"I'll be home for Christmas....."

...you can count on me. There'll be snow and Mistletoe and presents 'neath the tree..."

If you are lucky enough to have a great family, that you love to be with, there is nothing as special as spending Christmas and the following days together.

I count myself as very lucky to have such a family. It's been four long years since we could scrape up enough money to buy 5 round trip holiday-rate plane tickets from CA to RI.(Choosing to fly on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve for the cheapest flights available.)

We shipped our last McLaren's package Dec 23rd for a desperate customer and flew out the next day. I found out that with my extra poundage, overstuffed carry-ons and the person in front of me tilting their seat back... "Yes Virginia", I still get claustrophobic. Despite my psychological discomfort, the flights were uneventful and we arrived in Boston, rented a car and drove to RI arriving at 1:30am Christmas morning.

Our family traditions have adapted through the years as the children have grow up, from the
hysterical rip and shred of the "Toy Years" to the I Mac,I phone, I Pad, techno years. In fact, this year most of the gifts were known in advance and had to be left behind, as promises, back ordered. I shudder to think how much money we spent in the past shipping all
those toys ahead to be under the tree Christmas morning.

Our big family gift this year is intact, just being here and we all agreed to that. West coast to East coast gifts were smaller practical, (slippers and socks) and the computers ordered
have been needed for or school for the past 3 years, no big surprise there.

The economy being what it is, we are thrilled to be together, before another beloved passes on
or has a wedding that only one or two of us can afford to fly to.

We have a tradition of having Christmas morning at my brother's home stuffed full of children,
nieces, brothers, sister in laws, (more like sisters) dogs, a fragrant wood stove and a never
ending array of home made edible holiday favorites.

The 6-10 yr age difference in the cousins has never caused a rift or separation, in fact last
night, they were playing cards and laughing as hard as they ever had together, taking a break
from movies and guitar hero.

One of my favorite things is taking a nap in the midst of the chaos, hearing the voices and
laughter as I fade in and out of lucid dreaming. (I got one of those naps Christmas afternoon)
For me it is the peace of everything is ok, everyone is fine, and we are together, this
moment is forever.

Most of the years that we have been able to go home for Christmas we have brought early snow
with us. Despite what you may think, a "White Christmas" in New England comes only once very
few years. Most of the snow comes in Jan. And Feb., historically speaking. So, the fact that
we had an "official blizzard" Christmas night was the literal icing on the cake.

Now, as I said, we spend Christmas day at my brother's but then day or two afterward, we go to
my Dad's home in Conn. and do it all over again! We all come from far and near, as work
allows and have another Christmas dinner and share stories of our time apart from each other, Grandpa & Grandma to the youngest, raising a glass of cheer in thanksgiving for another year
together....but the snow prevailed and this second Christmas was cancelled this year.

Tim and I and the kids will go tomorrow and spend the night with the Grandparents and go
sliding for the second time this vacation !!! Grandpa has a long downhill driveway that is fast and a blast for sledding. This year we will do the cooking and share stories old and new
across three generations, in front of a roaring fire, feet warmed by yellow labs, while taking
in a most amazing view. The kids will skate on the frozen pond and I will take photos to post when we get back to Cali.

I am looking forward to the time ahead with my Dad and his wife Norma, time passes so quickly
I try to treasure every moment we have together.

I am so grateful for my family, sleeping in, being together, laughter , snow, memories of
those who have passed on before us and our health.....

I hope that if you are reading my blog that you have been as blessed as we, this holiday
season.


Happy New Year!!
Xxoo

Andrea

Back from the wilderness....

It seemed like I would never get back here to blog. I have been caught in the " wilderness" of planning, running, cleaning, organizing, cooking, creating, buying, peeling, labeling and lots of SEO optimizing on the web site-- all in hopes of being ready for the upcoming.. no dare I say the already present Holiday season 2010!!
Whew!
The last few years have been a wild ride for most of us. It seems as if the analogy of " Life is a roller coaster" tells the tale quite well, a few years of slogging up hill, pulling a heavy load, the monotony broken by unexpectedly being catapulted down hill, around sharp corners- screaming all the way.

I do see improvement though, Tim's business is picking up, (thank you God) and we are ahead of the game in packaging and gift supplies this year. It's a good thing too, as the orders are already starting.

