Wedding Cupcakes Take the Cake

So my oldest and dearest friend / sister Wendy got married this past weekend. The wedding was a blast, held in the back yard of her next door neighbor from childhood. What made this wedding particularly special is that Wendy catered the whole thing herself!!!! Now how's that for a superb wedding caterer. The food was delish and the setting idyllic.

As bridesmaid / best friend / sister, I felt it my duty to pull out something special for this one, so I undertook creating a wedding cupcake cake (or at least I assembled a committee to do it all while I supervised). What a fun and tasty treat for everyone involved (plus a lot cheaper than those thousand-dollar wedding cakes that taste like cardboard).

The first step in the cupcake challenge was baking the cupcakes. Since I was in NY the week before, I had to rally the troops to assist - and rally they did. What was great about the "Cupcake Committee" is we could make a variety of different flavors so everyone would find something they liked. Jenny made 50 red velvet cupcakes (yum!), Suzanne (or more specifically her mom) pumped out 50 chocolate one, and Carrie, the real trooper made 75 carrot (always a hit) and 50 lemon cupcakes. And I pulled up the rear with 30 Magnolia Bakery white cupcakes (mmmmm).

Next step was icing them all, which was the best part. Carrie kindly opened her home to the frosting party / day care for about 8 kids between the age of 1 and 9, that was managed by Suzanne, Becka, Carrie and myself (we think we scored as our other option would have been setting up tables and chairs at the wedding site). The kids were very helpful in helping ensure that all the icing was up to par - thanks kids. Once we iced them all, we popped them back in the fridge and freezer and then put them out at the wedding the next day.

Finally we displayed them on a tier that Wendy got. Since we were a bit busy getting all dolled up for the wedding, we had the staff do this. As you can see from the photo, we decided to take the minimalist view on the tier and then put out tray of cupcakes on the buffet. I think it ended up looking quite beautiful.

My words of advice on making a wedding cupcake cake:
1) make sure all the cupcakes rise to the same level - test out 1 or 2 (versus a whole batch) to determine the right level (we went just to the top of the paper)
2) make sure the recipe you use does well with icing (the one that faired worse for icing was the boxed kind)
3) you can bake them a week in advance (or more) and freeze them
4) make sure you have plenty of tupperware or other trays to transport them
5) make about 1 1/2 cupcakes per guest to deal with "oops" and people who eat 2 - 3 cupcakes
6) icing - we used the butter recipe off the back of the sugar box - worked out great

Swiss Alps ice and wine

I just got back from a trip to Zermatt in Switzerland. This little town, with no motorized cars--just electric vehicles--has spectacular views of the triangular Matterhorn, a moutain that seems to rise by itself out of the valley and lower mountains. I was on a family trip with lots of nieces and nephews, hiking everyday, playing Ghost, and getting to see glaciers, valleys, and not one traffic light.

One of the best aspects of hiking in Zermatt is that an all-day hike can be planned with a stop at a tiny mountain village of one to ten little wooden houses, one with a fabulous restaurant. You can get Rosti--delicious fried potatoes--great salads (gemischt salat), bratwurst, carpaccio, excellent coffee, delicious and refined pastries, and unbelievably good coffe ice cream. Yum.

Order a Cafe Glace (either with or without rahm--whipped cream), and you'll get a huge sundae glass, filled perhaps with Movenpick coffee ice cream , which has tiny shavings of chocolate in it, or with locally made ice cream. Either way it will have a drizzle of coffee on top, or coffee syrup. The taste is unbelievable, whether you've been hiking all day, or just hanging out...rich & creamy, with intense coffee flavor.

I did some research on Movenpick's ice cream, and it turns out it's owned by a New Zeland company, which makes sense because New Zealand ice cream is some of the best I've had--especially the Hokey-Pokey, a vanilla ice cream with sweet cruncy toffee bits. Apprently New Zelanders are the largest per capita ice cream eaters, and hokey pokey is the Kiwis' 2nd most popular flavor.

But back to Switzerland... the local white wines we had were generally whites from the Chasslas grape: light and acidic enough to pair well with some of the more oily foods such as rosti, fish in butter sauces, smoked salmon, etc. The wines tend not to be too expensive and it feels right to be drinking wines made nearby. Robin Garr's Wine Lover's page has some more information about this grape.

Big SmartsCo News!

So we're super giddy right now as we found out this week we won Make Mine a $Million Award from American Express OPEN, Count Me In and the Women's Leadership Exchange. This is a pilot program through Count Me In (women small businesses - I highly recommend checking them out for micro loans) which includes a $45,000 loan from American Express OPEN and a "Dream Team" of business coaches from the Women's Leadership Exchange to create specific business plans to reach $1 million in annual revenue.

