THE ICING ON THE (CUP)CAKE!

The holidays have been an amazing time for us at the Cupcake Queen. We completed our first year of business and, thanks to so many people and businesses, it was a great year! Our purple van is now officially a year old and has traveled all over NH and VT bringing sweetness to the people.

We participated in the Covered Bridge Half Marathon, Taste of Woodstock, Lyme 250 Celebration, New London Hospital Days, Woodstock Art Festival, Warner Fall Festival, Mountain Dew Tour in Killington, Pods for the Pulpit, Hanover Farmers Market, Lebanon Farmers Market, DCLSA Crafts Fair and several others.

We made it to college campuses like Dartmouth, Tuck and Colby-Sawyer. Local businesses like Consign and Design Center, Artisans and Creative Lighting used us to help promote their sale events. And, Centerra, DHMC, 45 Lyme Rd. were frequent stops. Of course, the Lebanon Green is our sweet spot and we will continue to be there weekly throughout the winter.

And, we had beautiful brides who trusted us with their special day...and, the baby showers, bridal showers and birthday and anniversary celebrations. Too many to name! Business meetings, family reunions-and, simple cupcake cravings. And, one of my favorite days: the call that came while I was driving to the Lebanon Green wanting to buy ALL our vending cupcakes to be delivered to their customer as a way to say "thank you".

We held our Name that Cupcake contest and had so much fun reading the clever names customers submitted- Mint to Be and I Dream of Cookie will be with us each holiday season. And, Kathryn ( Twinkle) and I (Cookie) had most of our children home for the holidays. I was missing two....Kathryn's family was complete:) And, yes, we served cupcakes.

So, this is just a "Thank You" note to all of those who helped us make this happen. We think we have the best job in the world- we love to bake ( especially when it makes our houses so warm in the winter) , we love to create for your special occasion, we love seeing the kids ( and adult) faces light up at the cupcakes arrayed in the van window...and, we love the Upper Valley and the support you all have given us.

Happy Holidays and we wish you the very best New Year.

EGGS, CONTEST and CUPCAKES.

So much to update....We had our second cupcake contest and Jessie Eckert was the winner with I DREAM OF COOKIE. Kathryn got a kick out of that since she calls me Cookie ( she is Twinkle) and she knew I would check out the FB post on Sunday to see who she chose. It is a cute name! Thanks, Jessie....

We are going to have a third Name That Cupcake contest but we are waiting until after Christmas. The first contest was held strictly on FB; the second was held at the van; the third will be all YOUR choice- you can post on FB, enter a name at the van or do both . We will post all the names we get at the van on FB , too and you will choose the winner! The name that gets the most "Like"s will win. It will be our version of American Idol, but without the commercial interruptions....or, the annoying judges....and, all our endings are sweet....

This week is a contest week, too. You can stop by the van for a chance to win a cupcake or a CCQ tee shirt- all you have to do is draw the winning paper from our cupcake box.

It's busy right now with all the holiday parties and gift giving. The chickens are having a hard time keeping up with egg demands:) We've had to resort to buying a few...( btw, still no blue eggs) . We have been spoiled with the mild weather recently and that has kept the egg production up -until now. I am not sure why they would ever want to lay in this cold weather. It doesn't sound like fun at all!

We are vending all week- we both have kids home for the holidays so it will be a bit hectic . Maybe we can get them to help out at the van. ;)

Happy holidays!

CATCHING UP.

Between baking and traveling I haven't had much time to write but our New London excursion was really fun. The students at Colby-Sawyer seemed very happy to see us during final exam week (Chippy, Cookie Monster, Coffee Toffee, Mint to Be and How Now were the favs) and the wonderful people at Artisan's were equally supportive. My only problem was that I spent everything that I earned in their store! So cute. They had hats, clothes, and pillows from local artisans ( hmmmmm, hence the name? ), great edibles from Stonewall Kitchens ( I love their stuff), unique jewelry, greeting cards, handmade local soaps, puzzles, cocktail napkins, wine glasses, music, cookbooks, kitchen gadgets...and, more and more and more. It felt like you could find almost anything there- except cupcakes, of course.

