Grand Opening: Paradise Sweets!

My Etsy Shop is finally open as of now!!!

For any of you that are unfamiliar with Etsy.com, it is an online marketplace for people who want to buy and sell handmade or vintage items. It's not done by auction and there are a billion things to choose from. It's pretty much amazing! And it's great because it allows people like me to share my talents with others EVERYWHERE!

Facts:
Name: Paradise Sweets
Selling: Decorated sugar cookies (and hopefully Liquid Gold Lilikoi Butter and candies in the future)
Link: Paradise Sweets
Like me on Facebook!

I am SO SO SO excited about this. One of my lifelong goals is to one day, open my own business. I never dreamed then that I could a business on the Internet. While it may seem like an easy, small step, it's still that - a small step. And at this point, a step is a step is a step!

You know how people have ten year plans on things they want to accomplish? I could easily see myself pushing my ten year plan off to maybe 30 or 40 years from now. Why? Because of the fear of FAILURE. Being an entrepreneur is all about taking a risk. And, to quote one of my favorite movies Blue Crush, "Take the risk, Feel the rush". You won't ever feel the rush (of success) if you don't take the risk.

I've always liked this quote as well:

• "The only people who never fail are those who never try."

That being said, I opened this shop to prove to that small voice inside me that says "You can't do it!" that Yes, I can!

The two fears I have are:

• I won't get any business
• I will get absolutely overloaded with orders

Are any of those two fears bad?! No. It only costs 20 cents to post a listing on Etsy. So if I absolutely fail, it's not like I lost a huge chunk of cash. And I will know in my heart that I tried my best. The timing may not be right, or I might not be offering a product that people want right now, but at least I will have given it a shot. That's better than wondering.

If I get overloaded? GREAT! Then I can quit my day job!

I know that God has equipped me with all the things I need to be successful. And He will never lead me wrong. I don't have these skills to keep to myself. I love to share and bless and make other people happy. I wish that I could bake for everyone for free. Maybe when I'm a millionaire that will happen :)

So, dear friends. We come to the part where I must give my official THANK YOUs, because I could not have done this on my own.

Thank you to my family for always being so encouraging. For being the FIRST official taste testers! You guys are all so wonderful and the best family a girl could ever have!

Thank you to all the other taste testers: The guys at The House, ALL of my past roommates, classmates, dorm neighbors, friends, and co-workers. A big shout-out to our couples group - they let me experiment on them pretty much every week without complaining that I'm making them fat :)

Thank you to ALL of you who ever said, "You should open your own place!" It's affirmation like that that pushes me over the edge to do what I love. If no one said that, I'd think I was junk. So this is for you - I'm doing it!!!

Thank you to GOD of course. Without His constant love, support and blessings in my life, I would be nowhere. I'm blessed to have a home with an OVEN where I can do this. Blessed to have the money to start this hobby up last year and blessed to have the free time and spirit to want to do all of this!

I saved the best for last. And I will make him read this!

Thank you to my husband, K. He is my biggest supporter and encourager. He comes up with the best ideas.. "You know what you should do... You should make _____". Sometimes they are off the wall but he really comes up with great, different ideas. He makes it through all my meltdowns when I think I can't do it (haha, wedding cakes!) or I mess up and don't know how to fix things. He calms me and makes everything right. He puts it all into perspective. He puts up with my cookies and cookie decorating materials taking over the kitchen (I keep it neat, I swear!) and encourages me to KEEP GOING! Without his support, I would not be doing this. Marriage is a team effort and his support means everything to me! So thanks, honey!!!

Wow, so glad I am not standing up in front of you all saying this outloud. Even just typing it I am getting a lump in my throat and tears are welling up! I feel so loved and encouraged.

So, here we go. Here I GO! Whatever happens, happens, and I have high hopes!

Fun With Flax

Sometimes I feel like I'm turning into a weird hippy-version of myself. One day I woke up and decided that I needed to jump on the flax train.

Right around the beginning of high school, I noticed that I just could not make it from breakfast to lunch without feeling like I was starving by 10am. I decided to save breakfast as the last thing to do before I left for school, but even that didn't help. Now, how many years later? I've finally got my solution (yeah maybe my metabolism is a little crazy but this works).

Flax. This simple little seed that makes me feel so full! I love it! And I can't even taste it! After I got my urge to jump on the flax train, I went down to our local (aka next door) health food co-op store and scooped up some flax meal. I started adding it to my bowl o' Vanilla Honey Greek Yogurt with added assorted berries. I couldn't taste it and I made it until lunchtime! So amazing! Yes, I am really excited.

There are lots of other blogs and websites out there where you can read about the benefits of flax. So go do that. I just love that it's high in omega-3s and fiber. Woot!

Once flax became acceptable as a "good food" to me, I couldn't wait to try it out in other things. I found a recipe via Pinterest for different kinds of granola. I'd been buying granola for my yogurt and the good stuff was getting expensive. My mom-in-law made an awesome granola for us for Christmas and it inspired me to try to make my own!