The coaches and mentors include: Nely Galan, CEO of Galan Entertainment and producer of The Swan series on Fox and called the "Tropical Tycoon" by the New York Times Magazine and named "one of the most powerful young executives in Hollywood" by Entertainment Weekly; Dresdene Flynn-White of Action International; and Vivian Shimoyama of Breakthru Unlimited, and many other successful women entrepreneurs. It's really quite cool and I can't wait to get started on the whole thing.

But we almost missed it all, as last week during our move to an awesome new office in SF's SOMA district, we had a series of Murphy's Law incidents from a technology perspective. First, the phone company canceled the DSL order for some strange reason, then our phone guy went on a bender and disappeared mid-way through the project, then apparently our email server when down, and finally our phones got forwarded to a disconnected line. So we didn't get the message that we were finalists for the award. After making one last call on Monday afternoon that actually went through, we learned that we did make it and were supposed to be in Long Beach at that very moment and the presentation was the Tuesday morning!

So I hopped on the next flight to Long Beach (so glad Jet Blue now has that route), and got quick run down of what was involved: telling the entire SmartsCo story in 4 minutes. I can't even describe what I ate for breakfast in 4 minutes, much less talk about the last 3 years of my life, but somehow I was able to convinced a packed room and panel of judges that we deserved the award. Well, actually all the six finalists were also able to do so as the panel could not pick just three winners from the strong group of finalists and in an unprecedented effort were able to raise additional capital from Microsoft and Merrill Lynch and sign up three new coaches at the conference. I'm really thrilled to share the award with 5 other great women who are venturing out with a wide variety of cool and creative businesses: Cha Cha's Doggie Day Care; Bonnie Plotkin Bail Bonds; Little Twig, personal care products for children; a music learning system company; and Marian Farms, a biodynamic farm.

I now take back every four-letter word I've uttered about Microsoft in the past. They tell us that just 3% of women-owned U.S. businesses generate more than a million dollars in annual revenue, compared to 7% of men-owned businesses in the same category. This program is designed to grow winning businesses into sustainable million-dollar enterprises. I know we're going to get there (and far beyond that) in no time.

My faith in corporate America giving back to the community is renewed. Stay tuned for entries on this blog about our experience in the program - who knows maybe we'll be on Nely's next reality show.

Yippy!!!

Enfuego!

Last Saturday I went to the San Francisco GenArt Ignite Party. Wow, was that quite the scene! I think all the beautiful people of SF were out and about, clad in their sassiest attire (in the words of one charming SF leacherous fellow said to my friend Darcy and I "you gals have a lot of competition here"). I say so did he!

While I'm not generally into the club scene, this party was awesome as most of it was outside at this huge lot near China Basin. The party started in a big warehouse in which they were screening some indy films from local filmmakers and displayed some cool multi-media art. After checking out the art inside we moved outside (during an unseasonably warm night) for a awesome performance by firedancers, which was a sort of belly dancing / Cirque du Soleil / modern dance thing with fire. Very cool. We got to watch the performance while sitting outside on comfy bean bag chairs while sipping on our favorite vodka drinks (vodka and cranberry was my choice of the evening). While not much of a spirits drinker, I generally try to steer clear of the wine served at these types of things as most (but certainly not all) of the time it's usually not of the finest quality. After the fire show, we cruised over to the Burning Man dome which they brought in as dance floor to get our groove on a bit.

My one complaint: they were handing out free cigarettes and everyone was smoking. Yeah I get it, "Ignite". At least we were outside. But even so, smoking kills. I just hope the cigarette sponsors paid the organization a lot of money!

Other than the smoking thing, way to go GenArt! SF is lucky to have such a great organization stepping it up all in support of art, film and fashion.

Bastille Day Picnic in South Park

Celebrate la Guillotine!
Vive la France!

Leave it to the French to continue to celebrate the decapitation of hundreds of royals (okay, I know, the celebration is really about the release of the prisoners from the horrific prison, la Bastille, but you really can't think of the Bastille without envisioning a guillotine chopping off someone's tete). Regardless, 14th Juillet is one of my favorite days of the year. First of all, my nephew Nicholas was born on this day 12 years ago! Sadly I rarely get to celebrate with him since he lives in Austria, but I always do send my love.

Secondly, Bastille Day gives me an excuse to eat some of my favorite foods and drink some of my favorite wines. This year, we had a brief break in the fog for some unseasonably warm weather here in San Francisco (it actually got into the 70s!), so my friend Tracy thought it would be nice to do a little picnic in South Park, a hidden little park right in the center of the city. Tracy just moved back from London and said that her friends would often have impromptu after work picnics as it would stay light until past 10, so we decided to give it a go.