Tomorrow is the official beginning for Contest Cupcake #2...This one comes with a new set of rules and more giveaways. It will be interesting to see if it can compete with the 100+ entries for Mint to Be. And, we are already getting geared up for Contest Cupcake #3 which we hope to host like American Idol and let YOU pick the name. More about that later....

2011 is coming to a close and we are excited about continuing to grow in the Upper Valley and beyond in 2012. We have several new colleges signing up to have us visit their campus in January and February and Upper Valley events like Howl at the Moon- but, we want more! If you have a special business, local venue or event that you think might enjoy having the van please email us or give us a call. We will be vending all winter so we are available:)

MINT TO BE

By now most of you know that our holiday cupcake has a great new name....MINT TO BE (Jennifer Raines is the winner) . We had over 100 entries! And, it was really fun having our smart phones ding us announcing a new entry all day long while we were vending...the names were very clever and we had a difficult time choosing.

Kathryn is busy today making another new cupcake to name....we will be taking it to Colby-Sawyer today and tomorrow to test it out. It's Finals Week there and we think they could use a dose of sugar to keep them going.

This is a busy time of year for us and we are looking forward to completing our first year in business together. Kathryn and I have had a lot of fun vending in the van throughout the area and we are going to keep it up throughout the winter so be sure to stop by the van in Lebanon!

Stay tuned for pictures from Colby -Sawyer later this week.

NAME THAT CUPCAKE!

Today was a great Facebook day....So far we have approximately 50 entries for the Nameless Cupcake Contest. There are a lot of great names already submitted but we hope more continue to come in throughout the week. We will announce the winner on Friday, so all entries must be completed by Thursday. You can enter more than once! If you haven't seen the cupcake or submitted your name for it check it out on our Facebook page. You might just win a free six pack. (Cupcake is also pictured above along with Almond Toffee)

Next week we will have another cupcake to name but we will change the contest venue- you will have to come to the van to submit your entry. We will have one more contest the following week ( Christmas week) but we haven't decided how you will enter than one yet...stay tuned.

Today was a toffee-making day, too. It wasn't the best weather ( humid) but it didn't seem to be too much of a problem. I made two types of toffee this time- pecan toffee, and toasted almond toffee. I use a 60% dark chocolate that gives it a nice depth of flavor. Not too sweet. We will have it available at the van tomorrow. Unfortunately, I have been eating it all day so I am anxious to have it out of my sight the rest of the evening.

TIME FOR NEW CUPCAKES....

This week Kathryn and I debuted three new cupcake flavors...Cherry Bliss, Sweetest Thing, and Holy Cow. Given the sold out reaction, I think we will keep all three on the regular menu:) We are still working on a few more holiday flavors ( so far we have Ginger, Noggin and Truffle) and we are going to have our first-ever contest to name them. Each winner will receive a free 6 pack- we will post details on Facebook this week so check back daily for posts! You will have have to follow us on FB to participate so be sure to tell all your friends/family to "Like" us so they can have a chance to win, too.

We really want to expand our social media reach and are open to ideas. We are hoping to encourage cupcake fans to "check in " on FB, Foursquare and Yelp when they stop at the van and even post a picture of the van and the cupcakes on their FB page. The Upper Valley is a relatively small area and we want to be sure that everyone can find us since we don't have a store with a permanent location. So, if you do stop by the van this week, "check in" and tell us about it!

Love this weather...It's December. Can you believe it????

WHAT ABOUT WINTER?

