Our online store is (finally) open for business.

I’ve been told that there is an organizational theory that claim that things, people and ideas get whacked out nutzo before funneling down to organization, clarity and focus.

Darlings, we’ve been livin’ la vida loca.

But, now we have clarity, focus and a gosh darn operational shopping cart on our website.  Woohoo. And if you had special you tube email video X-ray goggles, you’d see us do the happy dance.

• Go Cindy
• Go Terry
• Go Kevin, our “shopping cart putter together and fixer of buggy problems” guy!
• Go Albert, our “mover and fixer of website to ultra secure server in an underground Dick Cheney secure location” guy!

So time to get shopping…

School’s out for summer… (can you hear it playing in your head).  Free treat to anyone who comes to the Albany Farmers’ Market on Wednesday and serenades us with the song.

Kids remind us to slow down. Or maybe it’s that kids force us to slow down. You just can’t move as fast as you’d like when you’ve got several kids in tow–gear, and bags o stuff hanging from each shoulder.  And now it’s summer.

My kids will often say (after a request to clean their rooms), “it’s summer, I’m not suppose to do anything or think.”  Where’s my summer?  I know, we’ve got work, responsibilities, blah blah blah blah-BLAH! But when do we we get our summers? Hey I’m not asking for 3 months, maybe 3 days, actually at this point I’ll take 3 hours of no thinking or doing.

The other night, my husband and I were in the kitchen talking. It was not the kind of talking we did while dating. It was the kind married people have with kids:

• who’s got what when,
• who needs what,
• who’s having problems with whom,
• who’s taking whom to where…

So we’re talking, standing by the counter, drinking a glass of wine, eating Lucky Charms by the handful straight out of the box. (Yes we do have Lucky Charms. Don’t judge. It’s a weekend cereal. Come on, don’t take life so seriously. We love Lucky Charms. What are you going to do about it? Remember, embrace the contradictions.)
And the time before Lucky Charms night, my hubby and I were cleaning up the kitchen, talking, and we were eating ice cream straight out of the container. And we shared the spoon! So risqué.

Food can lift us out of our daily ho-hum lives and transport us somewhere exciting, exotic, tropical. It’s time travel, taking us back to a time when things where more easy-breezy, more simple. Summer time fun several, several decades ago.

Maybe that’s why our sloppy joes sell out every week, maybe that’s why we eat Lucky Charms by the handful, or why some folks close their eyes and smile when they take a bite of our ginger cake. It takes you back to a happy place. What food brings you back to childhood, to that happy place, to that far away exotic location? Let us know. We would love to hear your stories.

It’s summer, spend a moment to not think or do anything.  Happy summer everyone. Seriously, take a moment, close your eyes, enjoy the breath. Continue reading →

What’s Next?

Why would two women (with 7 children, 2 husbands, 1 dog, 1 cat, 1 gecko, and some fish between them) start a food company during a major MAJOR recession and sky rocketing gas and food prices?

They’re crazy. (Maybe)

They’re crazy and they love to cook for people. (Yup, that too.)

Back when, before Fresh Bite, when both of us had “normal” jobs (public health, operations, certification), around 4:00 there would be a flurry of email exchanges between us and our close friends (Jeni and Teresa).

“What are you making for dinner?”
“Don’t know but if I eat one more bad pizza, I’m going to lose it.”
“I’m so tired I can’t see straight, let alone cook.”
“Well I’m making dinner, it doesn’t make sense for all of us to cook if I’m cooking. Dinner will be ready around 6. Bring wine. If there’s not enough food, I can always boil pasta.”

And around 6:00 we would all (with kids, husbands, and whoever needed to be fed) would descend on whoever was cooking. It would not be strange for the table to be set for 20.

Fresh Bite started to provide a bigger venue for friends – new and old – to get fed. Our homes are too small.

With a few hundred dollars of starting capital we couldn’t open a place immediately, but we could start something, something small. A year and a half later, we’re ready. We’re ready to find a place to call our own. A place where families and busy folks can come by and get something yummy to eat.

