Most of you guys know that I’m a little fermentation obsessed.  My kitchen counters are overrun with mason jars of various sizes and of various fillings.  I generally have 5-8 fermentation projects going at any given time.  For example, going right now I have:

• Two types of sauerkraut (ruby red garlic jalapeno and a simple green cabbage one);
• Carrot slices layered with red onion and jalapenos (for the class below);
• Garlic scapes (little shoots that grow on garlic plants for a few weeks);
• The first fermented chili paste of the season with green cayennes, serranos and banana peppers;
• Blackberry vinegar with berries from Dr. Young’s Pond Farm;
• A ginger bug to make naturally fermented soda;
• And finally some good ole Blueberry green tea kombucha;

You can check out some of those pictures- and many more of my fermented goodies - here.

I’ve just moved back to my hometown of Cary, NC after spending 15 years in Boston and San Francisco.  I’d love to get people excited about fermentation here in the Triangle, so I hope you’ll join me on Sunday, August 10th from 2pm-4pm at Whisk Carolina for this hands-on cooking class.  We’ll be making some of my favorite live cultured items such as sauerkraut, spicy carrot slices and fermented chili paste, and you’ll get to take home two projects to ferment on your counter at home.

Only 12 spots available – reserve your spot today!  Details below.

Leaving corporate America (and a steady paycheck) meant big changes in my life, including saving my pennies.  This year’s Christmas gifts consisted of crochets scarves, and homemade goodies like fermented chili paste, tomato sauce & assorted jams I made over the summer.  These are great, but I miss the days of being able to give extravagant gifts to all the people I care about.

Which got me thinking…  If I had that same $1000 to spend on Christmas today, what would I buy?

Note: I had intended to publish this post in early December, but like many of us, procrastination got the best of me and I’m just getting around to doing it.  So while you may not choose these as Christmas gifts, consider these guys my *fav* local companies and support them when you can!

My $1000 Post-Holiday Gift List

($96): 1 month of fresh heirloom juice from Luisa & Derek at SoW
($64): 8 jars of organic hummus from Donna at Love & Hummus
($40): 4 jars of pickled fennel from Christian at the Uncommon Pickle
($66): Demi-Annual, seasonal jam subscription from Dafna at INNA Jam
($36): 6 jars of Pomegranate Parsley kombucha from Alex at Cultured
($35): Homemade Chai tea spice box from John at Oaktown Spice Shop
($50): Case of heirloom Gravenstein apple juice from Kendra at Nana Mae’s
($100): Gift certificate for nourishing, prepared food from Angie at MamaKai
($55): 5 tins of Petite Whisper’s classic inspiration cards from Alexis & Evon
($40): 4 jars of Strawberry Balsamic jam from Devereaux at Company Jam
($100): Gift certificate for Nourish Life & Business Coaching with Alexis
($65): For the ultimate Tower of Chocolate from Dennis at Coco Delice
($26): ½ gallon of fermented Kalamata olives from Good Faith Farm
($40): Preserved fruits & goodies from Anea at Valley Girl Foodstuffs
($20): Pasture-raised smoked bacon from Ted at Highland Hills Farm
($36): 2 lbs of Ethiopian Yergacheffe from Rich & Robert at Highwire coffee
($48): 4 quarts of beef bone broth from Jessica & team at Three Stone Hearth
($35): International Food of the Month box from Vijay at Hungry Globetrotter
($48): 2 Emergency Bloody Mary kits from Todd at Happy Girl Kitchen
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$1000  Grand Total

Food is Personal

In a recent conversation with a fellow food entrepreneur, I was reminded that food is personal.   Each of the businesses listed above I have come to know personally – I’ve spoken with them at farmers markets, visited their farms, bellied up to their juice bars, watched them hand roll each truffle, and taken their cooking classes.  They share their struggles and successes willingly, transforming a regular food purchase into something much more emotional.

I’ve written before about knowing the people that make and grow your food, and this group of businesses are the ultimate examples of what I meant!  So consider this a post-Christmas wish list for each of you, chock-full of all the businesses (and people!) that I want to support in the coming year.  Help spread the word if you can…

Coming Soon!

