Archive for Cafe

Handmade Bracelets

October 12, 2009 at 2:17 pm · Filed under Cafe, Store

braceletsLook at these adorable bracelets by our crafter-in-residence, Emily.  (You can see some of her hats in the background, too.)  Emily hangs in the cafe a couple times a week to play with her kids and work on her crafts.    Her creations were so cute, we had to get them in the store!  So come and pick up a flower bracelet for the little girls in your life!  At only $8.99 each, you can get a whole garden of flowers!  But, you better hurry.  I already bought two for myself.

 

Join Emily and Nikki in the cafe every 3rd Monday for the Crafty Mamas Pop-In.  Bring your knitting, sewing, or craft and get to work!  Sit, stitch, play.

 

Adria

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Recipe of the Week

October 12, 2009 at 1:12 pm · Filed under Cafe, Recipes

Here’s the recipe of the week from our Whatchamakin Pop-In on Monday mornings.  Try this Peanut Sauce as a veggie dip, over noodles, or with chicken.

Peanut Sauce

1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 T Grated Ginger

1 T Minced Garlic

3 T Brown Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Hot Water

4 T Cider Vinegar

2 T Soy Sauce

1 t salt

Crused Red Pepper to taste

 

Puree all ingredients in the blender until smooth.  Adjust seasoning (salt, pepper, etc) to taste.

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Whatcha Makin’?

September 28, 2009 at 12:12 pm · Filed under Cafe

There has been a core group of foodie moms meeting in our cafe on Monday mornings.  We found that we spent most of the time talking about recipes and our menus for that week.  Then, many of us would head out to the grocery store right from Mom and Pop Place.  We decided to turn our cooking discussion group into a formal Pop-In group.  Join us every Monday at 10AM for the Whatcha Makin” Pop-In.   I’ll post a highlight recipe from each weeks discussion.  This week’s recipe is for a Tomato and Cheese Tart.  (I said “tart”.)  What a great way to use up the tomatoes we all have left from our garden!

Tomato and Cheese Tart

1T Extra-virgin Olive Oil

1 Large Onion (about 2 cups), sliced very thinly

1 Pastry crust, unbaked (store-bought or homemade)

4 oz cheese (recipe calls for goat cheese, but we agree mozzarella or even string cheese would work well)

1/2 t Dried Thyme

3-4 Medium Tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Preheat oven to 425.    In medium skilet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook, stiring often, until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove form heat.

2.  Lay pastry dough or piecrust flat on cutting board.  Distribute onion evenly on top, leaving 1 inch border all around.  Dot with cheese, sprinkle with thyme.  Arrange tomato slices on top, overlapping slightly.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Fold pastry over topping, crimping dough every inch or so.

3.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake approximately 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.

4.  Eat.

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Locally-Made

August 27, 2009 at 4:52 pm · Filed under Cafe, Store

We love being able to offer you locally-made goods.  We have adorable bibs, burp rags, loveys, dresses, soaps, lotions, knit hats, aprons, pocket diapers, diaper covers and more made right here in Wisconsin.  Some even made right here in Neenah!  The baked goods in our cafe (dessert breads, biscotti, brownies) are made by hand from scratch by a local baker who uses only USA-made ingredients.

As a small home-grown company, we are firm-believers in supporting local businesses!  Especially our own……..  You have asked for more locally-made goodies and we want to deliver!  We want to know what you make from home.  Do you sew?  Kint?  Bead?  Applique?  Felt?  Know someone who does?  Email us at info@momandpopplace.com to talk about whether your creations would be a fit for Mom and Pop Place!

Adria

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Happy Birthday!

April 30, 2009 at 1:44 pm · Filed under Adria, Cafe, Store

j0384809Wow.  My baby is about to turn 2!  In some respects, the last 2 years have seemed like a blur.  I lose track of time and months fly by.  Sleep deprivation can do that to you!  On the other hand, I can hardly remember what life was like beforehand.  It’s like the old saying:  “The years are short, but the days are long”.

I remember well the excitement of 2 years ago.  So many long months of planning and waiting.  How were we going to fit this new adventure into our family?  Our sons were only 5 and 3.  How were they going to adjust to sharing their mom’s time?   How was I going to balance everything when my husband was at work all day?

When the big day came, all my family and friends were there to support us.  I couldn’t believe that the day we had been dreaming about was finally heere!  It felt like a dream.  We got so many kind words and cards and flowers.  I felt like part of such a loving community!  You have all embraced our newest addition.  Your support has meant everything to us!

Some days have been tough.  It’s hard to balance my time and give enough attention to everything in my life.  The first year was a real learning experience!  I was still getting to know our newest addition: its needs and its quirks.  It took so much of my time!  Just when we thought we had it figured out, everything changed.  But, after we reached the one-year milestone, things started to go more smoothly.  I was starting to understand this new part of my life that was growing more independent.  I could go away for the weekend and things would still be alright! 

So, now we’re entering the “Terrible Two’s”.  I’m not worried.  I have always loved the two’s with my children.  They take on a personality of their own and it’s so humbling to watch them grow and explore. 

In the current state of the world, there are lots of 2-year-olds having trouble.  So many that came around the same time as ours are not around any more.  People ask us with concern how ours is doing.  Are we going to be able to avoid this “thing” that is going around?   Honestly, ours is growing and thriving!  We are so grateful to the people around us who have given us the support and encouragement we needed. It truly “takes a village”!

As we celebrate this Second Birthday, we can hardly contain our excitement!  It’s been an amazing journey so far and we can’t wait to see where future takes us.  We hope that you will be to share it with us.

 

Happy Birthday, Mom and Pop Place!

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“Live” at 3:45!

April 5, 2009 at 9:44 pm · Filed under Adria, Cafe, Toys

geo_usWere you awake at 3:45 AM any day last week?  Sadly, I bet some of you were.  Moms, Pops, and college students are the only ones awake at 3:45 AM.  But, college students are on their way to bed.  Moms and Pops are on their way to a full-day’s work wiping butts and playing trains.

 

Last week, I got to re-live my “baby days” by getting up at 3:45!  The local CBS station did a live remote from Mom and Pop Place on their morning news show, which runs from 5-7 in the morning.  I needed to be here by 4:30 to help the camera-man set up for the show.  It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds.

CBS decided to do the feature because they wanted to talk about Geopuzzles.  Geopuzzles are a line of (duh) puzzles produced by a company based right here in Neenah.  The puzzles were featured on Live with Regis and Kelly lasy week. They had a 2-year-old “Whiz Kid” on who had memorized all the world’s countries and capitals using GeoPuzzles.  Cute.  Maybe not genius, but cute.  You can see the video on Youtube: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jXSR1xdcPE&feature=related 

There are lots of videos of the same kid doing “genius” things like memorizing short children’s books and reading numbers with 5 whole digits! 

Anyway, he was on Regis and CBS wanted to come talk about Geopuzzles.  I was all too happy to offer a location for the interviews!  I spent an enjoyable (but very early) morning with Bob (the owner of Geopuzzles), Karina (the graphic designer), Millaine (the chipper news reporter), and Camera Man (whose name I didn’t catch). 

It was a great chance to promote our store and invite people to check out our cafe.  I know we have had huge sales of Geopuzzles this week.  I wonder if people saw them on local TV?  Did any of you see the segment?

 

Adria

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