We have been really lucky so far - we plan to vend on the Lebanon Green throughout the winter but I have to admit I have enjoyed the recent mild weather. Yesterday, I renewed our 90 day vending permit from the city of Lebanon, so you can expect to continue to see us out there. We started vending on the Green Valentine's Day of last year so we know how cold it can get! Please keep coming to the van- even if it's only to see if we are frozen alive in there:)

I haven't written about Cindy in a while. I am keeping my fingers crossed but I think Trish's suggestion to put one other chicken in with her helped. What really caused her to be accepted by the other chickens was the snow we had. When it snowed, Cindy was still keeping to herself in the corner of the horse stall, but I decided to put her back in the run in shed with the other chickens ( their coop is underneath the shed). Since chickens hate snow and refuse to get there feet "frozen " in it, she was trapped in the shed with the others and they finally had to work it out. She had no where to run. She tried to run into the woods but the snowfall prevented her from escaping like she had so many times before. Its been several days and she is hanging with the flock and even eating with them. This is big news because now I don't worry that she is out at night for the fox or coyote to get.

HOLIDAYS ARE HERE-FINAL EXAMS, TOO!

Well, we survived Thanksgiving and had a great time providing several people with cupcakes for the Thanksgiving table and a few for special birthday parties. Kathryn made the most adorable cupcakes for a Jimmy Buffett themed 50th birthday party. With all the snow on the ground, they looked even more inviting!

Kathryn also baked for the Pods for the Pulpit Crafts Fair and we sold out both days:) Yea, Kathryn!

I made a trip to LA to see my children and scout out new cupcake ideas....everything looks so great out there in the sunshine and warmth. There were 10 cupcake/bakery locations within a 5 mile radius of where I was staying. Most of the cupcakes were pretty basic- cake and frosting- no real design or theme to them, but a couple of locations took a lot of pride in what they do and it was nice to see their "creations" . No one seems to name their cupcakes like we do or try to have at least three elements incorporated into each one- cake, frosting, design, special topping, name, etc. And, no one used our "small batch, one at a time" concept but that is understandable. We like to think of them as artisan cupcakes....Life would be a lot easier if we mass produced, but I don't think they would be as good:)

Final exams start for the area schools, colleges and universities. We have been invited to vend during exams at a few campuses. I'll take pictures of the crazed students cramming for exams with cupcakes!!!

That's all for now.

AT HOME IN THE CORNER

For all the Araucana fans, here is Cinderella at home. I have no idea what she thinks about all day sitting in the corner, but I am keeping her in the stall for two weeks to see if she will make it her home rather than trying to hide out in the foundation. So far, I can't really tell what she will do. She does not try and escape when I open the door and she seems to be a very contented chicken. But, she clearly has nothing to do all day-no worms to unearth, no eggs to lay, no grass to peck, no ground to scratch. If you have chickens and can offer some insight and recommendations, please do!

CINDERELLA.

So, I had to name her...and, she had such evil step sisters that Cinderella seemed to fit. She now has her own coop ( horse stall) and she has been sitting quietly in it all day. She likes to snuggle in all the corners, and like another storybook girl (Goldilocks) she's tried them all out because I found her in a different corner each visit today. I know that she is going to have to leave the stall at some point so she can scratch around and be a normal chicken, but she certainly is not anxious to go anywhere that doesn't involve deep, soft shavings! And, now I can say with certainty that she is NOT laying right now. No blue eggs anywhere in the stall.

She is not as nervous when I reach for her-although she did peck me so I know she doesn't really want to be held. I cannot help it though- she is so darn soft! Those feathers feel like silk. Hopefully, she isn't on full alert anymore. That has to be awful -being afraid for your life all the time!

Now, back to cupcakes- those of you following us on FB today saw that we never made it to the Lebanon Green. It was a strange morning. I was almost to the Green when I got a call that a new customer in Cambridge, MA needed a lot of cupcakes delivered to a local client- they basically bought the entire van inventory for the Green. Unfortunately, that means we have not had any cupcakes on the Lebanon Green this week! Kathryn will be there tomorrow and she will be testing a few new holiday flavors along with our regular menu. We are such a new business that we have no idea what each day will bring, but we hate leaving our loyal customers without cupcakes for the week. Please bear with us and, hopefully, we will be more predictable soon!:)

ONE MORE ADMISSION. MYSTERY PARTIALLY SOLVED.