Here's a sampling of what we served:
- French bread with tomatoes, basil & chevre (goat cheese)
- pate de campagne (wasn't a huge hit)
- some delectable salami brought by my friend Eric of Niman Ranch (I don't think it's commercial available, but all their meats are delicious and they're nice to their critters)
- cheese selection including: triple cream Brie, Pont L’eveque, Morbier, and an aged goat
- radishes (tres French)
- Nougat de Provence (little candies)
- Croque Monsieur from The Butler & the Chef (an awesome cafe on the edge of the park)

And the wines included:
- Chateau Thurry (a rose I brought back from Coteau Valois en Provence - quite light and refreshing)
- Chateau Routas (of course - my favorite rose)
- 2003 Clos du Caillou (a delightful red Cote de Rhone) - brought by our office resident wine expert Kimberly Charles of Charles Communications.
- and we finished off the night with some yummy Kir Royales (Tracy's favorite)

So next time you find yourself facing a georgeous evening, I definitely recommend foregoing the bars and restaurants and grabbing your friends for a picnic.

Smarts in the City?

Last week Jen & I were interviewed by Jess McCuan at Smart Money Magazine. Jess was great to talk with and captured the essence of SmartsCo. We feel especially privileged to be her last featured company before her move over to the Wall Street Journal! Congratulations Jess - I look forward to reading your future pieces - it's great to see talented people achieve success.

Apparently after reading this blog Jess thought to compare us to the "sassy ladies of HBO's 'Sex in the City'". Certainly it's quite the compliment, but I suppose we should dispel a few misconceptions this comparison might lead to.

Shoes
When I think of the HBO series, the element that most comes to mind are Carrie's shoe fetish. I don't think Jen has worn stilettos in her life and generally cruises around in jeans and Pumas. Now I do share Carrie's passion for shoes and often find myself painfully hobbling around S.F.'s hills in heels that make no sense whatsoever. But, being an entrepreneur has sadly diminished my ability to purchase the latest designer footwear (and we all doubt a newspaper could really support Carrie's penchant for Manolos).

Party Scene
One great part of writing about food, wine and sex is we get invited to all sorts of fun events. Unlike the NY-based "Sex in the City" gals, parties here in San Francisco tend to shut down by 11pm so everyone can get up in the morning to workout (especially since half the city seems to be training for a marathon or triathalon at any given moment) and enjoy the our georgeous surroundings. And I gotta tell you, I don't mind going home early. Love NY, but I gotta tell you, it can wear a girl out!

Other than that, are we (a) fun-loving, (b) a bit irreverent, and (c) somewhat whimsical? We try!

Beer Trends from 21st Amendment's Shaun O’Sullivan

As we prepare to launch BeerSmarts, we've been meeting lots of cool brewers and beermakers across the country. I've found that beer is a very complex and interesting beverage and goes well with all sorts of food (my newest favorite is beer and a nice selection of cheese). We've recently had a chance to interview Shaun O'Sullivan, the owner of San Francisco's hot brew pub, 21st Amendment, located at 563 2nd Street between Bryant & Brannan.

After working as a legal assistant in his early career, O'Sullivan "traded his suits for rubber boots" and started a career in the beer industry, cutting his teeth at Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley. He realized his dream of opening up a place that was comfortable, accessible for everybody, nice staff, and good food, when he opened 21st Amendment in SF's South of Market location in August 2000. Its 5-year anniversary is next month so keep an eye out for anniversay parties.

O'Sullivan brews a variety of beers from traditional microbrews such as a blonde pale ale, and IPA, to a very unusual, but delighfully refreshing Watermelon Wheat. While you can find some of his beers in a few outlets across town, you best bet is to get it at the brewery either over dinner (the food is great) or you can even purchase a 64 oz "growler" to go or buy a keg for your next party.

Here are some highlights of our interview:

SC: What are some of the trends you’re noticing in beer drinking –customers, types of beers that are popular, etc?
SO: Something I noticed from the get-go was that our customers, the people interested in microbrew beers have a discerning palate and are more interested in the flavors vs. mass-produced beer. We have training-wheel beers for people who are trying microbrews for the first time, that are blonde beers, more BCM ( “bud coors miller beer”). Then they put their toe in a little deeper – watermelon wheat, and then try a pale ale, and ramp up to IPA.

SC: Have you noticed regional differences in brewing styles?
SO: I always have and I think it’s becoming a little bit blurry in terms of regional differences. There was the West Coast IPA – higher in alcohol, more malt and way more bitter and way more aromatic. Especially in Washington and Oregon and Northern CA. The East coast– probably because of its proximity to England – had a style that was malty and not so bitter; a little more comparable to British beers. Now with innovative beer categories at beer festivals you start to see double IPA category and bitter beers made by breweries all over the country. It’s more and more of a melting pot. Though people still refer to west coast IPA. I still think we are producing some of the hoppier beers.

Who’s doing innovative things?
At Magnolia, Dave MacClean -- in terms of cask conditioned beers. Also, nontraditional styles of lagers and ales coming together. Brian Hunt at Moonlight Brewing Company with his “Death and taxes” beer.