A new blog and small business coaching company by Jill.  Excited!!  Stay tuned…

Related Posts:

A Guide to Supporting Local Food Makers
A Guide to Mindful Meat Consumption 
I’m Egg-stremely Confused – Part 1

Enter my new company crush, Good Eggs, who are hoping to change the local food system with their new online marketplace aimed at connecting eaters and producers.

I recently spoke with Good Eggs co-founder, Rob Spiro, about their mission, and specifically about some of their producers that Little City parents will find most attractive.   Top of my list; some really incredible pasture-raised meat companies, my two favorite baby food companies, and for all the allergy-sensitive kiddos, the most delicious gluten free bread I’ve tasted.

A Chat with the Co-Founder, Rob Spiro

Jill: What are the biggest challenges in trying in connecting food makers with their local community?
Rob: Awareness & convenience.  First people have to know about all the great local food they can buy — including farm-fresh fruits and veggies, ranch-direct meats, fresh bread and other bakery goods, etc.  Then they have to actually get the food, and it’s that last-mile piece of the distribution chain, and the most difficult in many cases.

Jill: How can the average person support local food makers in a more meaningful way?
Rob: Make it a part of your weekly routine.  Find the producers that you want to be feeding your family, and then buy from them every week.  Becoming a “regular” is the best way to build a relationship with a food maker, help their business, and ultimately have a more rewarding experience.

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I swear, it’s like he read our last blog about supporting local food makers.

To begin addressing these challenges, Good Eggs has established a few “food hubs” around the Bay Area where you can order items online from multiple producers and pick them all up at once.  Some of the locations include Good Eggs HQ (Mission), Food Craft Institute (Oakland), Berkeley Ironworks (Berkeley), among others.  It’s not a perfect system yet as every producer is not available at every food hub, but definitely a step in the right direction.

The Parent’s Guide to Producers

Now back to my fabulous Little City parents…  If you attended any of my cooking classes or demonstrations, you’ll know I’m a die-hard advocate of pasture-raised meats and eggs for the whole family.  Here are some Good Eggs producers that you’ll want to check out:

• Round Valley Raised: $300-$400 pasture raised pork and beef share boxes.  Get some friends together to split if needed, that’s what I’m doing if anyone wants to get in for September, $100 portions.
• Harley Richter meats: Founder John Richter does A-mazing things with sausage.  A tasty and relatively inexpensive way to get high quality pastured meat into your kiddo’s diet.
• Pastoral Plate: has it all from pastured eggs & chicken to pork & beef.
• Jablow’s Meats: Finding pastured lunch meat is always a challenge for me, but Dan’s got some incredible corned beef and pastrami coming out of his kitchen.
• Bread Srsly: For all the gluten free kiddos, this GF sourdough bread is a must buy!  They have awesome muffins and other breads too, but Sadie’s sourdough seriously rocks.
• i love blue sea: seafood caught using sustainable methods and sourced directly from local & trusted fisherman.  I heart their oysters.

And for the brand new mommies and daddies out there…

• MamaKai: Prepared meals made for growing families and perfect for the busy parent.  I can tell you from personal experience, Angie’s food is nutrient-dense and amazing – the perfect way to nourish your family.
• Big Dipper Baby Food and Fresh Baby Bites:  you guys already know about my two favorite baby food companies since Little City stopped making it ourselves.  They’re both available here too.

I asked Rob why he feels food is so personal.  His response: “Food is elemental.  It’s an expression of caring for the people around you, and being cared for.  It’s the centerpiece of the most important social rituals in our lives, as it has been throughout history.  It’s the most important contributing factor to our health.  It’s the fundamental way that we, as humans, participate in the natural cycles of the land.”  Well put.

So, check out these great producers, try out Good Eggs when you can, and tell your friends there’s a new way to get local food in town.

Related posts:

• I’m Egg-stremely Confused: Part 1
• A Guide to Mindful Meat Consumption
• A Guide to Supporting Local Food Makers: Knowing the People who Make & Grow Your Food 

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Jill Epner is a recovering food entrepreneur, advocate for early-stage food startups, and Bay Area food blogger. Follow her on Facebook, or sign up to receive her newsletter where she gives a candid peek  into the world of starting her own food company, Little City Kitchen Co.

Somewhere over the last several years, I developed a driving need to uncover the story behind my food.  I could (and do!) spend hours talking to farmers and craft food producers about their experiences…what drove them to start their business, how long have they been making kombucha, when will their best pickling cucumbers arrive, and most importantly, how can I help support them?