Ok, once again the Araucana did NOT show up for bedtime last night- and, she was nowhere to be found this AM. I decided to take my dog, Eddie and go look for her. Eddie loves to "hunt" the chickens, but he never touches them. I think he is actually hunting their eggs and that is why I can't find them...so, while I was outside looking through the bushes, I noticed that Eddie was in the basement of the barn ( where I had already searched last night for her). He was way in the crawl space of the foundation corner and he kept sniffing the foundation. I got my flashlight and ran the beam all along the stone wall. Nothing. But, Eddie wasn't leaving so I crawled in closer and saw that one of the rock moved slightly. Yep. Chicken. She was so camouflaged. And, so still. It was amazing. I reached in and wrapped my hands around her ( she is the biggest of my chickens) and tried to settle her. I put her back in the coop and shut the door. I have been hand feeding her cucumbers periodically today in an attempt to gain her trust but she is a tough one. The other chickens seem to pick on her (hence the word: henpecked) so she really does not like the coop. Tonight I am going to shut her in the horse's stall and see if she likes that any better. She needs her own space-otherwise she is going to pretend to be a foundation rock the rest of her life.

Hopefully, I will get back to writing about cupcakes and the chicken drama will subside. Kathryn and I are working on more holiday flavors so stay tuned to FB for van flavors this week. We will definitely be vending Thursday and Friday on the Leb Green and we will be at the Top of the Hop on Friday in Hanover as well.

SHE'S BACK!

Ok, this is hard to fathom , but the Araucana has returned. She was gone for two nights and two solid days and showed up last night when she was found first "to bed" in the chicken coop at 5:30PM! I have no idea where the heck she has been but I assume something REALLY scared her and she found a place to hide...for two days...It must have been a really good hiding place. Anyway, we are glad to have her home and hope she will agree to share a blue egg with us soon. I will try to get a picture of her up on this blog, but she is so skittish that I'll bet she is camera shy! She needs a name- I am open to suggestions. Right now, she is just Miss Araucana.

And, when we get that blue egg, I'll post the cupcake it goes in. It's gotta be special.

NO BLUE EGGS....

Now that the time has changed and it gets dark VERY early, vending on the Lebanon Green frequently lasts until dark. The van looks great with the lights on inside and the cupcakes illuminated but the animals I leave at home are anxiously awaiting my return. When I came home Friday night , the Araucana was missing. I guess a fox got her, but I dont't really know. I never actually got to collect one of her blue eggs- she hid them somewhere and I wonder if I will ever find them. I love knowing that these chickens can roam freely throughout the day-uncaged wandering through our gardens, searching for worms and seeds, filling their days with chicken activities. But, it does come at a price. They are unprotected and Darwin has proven himself again. She was the nervous one- frantic about the slightest noise. And, now she is gone. Eleven remain....

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?!

Yes, I know I haven't blogged in quite a while but....we have been busy! Places to go! We have spent the good part of this vending week in New London at Colby-Sawyer. Colby-Sawyer Sodexo decided to reward its employees with cupcakes and Colby-Sawyer College decided to let us vend on campus. It was a great experience. The students were great! So nice and so appreciative. And, it was fun being around so much youthful energy. ( It might have been the 70 degree weather and full on sunshine...) I wish Dartmouth would allow us to vend there....

We are also busy working on some new holiday flavors. We tried one out today at the van (Noggin) and it sold out quickly so it will be on the menu for sure. Watch for a few more new flavors in the coming weeks.

