How frustrating is it when you’ve been thinking about something for long but you just can’t put the right words together?
It is now August and I have been wanting to write this blog post since the end of April.
Have I been busy? Yes.
Have I had more time than I have in years? A definite yes.
However, talking about the sale of the cafe is actually really hard. How do I summarise my feelings about the end of an era? I am not the same person that I was in 2014 when my family & I decided to open a coffee shop.
I’m writing this but I still have no idea what to say... so I guess I’ll see where my ramblings take me.
When we opened The Innocent Kitchen there were no other coffee shops in the immediate area and definitely nothing like our business. If you have read the ‘About Us’ section on the website you would know that previously we had a kids catering company. You can read that page here. Motivated by creating a welcoming space for local families, our initial concept even included a dollhouse home to plastic dinosaur toys. From the day we opened until the day we handed over the keys to the new owner, we offered free babycinos and never charged extra for soy or lactose free milk. It was just against our ethos.
5 years in business can feel like a lifetime and it really was. There were plenty of ups and downs and in the first two years it definitely felt like I was running on pure adrenaline. In that time I also met Simon who is now my husband and we bought our first house. Marshmallow Club started to gain momentum of its own and we took it online. And the birthday cakes. So many birthday cakes!
My family and I always joke that Simon was never part of the plan. Neither was moving to The Blue Mountains and commuting 3 hours a day but life changes. Something that was always going to happen was the success of Marshmallow Club, and ultimately I had to follow this dream. I can’t remember the exact moment I decided that it was time, but we all agreed to sell the cafe so that I could focus on just one business. Imagine what I could do with Marshmallow Club if I wasn’t working in a cafe 6 days a week as well!
The process of the sale is a whole other story of its own. In the end the new owner completely changed the cafe and it has a new name.
The legacy of The Innocent Kitchen will always live on through the memories of the babies that had their first babycino there. Through all of the kids who celebrated birthdays with my cakes, and my customers who became my closest friends. No one expects that when you open a business you will have the support that I did from my regulars. Geez... is someone cutting up onions in here? The community that was formed in my humble little coffee shop still lives on and I am so proud that I helped to create these friendships.
On that note, I’ll leave you with some of my favourite memories from the cafe. The Instagram account is still online if you ever want to have a look at 5 years worth of memories. Click here to visit.
xxDani
]]>Have you ever experienced FOMO, also known as the ‘Fear of Missing Out’? For as long as I can remember I have always had FOMO especially with events and experiences... definitely made worse in high school where I had three different friendship groups, all at different schools. Combined with having a weekend job (I couldn’t miss out on the experience of working!), I always felt like I needed to be in three places at once.
Fast forward to the present and there was something that I JUST HAD TO EXPERIENCE! Sugar Republic (SR) is the brainchild of Allison Jones, previously of Lark Store and Melt Bake & Party Store. I have been following her journey for a while, but when she launched SR in Melbourne in 2018 I had instant FOMO.
When it was announced that SR would be coming to Sydney in 2019 I booked in a date with my friend, the Retro Mumma.
From the moment we walked in we were surrounded by nostalgia and a feast for the eyes. We climbed into a giant pink ball pit and decided to have a photoshoot. I think that the best part is that the exhibition is actually aimed at adults. Being able to relive our childhood by doing something as simple as playing in a ball pit brought immense joy and laughter. They really knew what they were doing when they designed Sugar Republic.
We continued walking around from room to room, having fun posing for photos with all of the artwork. Everything was interactive so we were allowed to touch things. There was a giant super soft cushion that felt like a giant piece of bubblegum (minus any grossness), and a huge cake to jump out of- complete with confetti canon.
A little secret is that I actually closed the cafe early that day to attend SR and I do not regret a thing! At the end of our session we had ice cream and then wandered through the city. It was an amazing thing to do on a sunny Friday afternoon before going back to the responsibilities of life.
Sugar Republic is no longer in Sydney but it is touring around Australia. If you get the chance to go, do it- even if you have to take the afternoon off work!
xxDani
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At the café today I was having a chat with one of my staff about time management & chaos induced anxiety. After spending more than half of my life working in the hospitality industry, I definitely have some great coping strategies in my apron pocket.
The best tip I ever received from a manager was how to handle an out of control service in a busy restaurant.
Stop.
Stop what you’re doing and go and stand away from your tables. Then you can prioritise your tasks and move forward. No one will realise that you aren’t doing anything- they’re too busy enjoying their meal. They will notice if you’re racing around like a headless chicken.
I had been following that advice since April 2008 and only realised today that I haven’t been applying this rule to every part of my life. Most of you know that I run Marshmallow Club within my café, which essentially means running two businesses. I am 100% guilty of not stopping, trying to achieve everything. Which is ridiculous! I’m only one person (even though I wear many hats!).