And for the everyday person, therein lies the problem: Most people would never put the same energy that I do into selecting & buying food.

There’s just no getting around the fact that supporting local food makers is an intentional act; you almost have to go out of your way to do it.   It takes more time, energy, and lets face it, money, than we’re used to spending on this part of our life.  So why bother?

Make Food Personal

For me, there is something magical about knowing the person who makes my food.  Not only am I convinced that the food is healthier and tastes better, but I’m also emotionally drawn to supporting these types of businesses, and I get tremendous satisfaction when I contribute, even in a small way.

Because I’ve been there…  These guys eat, live & breathe their products, and it takes loyal supporters like us, people that are willing to go out of their way to make purchases, to keep these guys in business.  I assure you that local food businesses have the deck stacked against them almost every step of the way, so the $8 loaf of Bread Srsly or the $7 jar of Emmy’s pickles you buy really does make a difference.

Small changes to consider

So in typical Jill fashion, I’ve put together a few tips on how the everyday person can begin to re-establish the connection they have with the people that make & grow their food:

• Visit your local farmers market and talk every week to the people selling…many of them are the owners and have all sorts of information & stories.
• In San Francisco, check out my new company “crush”, the newly launched Good Eggs website (literally, they launched yesterday).  They’ve been called the new Esty of local food.
• Seek out local products in your natural grocery stores, and choose (even if just occasionally) to pay a few bucks more for it than a less-expensive, larger brand.
• Once you find local products you love, consider giving them as gifts. Look for opportunities to buy for more than just yourself, and introduce others to these foods in the process
• Check out a Slow Money collaboration called Credibles where you can pre-purchase from your favorite local businesses.  Think of it like a really big gift certificate that you get to redeem over time.
• Consider joining a CSA for a weekly delivery of produce, meat, jams, bread and even seafood.

When it comes down to it for me, I’d rather know that Donna made my Love & Hummus, or that Deveraux chopped up the apricots for my jar of Company Jam, or that Charlie gathered my eggs from Rolling Oaks Ranch.  I’ll seek out Bledsoe pork because the rancher, John Bledsoe, is a riot.  And soon on a Saturday, I’ll trek into San Francisco for a fresh juice “flight” from a new pop-up juice bar called SoW, for no other reason than to support the co-founder and my friend, Luisa.

This is what the local food community is all about.  Come join us!!

The pragmatic part of me knows that at some point I need to make some money and start supporting myself again, so I’ve started getting comfortable with the idea of going back to work.

Without really even looking, an unexpected opening at a local & sustainable food company came across my desk.  It was the perfect position on paper, so I had been exploring it, quite seriously, for the last few weeks.  Somewhere in between negotiating salary and start dates, the gentle nagging in my gut, that until this point I chalked it up to normal apprehension about going back to work, turned into a full-blown freak out.

It became clear that something else, something bigger, was actually going on for me, so I started examining my real motivations for wanting this job.  The answer hit me like a ton of bricks:  I was terrified of running out of money, and this job was the safest and most practical solution.

After sitting with that thought for a few minutes, I realized the deeper implication…

I was letting my fear make decisions for me.

Even now, seeing those words on the screen disturbs me.  It seems like such a yucky place to come from when making life’s big decisions, sort of the anti-Jill approach.  Yet I can’t help but wonder how prevalent fear has been in other aspects of my life (and for the record Mom, that’s a rhetorical question!).

This new awareness, however seemingly small, is already impacting my life in big ways.  Fear can be very powerful, but only if you allow it to be.

Don’t Make Me Pull This Car Over…

I equate it to taking a road trip with several very loud passengers in a car.  Each of your motivations wants a turn in the drivers seat, but ultimately, you get to choose which one of them drives, for how long, and in which direction.

I’m reminded now of a previous blog where I talked about the opposite of fear being trust. In the case of my almost-job, my trust finally took over the driving and put my fear in its place…on a much-needed time out in the backseat.  Whew!

So in the end, I listened to my intuition and politely turned down that job knowing there must be another even better one is out there for me.  Although the final conversation with them was not an easy one, I’m left knowing, yet again, that this is the right decision for me.

On that note, I will sign off and leave you to ponder…  How much power do you give YOUR fear?

