Reflections.................. November

Wow! These reflections sure make me realise how busy I have been over the last four months! No wonder I haven't been blogging!

I haven't mentioned on this blog yet our new venture ....... Fabulous Focaccia. Before I talk about the business, the best thing to come out of it, is all the new-found, kindred spirits we have met at the farmer's market. As I write this, it is the end of December and we haven't had the market for a couple of weeks........ I miss it and them!

If you want to read about the early days of our venture head on over to http://www.fabulousfocaccia.blogspot.com/ - I will also be updating this blog asap........ when time permits!

Most of November was spent getting ready for our first three-day Christmas show. It was both an artisan's faire and a farmer's market at the Qualicum Beach civic centre. It was difficult to decide how much bread to bake for a three day event and so we decided to add some other products to our stall. These were all designed to compliment our Italian bread and so were balsamic vinegar based. Many of our customers 'dip' their focaccia into olive oil or vinegar and so I made some balsamic vinegar infusions with fresh fruit juices and whole spices...... they are delicious (even if I do say so myself) and they did prove to be very popular.

The surprising product was the balsamic vinegar chutney. We quickly sold out and I already have requests for next year. I now need to reorder the jars and get making while life is a wee bit quieter - it's a good thing that the chutneys and vinegars improve with age! We also made some spice mills so that customers can sprinkle the spices onto extra virgin olive oil before dipping - they add a bit of heat and a nice crunch. We intend to make some other blends for next year.

All in all, the market was a very encouraging, positive first experience for us and we plan to do many more next year................ exciting eh?!