Dinner of Champions, a Highschool Seniors View

Last night was an interesting process. I came in from the grocery store loaded down and Ashley started helping me put things away. During all this she starts talking about how she has been craving a sandwhich with BBQ chips. I was like well get to it. Then I told her we had celery and peanut butter and I thought she was going to pass out with delight. She is a huge fan of what I call insta food - that microwave stuff, you know powdered potatoes, frozen dinners, canned meals. (GAG ME) So I proceed to make a rather amazing salad, courtesy of Pioneer Woman and her blog. I was so engrossed in my salad making and drooling over the flavors that I did not notice Ashley til I was done. Then I saw it, she squealed in delight and declared her dinner EPIC. I will let you be the judge!

Look at this thing...it is huge, you see the height on that baby.

Of Course we had to take a picture of it opened faced. So you can see the hard work. That is ham, turkey, cheese, mayo and yes people BBQ chips. That is her secret ingredient, it would not be EPIC without the chips!

One last parting shot. Are you hungry now???

Meet Jac

JAC is our mascot. He is the cute little round guy that resides at the end of our logo. He is a very easy going and fun loving gentleman, well at least I think so since I made him!! (Everyone is biased when it comes to their creations) The hardest part was his name. Drop seemed to obvious and in my opinion boring. We wrestled with his name for a weekend and then it dawned on me. JAC - Jay, my loving and terribly supportive husband, bless him and all he has to deal with. Ashley, the creative inspiration for this business that was a MISUNDERSTANDING!!! Chrystal - me of course, the one who lives in drops, making, baking, dreaming, facebooking, blogging and loving it all!

Yes I do realize it may be corny, but in my world corny and cookey work. At least for today. I also realize that it is the same name of the famed Jack from that hamburger establishment, who is widely famous and currently in a coma - according to the commercials. We hope you pull through big guy, from one Jac to another! However, our guy is much more kid friendly! Well unless you are a brain and see him as an atom with protons and neutrons revolving around him. (Did a piece of my nerd just come out??)

Packaging and Shipping

This past Friday I had orders to go out...this is a common occurrence, but this time I tested the waters in shipping. It is a unique process, from wrapping the drops individually, to trying to keep them cool during shipping...who wants melted chocolate! Well I mean unless it is a smore or hot chocolate or ooooo even a fudge sundae! MMMM..all great forms of melted chocolate. Sorry, lets get back on track. The issues:

1. Keep them packaged well to maintain look.
2. Keep them cool.
3. Get them to people to enjoy quickly!

I ended up with a strong corrugated box, some filler and a belief in priority mailing!

Take a look - I added the labels to help the box not look so blah. After all, who wants a boring blah box to arrive on the doorstep!

A dinner gone terribly wrong!

Yesterday was a glorious disaster of a meal! My best friend was coming over to enjoy a home cooked meal. She hates to cook, and well basically never does! She is a picky eater, no spice! Here is the issue...I LOVE SPICE. I think that is an understatement, there is not a word to encompass how much I adore, worship, will walk over fire for a spicy dish! MMMMM. Back to my issue, a meal with no spice. To me this spells bland. I had really great intentions and started out with a coconut base, soy, ginger, garlic, all relatively simple things. Put that over some chicken in my slow cooker and we were off. Two hours later it is taste test time! It smelt lovely, but it was not good. I wanted to toss the whole dish. It was too sweet. Almost like a candied chicken.
I needed to try to fix it, so in go onions, cilantro, more garlic and yes, curry powder people. The result....a dish I could stomach, but oddly enough, one she loved! Lets just say it will never be made in my house again!

UT Longhorns, Rodeo---Cake Drops!

Last night was spent in a blur. There are cake drops to get ready. In Texas it is the start of THE RODEO...YEEEHAW. So we all strap on our boots and go boot scootin at the BBQ cook off. It is a ton of good food and people watching. In the traditional Texas stereotype we spend three days on monster BBQ ensembles trying to get the recipe that will make the judges melt.

Isn't he cute? If he only knew his fate was to be devoured.

I am donating 500 drops to the rodeo and then a another 100 to the UT Longhorns. I spent the evening drowning in these drops! All for a great cause and completely worth it. The Rodeo drops are still going and it is 8am. Take a look a the Longhorns....they are done!!

Here is the extended family, lined up in good order getting ready to meet their fate. MMMMMM!

Cake balls, bites and in our case -drops - The fad has taken over!

Have you ever opened your fridge and looked in side and thought, how did I get here? That is what happened to me this morning.

So back to the balls, bites, drops. It started as a huge misunderstanding. My stepdaughter, an 18 year old in her senior year of economics, had a school paper to write on starting a business. I thought she had to carry it through to fruition and I took off. Did I say MISUNDERSTANDING??? She only had to do it conceptually. So we started cake dropping like mad. Taking surveys, taste test, my pantry was a sweet tooth's heaven. Her friends loved them and that is how I got where I am. This morning, the fridge, scouring for something to eat but noticing that only cake drops lived in there.

So now I am on a quest to raise money for breast cancer. I am making these tender morsels of cakey goodness in order to get people to donate for the cause. I always felt really cheesy just saying, sponsor me...well cause you just should...it is a good cause. This way I actually have some form of trade. Buy these fabulous drops of cake and icing and feel good about yourself, cause you are donating to a cause and you get to eat them...what is better.

I have added some pics of these little things. Flavors abound and combinations never cease to amaze me. When you have an 18 year old with a school of friends that is constantly coming home saying..try this..or that. You get some tastey and terrifying concotions!