As you may know we participate as a vendor in many of the CA & AZ Scottish Games through out the year. This year we added the Harvest Festivals to our schedule and we are grateful for the additional business.  Plus we have met some great folks who run them and who attend them.

So...... with any luck we will be able to go back East this year to see our family for Christmas! My Dad is 85 and his wife is ill. It is so hard to be so far away from family. We are so close to all of them, including my brothers and their families, we have such a wonderful time when we visit.
There are usually not quite enough beds at  Chris & Jennifer's house so we all end up sleeping everywhere, couches, pull outs, futons, blow ups and sleeping bags, not unlike the large litters of Labs that my Dad uses to raise. Usually there are anywhere from 11-18 people sleeping over Christmas night!
 So much laughter, love, good food and drink and amazingly never a harsh word is spoken. Everyone pitches in. We are so grateful to all be together, since we see each other so seldom. Some how SKYPE doesn't make a good substitute.

As McLaren's grows, we dream of the next bit of equipment that we can buy to increase our productivity (a cookie crank, please Santa) and plan to really figure out how to make the leap to wholesaling, with out losing quality.

Is wanting a cookie crank for Christmas the same as getting a vacuum cleaner or a mixer as your main gift from your husband?

JK

I know it's not, it's part of the dream of growing and building and planning for a better tomorrow. ;-)

Today we bartered at the Farmers market and got the sausage for our Thanksgiving stuffing! MM MM good! Tim does most of the Thanksgiving Day cooking, he cooks the turkey on the grill and it is amazing a browned 360 degrees.....

 I am so grateful that we are all together and well, that Gabi Loves UCSB, Ian  has hit his stride in School, Morgan is thriving and working hard and that my niece Lauren is staying with us. She got a job offer and gets the details this week. I am so proud of her. I know that she will do great things.

I am grateful and counting my blessings, then I have to label some jam, label some scone mix.. cook some dinner, do some laundry.............and so it goes
xxoo
A

Jam labels, Life lables and....

Well, well, after you make the jam you have to name it ( the Fun Part), print the labels, package it and then schlep it and then sell it!
 So our new wine jams are here, an excerpt from my most recent constant contact...
WINE JAMS ARE IN !! 

Come and sample our new favorites, just in time for the cool nights and hot parties...
amazing with cheese and as glazes and sauce bases for meats and fish.
Summer Solstice
Raspberry Merlot- sharp cheddar, red meats
Midnight Tryst
Cabernet  & Marion Berry- Baked Brie, red meats, Pork
Blushing Bride
Chardonnay & Strawberry -Sharp White Cheddar, Gorgonzola, Chicken, Fish
Young Lovers
Pino Grigio Peach- over cream cheese, Havarti, over ice cream and pound cake

So come on down and try some...
more on life lables later... gotta  put the labels on the jam....
xxoo
A

Wine drinking and jamming

Is there anything better than a fresh hot cup a' joe in the early morning, or a hot fragrant cup o' tea in the afternoon ( with shortbread and curd of course!)
I don't know if it's better, but a glass of wine or two at the end of a long day is, I think, one of the finer things in life. Ahh ! Snuggling into the corner of my sectional couch that is the chaise part, so I can kick off my sneakers put my feet up...sigh.. lean back and enjoy a glass of good, yet moderately priced wine..let's not go crazy here.

Usually this moment of  peace is fleeting, my reverie broken by one of a million questions asked of a Mom in a day, and  I hear, " Mom, what's for dinner?" or " Mom can I get a ride to..."  the first of these two queries usually sends me into my grumpy place. Since I cook frequently and in large amounts for Mclaren's, it is not often that I look forward to cooking again at home. " I have no idea!", "I haven't thought about it." or my favorite, "I don't know, what are you making? " are my frequent quips in reply to the nagging question. The cooking for 45 minutes and consuming on the fly in 5 has grown old, as I have grown old.