There have been three significant transitions I’ve made in the last few years: (1) Leaving the corporate world to start Little City Kitchen Co, (2) shutting down the business, and most recently, (3) embracing the idea of looking for full-time work after being an entrepreneur.

I could dedicate a blog to each of these, but instead I wanted to focus on my personal process for making big transitions in hopes it will inspire some of you to do the same.

A Guide to Making Big Changes

Be honest with yourself: Everything starts with awareness, and to have that, you need to ask yourself (or have a coach/counselor ask you) the really hard questions.  Once you’ve uncovered the truth about something, just sit with it for a while and get comfortable.

Don’t judge your answers: In other words, separate the answer from the implications. When I came to realization that I didn’t want to make baby food anymore, I tried to avoid the onslaught of “what does that mean” questions which tend to be negative and paralyzing.  I just stayed focused on what I knew was true, baby food wasn’t right for me anymore, until I made peace with that thought.

Consider the options: Once you’ve gotten a little more comfortable with your new realization, start to consider the changes needed or solutions that are possible.  This is sometimes where I get stuck.  I want to consider every possibility so I can make the “right” decision…it’s a fear of failure thing.  I could set up camp at this point, so I’m careful not to live here for too long!

Make bold decisions: My dear friend Emily and I call this part “putting on the bold shoes”.  Once you have awareness and you’ve considered the options, take a risk and make a bold decision; shut down a company, leave your relationship, move to India…  Making the decision is usually the hardest part, but I’ve found the details always fall into place afterward.

Take action in your new direction: The change becomes real when you start taking action.  For me, I’m usually so “ready” by this point that the action follows quickly.  This was resigning from my corporate career, blogging about shutting down Little City, and most recently, sending out my resume for the first time in nearly 12 years.  Sometimes the first step is the hardest, but it’s also the most empowering.

Roll with the changes:  Flexibility, I have discovered, is the key to everything. Once the changes started coming (and they come fast and frequently!), the ability to adjust quickly became one of the most important skills I developed along the way.  When I stumble in this area (and I do often), I just try to stay focused on the reasons I made the transition in the first place.

Once I went public with my intention to leave corporate America and start a business, people started to share their own pipedreams with me; starting a pet clothing company, opening a bait shop, moving to Italy for a year…

I’ve grown more in the last two years than perhaps any other period of my life, so I hope that by sharing my own experience and perhaps even by writing this blog, it inspires you in even the smallest way to make changes in your life.

One of the highlights for me in the last month was the class I taught at the newly launched Food Craft Institute, an incubator-style program for budding food entrepreneurs.  (Shout out to all my new friends from there!!).  As we talked about being mindful about how you spend your energy, a concept from Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited came up in the conversation.

A Tale of Three Roles

Gerber talks about how every entrepreneur juggles three main roles throughout the process of running a business:

• Entrepreneur: the visionary, creative & innovative force
• Manager:  manages people & creates processes
• Technician: the one who does the everyday, physical work

In the beginning, I spent much of my time floating between the entrepreneur and the manager roles, dreaming up ideas and figuring out how to make them work.  Towards the end, however, I spent the majority of my days dealing with the everyday technician tasks like cooking and selling at the markets, both of which greatly zapped my energy and didn’t inspire a lot of motivation & creativity.

One thing became very clear to me:

The more I was the technician, the less time I spent as the entrepreneur.

In economics, it’s considered an “opportunity cost”.  Unfortunately for me, I learned this lesson a little too late in the baby food world, but I’m finding that it has even greater implications in my personal life.

The Two E-Factors

There are two energy factors (I’m calling them e-factors) I now consider at any given moment: the amount of energy I have, and the activities I choose to spend my energy on at that time.

For me, the total amount of energy I have can fluctuate greatly throughout the day.  It’s sometimes a function of how much I slept the night before, whether I’ve been around invigorating (or draining) people that day, my overall health, etc…  Think about the difference in your energy level when you’re enjoying a relaxing vacation compared to being sick at home on the couch.

That way I choose to spend my energy is equally important.  Very recently, I turned down a small consulting project after a 30-minute conversation with a personality that I found extremely draining.  To the best of my ability, I’m trying to choose situations (and people) that enhance my energy, not deplete it.

