Too busy to post...a good problem

Last year for Fashion Week, we baked, filled, and packaged something like 10,000 macarons. Simon cried twice. I sobbed once. We watched the sunrise as we sat around tying ribbons on baggies and came home hours after the sunset. We thought we would be able to rest the following Monday, but ended up filming the clip above for Kelly Choi’s Very Appetizing. If you can’t tell, we’re both pale and exhausted and I’m sweating bullets. They spent something like ten minutes filming me standing in front of the stove watching sugar boil to the soft ball stage and my whole face felt like it was on fire. That, coupled with the bright camera lights, made me feel like an egg slowly frying in a very hot pan. Sizzle, sizzle, pop. However awkward I felt, we were thrilled.

Since starting work full-time, I haven’t had the opportunity to post. Well, a lot has gone on since then. We went through our first holiday season. It was both exciting and exhausting from mailing out 15-20 boxes a day to making corporate deliveries early in the morning and Simon holding a presence at the Big Social Holiday Market the week before Christmas. Truthfully, Simon held most of it down as a one man show.

Most importantly, without being prompted, Simon has tried to bake on his own. It happened once, but once is better than never. When I met him, Simon immediately friended me on Facebook and I rolled my eyes and groaned. But his first status was, “What should I bake today?” By that, it turns out he meant, “Which bag of packaged cookie dough should I throw in the oven? Peanut butter or chocolate chip?” However, I didn’t know about that until a few months later – he is so sneaky! That status got me more interested in him and afterward, I was able to teach him how to bake properly.

Recently, Simon has rolled out and folded croissant dough and he prepared his first pate brisee for a pie. He was a little too aggressive with both, but on the flip side, the first time I tried making our caramel filling, I was too impatient to let the caramel cool so I tossed in the butter right away and made caramel/butter soup. Then I did that about 6 mores times before I started to wonder what I was doing wrong.

ANYWAY, I just wanted to say that I have been really proud of Simon. The person I met baked off packaged cookies, the person I’m in love with now helps me test out new cookie recipes and makes new filling flavors. When I started working, he really stepped in and adopted Macaron Parlour as his baby.

Also, as noted in previous posts, we have really been working on our wholesale accounts. We went from only being represented at the Hester Street Fair to having a few very steady accounts. It’s so flattering that other people want to sell our product! Woohoo! Even more flattering, many people have been turning to us to take care of their wedding favors. We offer these beautiful packages that hold 2 macarons and we design a custom sticker that matches the wedding invitations so everyone walks away with their own tasty keepsake of the wedding (which will probably end up in many tummies on the way home). I have watched enough Bridezilla shows to find it an ultimate compliment that people trust their tasty gift to us.

Last week, the Hester Street Fair reopened. This was our first home and we love being able to interact with our consumers. The weather was beautiful and the response was great. We had a wonderful time meeting new fans and catching up with old ones. It was so busy, I hardly had a chance to speak to our many friends for more than a few seconds and Simon didn’t get to chat with the other vendors until the after-hours of the fair. We miss everyone and we hope to get to spend more time with you soon. Please visit us this Saturday at the Hester Street Fair!