But more and more I find that I really enjoy creating new products and combinations for McLaren's.
 Last night I created my second series of wine jams, best served with cheese or used as a sauce base or a glaze for meats, poultry or fish  -red vs white-. The aroma of the warm wine, paired with Raspberries and  Marion berries was enticing. The process, different than cooking for a busy crowd, gives as much as it demands. Each wine, Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc seem to call for a different fruit, a pinch of spice, a dash of that and voila! Warm, robust, not too sweet (and definitely adult) flavors bloom, filling the hot kitchen with great plumes of fragrant steam.
Then, quickly! To the jars, to the jars!...... Don't boil off the alcohol, what ever you do..... racing like a crazed eccentric, with tongs and ladle in hand, sealing and twisting, sealing and twisting, until at last, they are subdued, submerged in their hot tub - forced to contain their flavor and fragrance...trapped  away from the sunshine and sweet rain that began their journey so many months ago.

So what began in a vineyard, tended with care, bottled with pride, has now taken on one more transformation. Soon I hope, to be part and parcel of celebrations, meals and intimate moments, not soon forgotten.
I wonder what my next transformation will be? I hope not to grandmother, too soon, I still have some ripening to do!

Take the time to have a cup o' something with someone you care about this week!
Andrea

Later....the next month...our first Harevst Festival!

I have finally come up for some air..... we have been so busy! We registered earlier this year to be a vendor at the Harvest Festivals in Del Mar, San Mateo and  Pomona, so.. we decided that we better check one out, to see what it is like, you know, to set our production goals ect. So .. off we marched to the Ventura Harvest Festival.

(It was the weekend following The Sea Side Highland games in Ventura. The Sea Side Games are the last Big Scottish Games of the Season that we participate in, so we were pretty tired from the two weeks of prep and the weekend of selling.)

 WOW it was packed... so in eager anticipation of great sales in Del Mar we scurried back to Santa Clarita to set up our production schedule for the week to come.

There are some weeks, mostly in between festivals now, that we can relax a bit. But the week before Del Mar was not one of those weeks. We work in a commercial kitchen at night, after both my husband and I have worked our day jobs. We try to work only three nights a week in the kitchen and then two nights packaging- to ward off complete exhaustion. Our kids help us with the baking and cooking when their homework load is not too heavy and we are grateful for their help.

Production dream- a cookie crank - a table top, hand operated, cookie depositer. One day we will no longer scoop Ginger Lassies by hand!

Well, off we went last weekend to the beautiful town of Del Mar, CA and experienced our first Harvest Festival. It was big. There were so many vendors and  a lot of beautiful and unique hand made items from pottery, glass, clothing, decor, foods and more. We met a lot of great folks and sampled a lot of product, and had a great weekend of sales.

My life, in the past year has taken on an eerie similarity to the Middle Ages as described by Ken Follet in his fantastic novels Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. ( The first read before we launched Mclaren's and the second after Christmas last year) In his novels, the people of the villages and towns are dependent on the local markets and the commerce done there to support the entire town, from the nobels to the monks. If it rains, a bridge is washed out or a crop is destroyed, entire families were destroyed, or saddled with enormous set backs.

 The past few years have been that way for so many people. The economic crash and the ensuing joblessness, forced us to look for an alternative source of income. Necessity being the mother invention, we took something that we already had, a really excellent Scottish Shortbread recipe, and turned it into a business, that in turn - is dependent on good weather (festivals & farmers markets)
 the price of the goods we use, ( butter just had a giant price leap) and finding the customers to buy it.

When we are at the markets and festivals, I can hear the echos of the farmers and bakers that came before us selling their goods in the open air markets through out the centuries. It is like a four hour
de ja vu.

Thank God we have better sanitation and better health care....oh wait, that's right... we don't have insurance at the moment...let's pray the plague doesn't return........

Until next time, take the time to have a cup of tea with someone you love.

 Andrea


for more information about Mclaren's visit our web site
www.mclarensshortbread.com

Off I go.............

Finally,........ I am beginning to get Mclaren's linked into social media. It is somewhat ironic, seeing that the Original Scottish Shortbread recipe that launched our little gourmet company goes back 5 generations, long before even the telephone!
 Well it goes to show you that sometimes, what's good does last.

 

We have more than doubled our sales in the past year and we have learned a lot along the way. We have also added jams, curds Scone and Gingerbread mixes to our product line. It has not been easy to make it all work with 3 children & 2 Golden retrievers, my husband's mortgage profession and my part time college teaching position being nearly eliminated by CA State budget cuts.

 So, go to our web site and follow our blog, I will try to keep it interesting and informative for those of you who are thinking about starting your own business to supplement your income too!

 Now it's off to bed.' Night'