So on that note, here are few suggestions:

• Surround yourself with people & relationships that energize you
• Become aware of people in your life that drain your energy, choose your time with them carefully
• Hire help whenever possible for the tasks that drain you (love me some taskrabbit.com)
• Stay healthy: sleep well, eat well & exercise
• If able, choose a work situation that is positive and drama-free
• Get comfortable saying “no” to situations or people that will drain you

The best scenario seems pretty obvious to me, whether you are an entrepreneur or not: build up as much energy as you can, and spend it in the most invigorating way you know.  I’m nowhere close to that, but definitely headed in the right direction!

After I came to the conclusion not to write the baby food cookbook, I sent an email to the editor-in-chief of No Limit Publishing explaining my reasons and figured that would be the end of that.  Imagine my surprise when I received call from him a mere five days later with a new idea: why not continue with the eBooks as planned, but come up with different content?

I should admit here that my initial instinct was “no”.  It took me about a minute to realize that was a knee-jerk reaction, and so instead I chose to listen and start thinking of the possibilities.  The wheels in my head started turning, and in the middle of that conversation, I got a really surprising text message from my dear friend…

“Arnaud <her husband> had a dream you wrote a book and it was a best seller.  It was a super vivid dream, and you were happy….”

Wow.  My belief is that the universe sends you little signs when you’re on the right path, and the timing on this text was just a little too perfect.  After my conversation with No Limit, I grew more and more excited about this project, and a few days later I signed our original contract – with no hesitation this time – and took my first step towards becoming a publish author.

The Scoop on “Singles”

I’ll be writing five eBooks, known in the publishing world as “singles”.  They’ll be about 60-70 pages each and will be available via download on all the major e-retailers: Kindle, Amazon, Nook, iTunes, etc… Each eBook will cover a separate topic, but they will all be tied together under a common theme.

Which brings us to content; what the heck will I be writing about?  Prior to my first call with the publishing team, I brainstormed two pages of ideas.  As I was reviewing the possible topics, three very obvious themes started to emerge:

1. The content will be advice geared towards the first-time entrepreneur
2. Points will be illustrated through my own experiences, i.e. I will only write what I know and have experienced first hand
3. It will be brutally honest and come from a place of self-awareness & introspection

I’m calling this my “Trifecta”.  The Trifecta has become a litmus test of sorts to quickly determine which topics should be considered for the books.  If it fails any of the three criteria, then the answer is pretty obvious.

Being a first-time author, and in typical “Jill fashion”, I intend to share much of my process with you in an unvarnished way.  I’m sure I’ll have setbacks and writers block and several other speed bumps along the way.  But I expect to also have bursts of creativity and inspiration, so hopefully the good weeks will outnumber the frustrating ones!

As always, stay tuned….

It all began three weeks ago with a potential publishing deal.  After the decision to get out of the kitchen, I moved the idea of writing a cookbook to the front of my mind and started researching my options.  Readers & customers had been asking for a cookbook for a while, and considering all the blogging I had already done, and the 60+ recipes I had already developed, publishing was an obvious next step.

I was introduced to No Limit Publishing through a trusted friend.  They’re a unique & innovative middle step between self-publishing and a full service publishing house. After several phone conversations with their Editor-in-Chief, I found myself staring at a six-page legal agreement that, if signed, would be my first step towards being a published author.  Yipee!

I called them on a Friday evening, gave them a verbal “yes”, and went home to sign the contract.

Then – an interesting thing happened.  I stared at the unsigned contract on my desk for the entire weekend.  Every time I would pick it up to sign, my entire body would rebel.  Literally, it would recoil. Those who know me well know that I’d never give a verbal agreement without intending to move forward, so what the heck was going on?

I originally thought that my disconnect with baby food came from the making of it (hence my decision to stop production), but what I realized in that moment was that baby food industry didn’t feel like the right path to me anymore.  I could no longer see myself being a baby food educator in the future, so why would I commit to writing a cookbook that took me further in that direction?

So while that revelation may seem sudden and shocking to some, I know in my heart of hearts that it’s the right one for me now.

My long-time readers are used to me sharing changes without having worked out all the logistical details, and this is certainly no different.  I have not decided what this means for the Little City Kitchen Co. brand per se, but it does mean that moving forward, we’re no longer going to be a baby food company.

And on a side note…I DID end up signing a publishing agreement, but not for a baby food cookbook!  Read on for more details…

Existing Customers…Still Interested in Baby Food?