I made an almond vanilla granola which came out... not too tasty (still eating that mistake - I'm too cheap to throw it away!). Then I tried this recipe from Always Order Dessert for Triple Chocolate Quinoa Granola. Holy chocolate granola goodness. It was sooo delicious. I brought some to work and they demanded more. I sent some to my mom for her birthday and she demanded the recipe. I have yet to sit down and eat some myself (remember, eating the first mistake) so I'm pretty excited to get to it! The recipe calls for chia seeds (which are supposedly even BETTER than flax) but I substituted in my amazing flax meal instead. I had some leftover quinoa so I was able to throw that in. The only things I had to buy were the rolled oats and raw cocoa nibs (which my husband recommends you do NOT eat by themselves, haha!). Give this a try! I want to experiment with subbing in coconut oil for the olive oil since I have a lot, maybe throwing in some wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and more chocolate chips? :)

I also had to give a cookie recipe a try. And I saw this in my very first copy (thanks, Mom!) of the Food Network Magazine. This picture pretty much enticed me:

That and the fact that I already had all the ingredients! Love it when that happens.

Let me tell you that these cookies are a match made in heaven for K and I. For some weird reason, he loves crunchy cookies. I love delicious, soft n' chewy cookies! Whenever I make cookies for us I have to do some juggling to make sure we both get our fix.

These cookies are baked perfection, for both of us, all in one go. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Wow! And ya know, "semi-healthy" with the addition of the flax. TRY THEM!

Oatmeal-Flax Choco-Chip Cookies
Adapted from Food Network Magazine
Makes 32 small or 15 big cookies

Ingredients:
- 6 oz (12 T) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 3/4 c packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1 c quick cooking oats
- 1/4 c flax meal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 c (or more!) semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, mix and scrape the bowl.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, letting them incorporate fully.
4. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to the mixer, on low speed.
5. Mix until just combined and fold in chocolate chips.
6. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet for three minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Notes: I decided to go against my "small cookie" routine and go BIG! using my cookie scoop. These took a bit longer in the oven (13-16 minutes). Not sure the small cookies will be as chewy but it's worth a shot! I would love to try this recipe with whole wheat flour and maybe bigger chocolate chunks!

These also fit perfectly in my snazzy ant-proof cookie jar (thanks FSIL!!). That chalkboard part is just too much fun!

So, try some flax. And these recipes. Got any more to share? I'm game.

Let's Get Political (Not Really) - Keepin' It Sweet

I was asked to do these last-minute cookies by a friend of my last client. She explained that she was hosting a birthday party and the guest of honor was really into politics. Could I recreate the Democratic Party's logo - the donkey? Instead of "Happy Birthday" she wanted "Vote For Karen" on the cookie. What a great idea!

Of course, I said yes. I am not huge into politics at all. When I registered to vote at age 18, I put "undecided" for the party. I grew up around a lot of Republicans but I wanted to make the choice on my own and figure it out myself.

Well, it's 9 years later and guess what? Haven't done a bit of political soul searching. It's not that I don't care, it's just not my thing. I'm not really interested. When people begin to talk politics, I back out of the discussion mainly because I know I'm not informed. I don't want to put my ignorant views out there. I'm one of those "I'll-figure-out-who-I'm-voting-for-the-day-before-the-election" people. Yes.

I am glad however that there are people out there who are intensely interested. I tend to be more conservative so I probably would be labeled a "Republican", but I am glad there are liberals out there. I live in a pretty liberal state. It provides balance. It's what makes this country great - we can all have our own opinions and not get locked up for saying them out loud. Awesome!

That being said, I couldn't create the donkey, without doing the elephant :) WHEN I get my Etsy shop set up, I will definitely be selling these treats around Election Day. Wouldn't they make a great addition to a party?

My mom-in-law gifted me a wonderful Make Your Own Cookie Cutter kit for Christmas. Would you believe that I have already run out of the aluminum provided in the kit?! I've made four cutters so far and it's harder than you'd think. This cookie was a last minute request, so I headed down to my *favorite* cooking store (note sarcasm - their customer service is awful) and they didn't have it in stock. Went to the hardware store, and they didn't have any aluminum thin enough that I could bend with my hands. So, I had to get creative.

I've seen this on other websites before so I gave it a go. Here's what you'll need to make your own cookie cutter:

-Tape
-Scissors
-Shape printed out on paper
-Pen
-Plastic lids big enough to fit your design

Cut out your design, tape it to the lid, trace it and cut it out. Make sure you wash off any pen residue on the plastic. You're done! Lay it on your dough and cut around it with a very sharp knife.

These are really only good if you're making about 10 cookies or less. It gets pretty tedious cutting them out. I was happy to see that the edges still looked clean and not jagged.

Kept these simple, but maybe I'll add the stars next time.

Vote for Karen ('cause she's the birthday girl!)

Who would you vote for?

I had a fun time making these cookies and loved the challenge!