day before we had another tasting of it and hopefully would have found the problem.

The favorable comment cards can give anyone of the staff a boost when it's needed to keep up the pace & keep up the striving for as close as possible to perfection. I read them regularly to the cooks & of course verbally tell them what I hear from customers.

Here are a few from the last 4-5 days alone:

"breakfast was excellent"

"we look forward to coming again. Our waitress was great!"

"the food was excellent. All A+++!"

"the service and food were excellent. Will definitely return again!"

"great atmosphere/excellent service/tasty food"

"a very fine dining adventure"

"lovely place, lovely food, lovely service"

"you're zeee Best!"

On the days that seem too long and the times it seems there is no break in sight, those little treasures from customers really make a difference.

The ides of May

Our BR rollercoaster is in high gear. The week leading up to Mother's Day was busssssy. The reservations came pouring in and the organizing of all parties to assure top notch service for one and all was time on top of all that needed to be done to have the BR, staff & kitchen 100% ready for the day.

Little did I think that the SATURDAY night before Mother's Day would be big. It was big. Over 50 guests joined us last Saturday. And it was great.

It happens that on Mother's Day, in addition to serving over 200 guests, we had a Quick Bites Review in the NYTimes! Kelly Feeney wrote a lovely article that captured such a good sense of the BR, we could not have been happier. Thank you Kelly for visiting the BR a few times and for taking time to learn more about Bob & me. It is a pleasure to have connected with you!

So, what happens after a postive NYTimes review (Metropolitan section, page 16 - above the fold) (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/nyregion/09qbitenj.html?emc=eta1)

Starting on Monday we began to see new folks who were stopping in because they had read about us and thought they might like to visit the BR. And the new visitors continue to come. The week has been very rewarding -

our staff stepped it up and have done a great job serving all our visitors new and returning, regulars & occasional & all those in between

our facilities have kept pace - read - we have enough napkins !! ( and water glasses) our next bottle next will be cutlery & that comes in from England, so I better get the email sent to start that process before the week is out

our new visitors seemed to find what we do to be of value -- the comment cards continue to come back full of praise for our food, service and ambience (more particulars later)

The week has also been full of the need for more -- more food needed, more staff needed (yeah to the summer folks returning for a second summer & to those joining us for the first summer), more organization to keep ahead of the curve. This is a fabulous opportunity to grow into the next phase of BR development. And although the days & hours are back to more than seems reasonable, it is great. We are thrilled to be growing & selling more bread, more pastries and introducing a wider audience to the BR.

So, where did the week go - that's where and let's not forget the West Windsor Farm Market - week 3 successfully completed earlier today. Kyle is a star & we are very well received by the folks who frequent the farm market. Thanks to all who had read the NYTimes review and let us know it!

10:15 pm on Sat and in not too many hrs I'll be helping to open the BR for what we hope will be a good Sunday. Another private tea in the afternoon, also. All to the good.

Fresh, the days of May! And we keep going & growing

"A++. We are huge breakfast fans & have been looking for a place. This was wonderful!" - So many people really enjoy our place -- food, ambiance & service.

And we are quite nearly fully booked for Mother's Day.

It is really good & yet, the number of people crossing the threshold for a meal each day is not consistently what it was 6 months ago or 1 yr ago.

How to assess & re energize so all days are on the upswing-- that's what we are working right now.

The hollandaise is amazing, all the time. The gratin is a special treat as a vegetable laden full meal lunch. And the desserts --Great desserts-- all made in-house (bio of our new pastry chef on web this week -- check it out!) are just that bit different, many would say unique - not what you see at the cafe or bakery "down the street or around the corner"

And we now make all size cakes for events - great fun & the product is beautiful.

And we do excellent private parties. It is such a range of ways we interact with the visitors & lovers of the Blue Rooster - the place; BR - the food; & BR - the service.

The challenge is great to move forward into more of the ++ of a successful business & the next good step seems to be right around "the corner". With 20 months under our belts, a bit more sense that this is doable exists day-in & day-out for both Bob & me and we really working together to keep building toward the vision.

So, for now - all ideas greatly appreciated when it comes to how we can keep the BR growing. And please, keep the feedback coming, whether by email, twitter, facebook, this blog or when you visit!

fyi ---We are @ WW Farm market for first time this year & it seems like it's a good fit for our product. A great guy will be our key representative over there, after we have a few weeks settling period.

And we are exploring the idea of the Hightstown FM - a Friday night market.

Happy May to you all - and remember, Live Jazz Friday Dinners staring May 14th, 6:30-9:30.

Farmers, farm markets, living in NJ

The Garden State.

When I was growing up in Cranbury the potato farms were in full swing. No one was thinking about (at least as far as I knew/know) preserving farmland, the farmers worked the land and we lived in a small town where farming was a mainstay.

Driving on Plainsboro Rd from Main St through to Rt 1, there were a smattering of houses & the rest were fields. No developments, no apartment complexes.

And the markets, as best I remember, had mainly fruits & vegetables in season - season likely included Florida & California (remember the grape workers union as it developed a voice in the 70's?) - did not include Chile, Israel & Australia.

Here we are in 2010; the pendulum swings.

Markets are rife with food from around the globe. And now, many of us want to know the source of our food. For many individual reasons.

How fortunate are we in Cranbury to have working farms. Toward the end of last week a crate of spinach was dropped by the BR, from a local farmer.

And we are enjoying the bounty of early local produce. Spinach omelets, spinach quiche, spinach risotto, spinach salad --- untouched, fresh, crisp & served with fresh strawberries (from Cal) and a bit of balsamic - one of my favorites.

Planting is starting at Brown Dog CSA this week. Samantha Janey is starting her second year in the very local business of growing for families who want field fresh produce each week of our exceptionally long growing season( 22wks). In addition to families, this year Samantha is growing for the BR. We will harvest, with her assistance & training, 4 bushels of produce each week. This is a two way commitment and we are excited with the prospect and have great plans for the produce.

Global awareness, interest, & perhaps a bit of understanding suits our human craving to know more about what's "out there'.

Local awareness, participation, encouragement to continue NJ, The Garden State is (my opinion only of course --as is the nature of blogging!) in our best interest.

FYI - Samantha will be planting a number of heirloom tomato varieties just for the BR -- so we expect to have a few surprise tastes for you as the summer progresses.