Newsletter and market research

As of last Monday you can sign up for a newsletter which we will be using to keep customers up to date with our progress in preparing the shop.

The other day, Alex and I decided to go for a stroll around Nafplio.

Well, it wasn't just a stroll. We had a purpose. For some time now we thought it would be a good idea to walk around the main areas of both the old and new towns. We've been trying to observe pedestrian traffic that there is on an average day to keep it in mind when we start looking for our location. We are aiming to open the café/tea shop by the spring (see below about about the difficulty we are having deciding what to call it). Of course we are well aware that not everything goes the way you expect!

We know that going just once is not going to give us a good idea so we plan to go again a few more times. It is not much of a trial to wander around in this beautiful town in the warmth of the sun!


It was a very enlightening trip. We got talking to a very nice elderly lady who owns a shop in the old town and is about to retire. She has been in town for years and was able to give us lots of useful information about the shops which are there already and shops which might become available. She was even able to give us an idea of the best times of year for trade and the quiet times. She was a veritable well of useful information.

We managed to draw a few conclusions. Well, sort of. We are finding that opinions on things are changing as and when we get more information, almost on a daily basis.

Then there is the matter of good reputation. If your product becomes known and loved, people will come to get it wherever you are. Well not anywhere... but you know what I mean. If you have a good reputation, a really good product, you are going to get more customers who come especially for that than accidental passers-by. It doesn't hurt to be easily accessible though!

Location vs. Reputation. Reputation vs. Location. Which wins? Some sort of compromise, I suppose.

So let's say we came to some temporary conclusions. Is it possible to come to a temporary conclusion?

On another note, we are making our final decisions on what to name the business, the shop and on choosing a logo. We have been procrastinating on that issue, too. Too many good ideas! Our friends and graphic designers at Atelier have astonished us with a large array of ideas and given us lots and lots of possibilities.

There is a lot to digest when planning to start a business! I think I need something sweet to help me decide!

"TA NEA" Daily - Interview (updated)

Exciting news!

A couple of weeks ago we got contacted by Aggeliki Karageorgou, a reporter for the national daily TA NEA for an article on the rising popularity of cupcakes.

It came out today. It has my basic cupcake recipe in and ideas on how to make it less fattening! You can read it online here.

Taking the photos was quite a funny experience and needless to say Fin is extremely excited to be in the newspaper!


Lovely to see you, too, Niki!

UPDATE

I had totally missed the fact that our cupcakes feature on the front page of the paper, too! Right about half way through the page, just below the H1N1(!) story, horizontal strip in blue, our banner photo for the blog, rearranged, to the left of the strip advertising the column (compare with the top of this page).

My little salad

Here is the little salad that I made with the lettuce I grew (found) in the back garden!


It was especially tender so I just gently tore it, added a small sliced cucumber, a few small cubes of feta and a sprinkling of salt.

For oil, I added some absolutely amazing Olive oil that some friends gave me from their trees in Lygourio (Λυγουριό). It tastes outstanding. It has an almost creamy taste.

I'm told that Lygourio is one of a few places with special registration for their oil. I'll have to investigate this matter further but maybe some of you readers can shed some more light on it?

Anyway my verdict of the whole salad was phenomenal. Even though my little lettuce was so small that there was only a few small forks full for each of us.

My first home grown vegetable!

And all by accident!

Back in Athens I had tried to grow some different varieties of lettuce. They started out not too badly but then they got infected by tiny tiny little flies and all died.

This afternoon while I was out the back of our house I noticed this in one of the pots that I had piled up until I have time to deal with them.


How cool is that? The sun and the plenty of rain we have been having worked all by them selves and germinated and nurtured some old seeds which obviously didn't sprout up in Athens.

This raises the question: what would happen if I plant (scatter without any care)some seeds all over the soil at the back. My gardening skills seem to improve the more I ignore things!

Salad anyone?

Oh and in case any of you ask, I have no idea which of all the seed varieties I planted these are.
Athens, garden, growing vegetables, lettuce, Nafplio

Changing seasons, changing flavours!

Can you believe Alex took this picture exactly one month ago when we went to the beach?


Winter is most definitely here! The last few days have been rather dismal. Over the past weekend we fired up the central heating for the first time. There were a few technical problems with that and one or two other things in the house but I won't go into all that! I prefer to think that everything is repaired.



The last couple of weeks have seen a change in the scenery in and around Nafplio. The view of the orange grove outside the front of our house is one thing that has changed dramatically.


A couple of weeks ago the oranges were small and very green. Now they have grown a lot and are starting to change from green to pale yellow and some even have their orange color already. It is amazing what a couple weeks of rain and a little sunshine can do!!!


It's exciting for my son. He can't wait for the oranges to ripen so he can have fresh juice! He has been asking nearly every day since we got here "when will the oranges be ready?" I am not sure if he realizes that he won't actually be able to help himself from the oranges across the street.


This week my Father in Law brought a huge bag of walnuts and another of quince from his trees in his village, Klepa, which is in the region of Northern Nafpaktos. Quince is not something I have cooked with before, so I started googling to see what delicious recipes I could find.


We settled on trying some quince jam first. I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. We discovered that the color of the jam depends on the type of quince you have, some quinces make very deep pink jam and others make a more pale pink jam. Ours were the variety that make a paler coloured jam.


It was very nice on a slice of fresh crusty bread, but I also think it would be delicious on a freshly baked scone and, if I wanted to be very naughty, with a pile of whipped cream on top. If I get a chance to try it any time soon I will tell you if my conclusions were correct!





The change in the weather has made me put my mind to all the wonderful different flavours of cupcakes we will be able to make in the different seasons. In the café I want to try my best to have some flavors influenced by the seasons. This time of year it would be nice to have autumn-and-winter taste cupcakes. Something with pumpkin and winter fruits, like apple and pears or delicious spices, that remind you of sitting around the fire in winter, such as cinnamon and cloves, maybe cardamom. Quince? I am trying to think of a way to incorporate quince jam into or onto a cake! That could be interesting!

Liz