So today I am stopping and looking at what my priorities are. One of those things is communicating with you, my customer. I can stress as much as I want about how instagrammable my Marshmallow Studio is, or I could make more cute behind the scenes videos of the process. I think I know what sounds better!
I’m going to take my advice and I hope that it helps someone else too. Repeat after me: Stop and prioritise.
xxDani
]]>I have touched on my plans for my Marshmallow Studio both here and on our Instagram and now it’s almost happening. The project still has to be approved by the powers they be at Kickstarter.com but I’m confident that we’ll be ready to launch within the next few days.
Easter is always a busy time for us which delayed work on the project for a couple of weeks so technically I’m behind schedule. As always though, I’ve just been pushing through and pumping out my Marshmallow orders with my limited equipment and benchspace.
What exactly is a Kickstarter? It’s a crowd funding platform to help bring projects & products to life. We will be using it to fund the basic remodelling of my studio to make everything a bit easier.
Funding is achieved through people ‘pledging’ a certain amount of money in return for ‘rewards’. I’ve come up with rewards from as little as $10 but have also been able to offer International shipping on some rewards. Super exciting! The plan is to be able to offer international shipping as a regular option on the website after we have completed the work on the new kitchen.
Fingers crossed, Marshmallows lovers! I’ll keep you updated.
]]>My family has owned our cafe, The Innocent Kitchen, for 4 years where we make coffee, sweet treats and sandwiches. In 2016 I decided that my Marshmallows needed a bit more attention and set up ‘Marshmallow Club’ and this website... which has been very well received.
However, now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or a marshmallow and a marshmallow?! Demand for my fluffy creations keeps growing and I’ve quite simply run out of kitchen & storage space at the cafe. I’ve acquired a studio with a basic kitchenette so my next mission is to fit it out properly and have room for all of the important things like mixers, drying racks, packaging shelves and a gift wrapping/packing station.
After consulting with like-minded people I’ve realised that I will need to explore crowd funding. In the midst of Subscription Boxes being sent out and whipping up website & wholesale orders, I’ve been madly planning out my goals, budget & feasibility for this working. Sure I can keep running around like crazy and working around the clock to make use of the minimal equipment I have, but I’ll never conquer the world that way!
Hopefully within the next week you’ll be hearing more about the next steps I’ll be taking to make my dream a reality. Pretty exciting stuff, eh? For now, I’m posting some ‘before’ photos of the studio space which is pretty much just storage space at the moment. I have started to clean & paint the room but there’s still so much more to do!
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I have to say... life is never boring in my little Marshmallow world. Last week there were many things happening in my life (more on that at a later date), but the most interesting thing was a corporate order we received.
The Edible Bug Shop would be presenting these Marshmallows at Kylie Kwongs Night Markets at Carriageworks here in Sydney. The theme of the night was Australian flavours so I had just the right combinations, taking inspiration from our October 2016 Subscription Box.
The lovely Skye from Ediblebugshop.com.au had contacted me about creating Marshmallows focused around their edible Mealworms, Crickets, and Ants. Now you guys know me- I’m always up for a challenge!
Working to complement the natural flavours of the insects, I matched up the following;
Mealworms with Wattle seed | Crickets with Macadamia & Caramel Swirl |
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Being a small business ourselves, we love to support other small businesses. The Riberry flavouring I used in the Ant Marshmallows came from a Riberry ‘Shrub’ by Currong Comestibles who are local to the area where we have our cafe. A shrub is an old fashioned style cordial made with vinegar and provides the perfect flavouring for something as sweet as marshmallows.
The verdict on Edible Insects in Marshmallow? It really works. Initially I had been worried about the chemical make up of the bugs effecting the texture of the Marshmallow, however, there were no issues. Is it strange eating bugs in Marshmallows? Definitely! But if it's a normal part of peoples diets in other countries then it's about time we embraced it in Australia.
I hope that you enjoyed this insight on one of our more unusual requests!
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So the great news is that my husband and I have just bought our dream home. The payoff is that we now have to wake up at 4am to go to work in the city. It’s a slight shift in lifestyle and means that I really have to quieten down my brain and go to sleep early.
Being a creative person I’m always coming up with new ideas, and you can pretty much guarantee that inspiration always arrives when I’m trying to sleep. Whyyyyy? Well I know why... it’s the first time all day that I’ve stopped and let my brain run free.
2018 is already becoming a busy year and I’m determined to get some of these ideas out of my head and into the world. I’m calling it already, it’s The Year of The Marshmallow... as long as this brain of mine can get organised!
In the next few weeks I’ll be writing A LOT of to-do lists and pretty much trying to plan out the next 6 months. Fortunately I’m confident that this isn’t just a giant New Years Resolution as I’ve spent the past year getting to this point.
Onwards and upwards, party people!
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