We have events coming up soon, too. The Dartmouth Library Staff Association Crafts Fair at the Top of the Hop and the Pods for the Pulpit Crafts Fair in Norwich, VT. In addition to our cupcakes, we will have out Toffee candy and our Pralines for sale at the DLSA fair.

And, I know I haven't talked about the Girls in a long time. Queenie is no longer laying double yolks. And, the farmer down the street gave me 5 more chix- 3 Rhode Island Reds, 1 Golden Comet and 1 Araucana- they are not bonding with the Girls! They stay very separate and the new ones are hiding their eggs. ( All the Cupcake Queen chickens free range so they could be anywhere. And, my dog, Eddie loves to eat any of the eggs he can find before I find them so this is not a game I am going to win anytime soon. )

That's all I have for now.

EVENT-FULL Fall!

We have had a busy, busy Fall schedule....so, I have forgotten to write. We have taken the van to several events in VT and NH and loved it all. Now we are back in the Upper Valley ready to hit the Hanover High School Football home games and the Dartmouth Football home games. Part of the proceeds from the sales at these two events will go to the Grady Bunch Fund to help Grady and his family during these difficult times.

Here is some info from their fundraising letter:

Grady Chaltain, a Hanover High athlete/alum, is facing the biggest challenge of his life. Twenty-one year old Grady was recently diagnosed with medulloblastoma (a malignant brain tumor). Immediately following the diagnosis, Grady underwent brain surgery, and he now requires 6 weeks of specialized proton radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, plus chemotherapy.

Tough days ahead...we hope we can help.

And, today we provided the cupcakes for the 95th birthday celebration for Dr. C. Everett Koop at the Ground Rounds at DHMC. What an amazing life he has lead and continues to lead.

Tomorrow slate is full, too- Friday is our Business Day where we head to local businesses to vend. Then on to the Consign & Design Center at 2PM to temp customers with cupcakes and consignments....And, finally, we will be at the HHS home game for "Cupcakes for Grady"!

WET, WET WEEKEND!

OMG. Yes, it was raining the entire three days at the Manchester Arts and Crafts Festival at Hildene Meadows. I think I remember one sunny moment on Friday, but Saturday seemed like a solid downpour and Sunday was just a light, misty sprinkle all day long. Hasn't VT experience enough rain? The organizers and vendors persevered and attendance was about half of previous Fall Hildene festivals- but, I thought that was pretty amazing with all the rain.

We seemed to gather a several new fans- there were visitors from all over the Eastern US. A lot from Great Barrington and other MA locations, several from NY, CT and NJ. They were out to see the leaves but the leaves were not their usual glorious color. The roads were in pretty good shape given that several had just barely reopened. There is still a lot of debris, mud and rocks on the shoulder and in the front yards of many houses.

Now, this weekend looks much sunnier and we will be closer to home. We will be vending at the Warner Fall foliage Festival and I will post on FB our van location when we get it. Hopefully, the sun and the leaves will be shining!

MUD, SWEAT and SUNSHINE at the VT 50!

We had a very busy weekend. Two beautiful weddings both in pastoral settings in Lyme , NH. Whenever we set up a wedding we always wish we were there to see the bride, the groom and the wedding party- a wedding is always such a special event. This Saturday was no exception. Both these weddings looked amazing. We know they had a special day!

After the wedding set up we rushed over to the VT 50 Race held in Ascutney, Vt. ( I shouldn't tell you that we were so busy talking about the weddings we just left that we drove right past exit 9 and had to double back.....). This was their biggest race ever with over 1350 participants- and, by the time they were finished with either biking or running the 50 miles, they were indistinguishable. Every one of them was covered in mud- and so were their bikes! They needed a laundry soap sponsor there.

We were one of three busy food vendors on race day- Big Fatty's and a flatbread pizza company were there as well so one one went away hungry. Families with kids cheering on parents kept us selling cupcakes from 11-4. We made a lot of new friends:) Several bikers hung out at our table and helped us sell a few cupcakes, too. We loved it.