If you are still interested in ordering baby food, there are two great businesses that I am recommending, and both are offering 20% off the first order to all Little City customers:

Big Dipper Baby Food offers in-store pickup in Bernal Heights, delivery options & a few store locations including Three Stone Hearth in the East Bay.  They offer lots of nutrient dense foods such as duck liver and beef marrow, blended with fresh fruits, veggies & spices to make them easy for the kiddos to enjoy.  Flavors are listed here.

Fresh Baby Bites offers a CSA-style delivery of fresh baby food weekly. They have 3 different kinds of baby food: Simple Purees, Spiced Up, and Spices & Grains depending on the texture your little one prefers.  Their recent menu is listed here.

I will be sending existing customers a separate email with more details on both companies and how to redeem your 20% off discounts.  And if you purchased a gift certificate for baby food or a cooking class that hasn’t been redeemed, please email me and I will issue you a full refund.

Jill Epner is a recovering food entrepreneur, advocate for early-stage food startups, and Bay Area food blogger. Follow her on Facebook, or sign up to receive her newsletter where she gives a candid peek  into the world of starting her own food company, Little City Kitchen Co.

I must admit, I’m typically prepared to respond to just about anything in a business setting, but I was so stunned by his words that I sat there looking dumbfounded for about five seconds.  In classic Jill fashion, I then spent the next day replaying that conversation in my head and coming up with a better response.

Fresh or frozen baby food isn’t a product you can just put on the shelves and expect it to sell.  You have to educate parents about why frozen baby food is a better option, but once you have, they not only turn into loyal customers, they become advocates for real food within their respective communities.  Which begs the question…

Why aren’t parents already insisting on real food for their babies?

I have a few theories.

History, Culture & Marketing…Oh My.

First, feeding babies food from a jar is the accepted practice in this country.  It’s what you do, right?  I think it never occurs to most parents that there is any other option.  So why is it that in every other country in the world, baby eats what parents eat?  In Italy, a well-known first food is hard boiled egg yolk mashed with Parmesan cheese and olive oil.  Yummy, right!!

Like it or not, we are all susceptible to marketing messages.  Most people don’t realize that up until about 70 years ago, babies in this country didn’t eat food from a jar; they ate a pureed version of the family meal.   It wasn’t until Gerber developed baby food in late 1920’s and launched an aggressive marketing campaign that baby food started to take hold.

Parents seem generally intimidated and scared about introducing solids.  Don’t be!!  There seems to be a perception that baby food from a jar is the “safest” thing for your baby, but to me there is nothing as healthy as a real banana, or cooked apple, sweet potato.

The first 4-6 months of introducing solids is the one of the most formative time in a child’s life.  It’s a small, but definite window of opportunity to teach them what food should taste like, so why not pack in as much flavor, texture & spice as you can!  More and more research shows that kids will grow up to be adventurous eaters and make healthier lifestyle choices when you start with an array of foods from the beginning.  Check out How to Grow A Broccoli Lover if this topic interests you.

Let’s be Realistic, Shall We

I realize that there is a big time & convenience factor that shelf-stable baby food addresses, and I’m always an advocate for doing the best that you can with the time and resources that you have.  Making your own baby food may not be realistic for you, but if there is a company in your area that offers this product, consider incorporating their food into your baby’s menu, even in just the smallest way.

My prediction: you’re going to see more baby food companies popping up all over the country.  Some of them will offer fresh, some frozen.  Some will deliver, some won’t. I’ve even heard of a few CSA and cooperative models in the works as well.  I think that slowly people are coming around to the concept of offering fresh food to babies, and I just hope that the grocery stores can jump on that bandwagon to support that movement sooner rather than later.

And on a personal note, I’d love nothing more than to prove that buyer wrong!  Frozen baby food isn’t dead…it’s just new.

Note to Readers: I’d particularly love to hear your thoughts or comments on this subject.  What went into your food decisions for your child(ren)?  What more could baby food companies similar to Little City Kitchen Co. be doing to make this product more available for you?

Jill Epner is the owner of Little City Kitchen Co. is a Bay Area company making handcrafted, organic, frozen baby food with an International twist.  Follow us on Facebook, or sign up to receive our newsletter with information on starting solids & making your own baby food.