The specifics:

•900-1000 square feet

•A walkable neighborhood place

•An existing kitchen would be great but not necessary

•Oakland, Berkeley, Albany

•A really cool landlord would be awesome. They do exist!

Know of someone that loves to eat with some extra change rattling about? We’re looking for those as well. Pay back will happen with free food, good juju and of course, cash. Continue reading →

Does basketball paralyze brain cells?

In my mind I had a carefully crafted email about place.  About how place determines health.  Finding place.  And finally looking for a retail place for Fresh Bite.

Alas, the NBA finals took over.  Brain cells are not capable.

So. Next week. Continue reading →

Love What You Do

Many moons ago when Terry and I were working for a global NGO we found ourselves wandering the streets of India; talking about what floats out boats, what makes us sing, do a jig, what makes us smile.

Cooking.

We talked about making food and how much we enjoy cooking for our friends and family: the creativity, the instant gratification, eating!

The seed was planted.

Fast forward a few years, the birth of a child, two new husbands, a few more grey hairs and many more laugh lines. Fresh Bite sprouted.

Fresh Bite (riffing off fresh food, taking a bite our of life, stuff like that) gave us a platform to cook food for family and (new and old) friends, to play with ideas and flavors we got from our travels, and to eat! It hasn’t been all peaches and cream. There are moments when we’re packing out for the farmers market and it’s dumping rain when we think, “what the heck are we doing?” Or every now and then, “crap I need to bake that over again, I forgot the sugar.” But, even with burn marks and cuts, we are doing what we enjoy.

Embrace the contradictions. Continue reading →

Long weekend, short email.

There are people who come into our lives and touch us, change us, challenge us. And sometimes we don’t understand their full impact until they leave us. Hope you and yours were able to celebrate Memorial Day by remembering all who have touched your lives.

Tomorrow is the Albany Farmers’ Market. We need you to send the universe sunny and warm vibes. We know we need the rain, but it’s June and some sun would be nice.  We’ve got the same menu this week, except we’re adding…Terry’s killer strawberry galettes. Sure to sell out so come early and pick one up.

Next week we’re going to be changing some items. Terry and I have been reminiscing about our travels to Turkey and India and I’ve been channeling my Taiwanese grandmother so we’ll see what happens.

Another great week last week, we sold out of everything again! We LOVE feeding people yummy satisfying food.  And it’s really nice to have familiar faces come by every week.
Continue reading →

Waste is bad!

“Finish what you have on your plate. Don’t waste food. There are starving children…”

I know mom.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, that was my first lesson in sustainability, waste is bad. Mom was right.

According to the EPA, the US generates more than 34 tons of food waste a year. That’s a whole lotta tons.  Although organic local foods are an important piece of our planet and our people’s health. Food sustainability doesn’t rest on locally grown, organic, biodynamic food but rather whether we can consume and waste less.

Waste is bad.
Continue reading →

May showers bring…beautiful fruit and vegetables!

We hear rain this week but it’s going to clear up for our Wednesday market. We have it direct from the weather goddess herself.

So, come to the Albany Farmers’ Market this Wednesday, pay homage to the weather goddess by picking up some yummy midweek treats. We’ll have sandwiches and our farro salad with peas and mint. Or bring home a yummy cake, your family will love you for it.

And now that it’s spring, the produce from our local farmers are beautiful and delish.
Menu for this week, featuring local, organic produce.  Eat at the market or take it home: Continue reading →

I’m here tapping my fingers and humming a song.  Can you guess what it is?

Holiday Celebrate. Holiday Celebrate

(Here’s more)  If we took a holiday.  Took some time to celebrate (got it?)  Just one day out of life.  It would be, it would be so nice.

You can turn this world around.  And bring back all of those happy days.  Put your troubles down.  It’s time to celebrate…(did you guess it?) Continue reading →

Time is relative.

And the older we get, the faster time passes.  We know that.  But gosh darn it, we don’t like living it.

The other day I was at Berkeley High Back to School Night and I looked around and told my husband, “we’re not old enough to be here.”  He gave me that “what the hell are you talking about” looks. Alas, we are old enough. Continue reading →