Mike Silverman and his crew of staff and volunteers do an amazing job. This is the second "Silverman Event" we have attended this year ( the Covered Bridge Half Marathon was our first)and we are hoping to be at his next event this winter (Howl at the Moon) so stay tuned as details emerge.....

Farmers' Markets, VT 50, Cabinetry Concepts and Cupcakes!

Today was the start of our vending week. (We don't usually vend on Mondays and Tuesdays- we do bake to order those days.) We had a beautiful Fall day on the Lebanon Green with a few people actually stopping to enjoy a cupcake at our "cafe" next to the van. I vend in Lebanon on Wednesday and Kathryn handles the Hanover Farmers Market. It was a great Farmers' Market day, too! The Dartmouth students are back and the Dartmouth Green was full of people out enjoying the sunshine. We try and have at least one vegan selection at the HFM and today's was Chai Latte. Tomorrow, I'll be vending during the Lebanon Farmers' Market and we will have several gluten free options available there. ( So, we have vegan in Hanover and gf in Leb.)

The rest of the week is pretty full, too. Friday is our "bring the cupcake van to work day" ( aka, Thank God It's Cupcake Friday) and our first stop will be at the Fall Blowout Sale at Cabinetry Concepts on Mechanic St in Lebanon. We will be there at 10:30 and we are staying until 2PM. They are having a cookout and giveaways so drop by and see what they have to offer and take a look at their fabulous showroom.

Saturday and Sunday will be spent vending for the runners, bikers and spectators of the VT 50 held annually in Ascutney. It's an impressive event with over 1300 participants and quite a few local vendors ( like Ibex) there as well. Saturday night we be especially festive- Spare Parts, a local bluegrass band, will be playing from 5-8PM. It should be fun- of course, in the spirit of transparency, I should disclose that my husband is a member of the band....;)

WEDDING BELLS, FALL FOOTBALL and GRADY!

Yesterday was a big day for us. We had a wedding in Pittsfield , VT and making that drive was a sobering experience. The devastation at Mother Nature's hands was mind boggling. There were people out cleaning up their homes, hauling furniture out, digging out mud and rocks- and, this is two weeks post Irene. Cars were still embedded in the river and complete homes sat right in the riverbed. The sun was shining, but you could certainly feel the absence of the carefree summer that just departed.

The town of Pittsfield was one of the hardest hit towns. The roads leading in were still marked "Local Traffic Only" but the wedding was held at a place called Amee Farms and it sits high on a hill across from the river, so the wedding venue was untouched. They used a local caterer and they said this was the first wedding event since Irene that they were able to do- everyone seemed glad to be back to work. They had all been personally affected by the storm but the mood was upbeat and hopeful.

We also had a small fundraising event for Grady Chaltain- a Hanover High School graduate who recently underwent brain surgery and is bravely recovering. The process of recovery is long one for both Grady and his family and we were happy to raise money to help out. The van was parked outside the opening Dartmouth Football game against Colgate ( in the Hanover High School parking lot) and it was a beautiful sunny day. The Colgate fans had a group of young kids who dressed up in full football uniforms to cheer their team on and they seemed particularly happy to buy a cupcake on their way home. I wish I had my camera- they were all so cute impersonating their big football heros. It was a cheerful way to end the day.

We hope to be able to have the van out in the Hanover High parking lot for more Fall events while we raise money for Grady and his family. Look for us there on the weekends in the near future!

Next weekend we head over to the Vermont 50 in Ascutney, VT. I'll give more details as that date approaches....

DARTMOUTH FOOTBALL,CUPCAKES AND GRADY!

It's midnight and believe it or not, Kathryn and I are still up baking in our respective kitchens....I am blah-ging while my cupcakes are cooling, which shouldn't take long with this new weather pattern! We have two exciting events tomorrow - a wedding ( we love weddings...sigh) and a fund raiser for Grady- a HHS graduate who has had major surgery recently. We'll be vending in the parking lot at Hanover High School before, during and maybe even after Dartmouth's opening game against Colgate.

Kathryn will be vending and maybe one of her girls will be able to help out in the van. I am headed to Pittsfiled, VT to set up the cupcakes at the wedding reception. I am hoping the roads are re-open and maybe the leaves are even changing. It supposed to be sunny, right?

I'll be back with pictures tomorrow, I hope!

NEW CUPCAKE FLAVORS

OK, we have had two new cupcake flavors this week and both have been sell outs! We love that...Kathryn and I both love to create new flavors and new designs. Of course, we

keep the best sellers at the van on a regular basis ( Cookie Monster, Campfire, Hot Fudge Sundae, Triple Salted, Rebel, etc) but we love to see new "winners" emerge...Buttercup and Coconut Joy. We can even do Buttercup in Vegan and gluten free.

Tomorrow is "Bring the Cupcake Van to Work" day and we are headed to Tuck, Redpath & Co. and a few businesses on the Miracle Mile. It's fun to get out and drive around to get to know the area businesses and employees-it always amazes me how supportive the "buy local " scene is here. We live and work in a great community.

It's getting so much cooler! I can't wait for the leaves to change- I CAN wait for the snow, however. The van gets pretty cold!

See you tomorrow. We will be on the Lebanon Green at some point after we do the business tour...Oh, and THANK YOU to the customer who came by the van today with her $50 she brought back from Vegas. She said she decided to spend her cash locally rather than leave it in Vegas! I think she generously spread it around the Lebanon Farmers' Market!:)

QUEENIE'S EGGS

I forgot to post this...here is a picture of the double yolk egg as compared to the single yolk. The egg carton won't shut with it inside:)

SWEET CUPCAKES AT THE LEBANON FARMERS MARKET

These rainy days are the hardest to bake for...who knows how many to bake? And, the weather makes some flavors impossible- toffee won't harden and neither will the pralines so they are off the list!

The Girls are our playing in the rain; they don't seem to care much about getting wet. They head for the run in shed if it rains hard, otherwise they just go around digging up the base of all my plants looking for earthworms. My gardens suffer, but they are fat and healthy and the eggs are so good.

Tomorrow is office day and we have a few lined up. Feel free to add to our mobile list- it's going to be chilly this weekend....the ovens will come in handy.

VEGAN TODAY AT HFM

The Girls were out bright and early this morning with Tagalong hanging behind to lay her egg. She is always the last one out to play. Queenie lays double yolks and they are special! Since they eat ALL day long, whatever healthy things they can find ( earthworms are their fav) their yolks are tangerine. Amazing. Anyway, the double yolk is part of Triple Salted today...very moist, thanks to Queenie ( see pic) .

Headed to the Hanover Farmers Market at 3. Today is Move- In Day at Dartmouth and we plan on making it sweet...! Vegan choices will be included- the Girls insist.

CUPCAKES AT DARTMOUTH!

Can you believe it? Finally, we are going to be able to sell our cupcakes on the Dartmouth campus. We are really excited about it...and, don't worry we will have a few Vegan options for our vegan fans. Since the town of Hanover won't permit vending from a food truck, it's been a challenge to get the cupcakes to campus without a direct invite from a student or faculty member, but now things are a-changing:)

So, look for us in early October and I will be sure to remind you here and on FB once I have the details down.

We are also headed to events out of town this Fall. We will be at the Manchester Arts and Crafts Festival Sept 30, Oct 1 and 2 and at Warner, NH during their Fall Foliage Festival Oct 7-9. I'll post those details on FB as well as the time approaches....we are hoping to have a few new fall flavors and the fall favs like Campfire and Trick or Treat.

More later. I have to go feed the chickens so I will have eggs tomorrow for the cupcakes. We have seven free ranging girls who really produce!

We will be at the Hanover Farmers' Market and we hope you will be, too!