Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Get Your Store Bonds Here!

For those of you just tuning in, I've created Store Bonds as a way of raising money now for the store I'm creating later.

How much later? As soon as I get enough money to do it. I'm raising money through the sale of Store Bonds, through regular investors who are loaning me money, and through the soon-to-be-announced Subscription Program.

But we're talking about Store Bonds today.

What are Store Bonds?

Sort of like a gift certificate, sort of like your bank's Christmas Club, sort of like a CSA (community supported agriculture), sort of like a Certificate of Deposit, sort of like a micro-loan...

Store Bonds are available NOW for you to purchase from me.





The above link will take you to Paypal. If you don't want to use Paypal, please email me at cheesesnobwendy at yahoo dot com and we will work out another arrangement.

They are available in increments of $9, and for every $9 you invest now, you get $10 in Store Bonds to be used at Curds & Whey, my soon-to-be shop selling cheese and tea. That's a pretty good interest rate, don't you think? Good luck finding that at the bank!

Whereas your American Dollars used to be backed up by gold, then silver - meaning you could bring a dollar to the bank and receive the equivalent amount in gold, then silver - now your Dollar is backed up by your faith in the US Government.

My Store Bonds are backed up by tea and cheese! Yes, you will be able to exchange your Store Bonds for the equivalent amount in tea and cheese.

Store Bonds benefit you and they benefit me. Like the CSA model, I'm getting the money I need now to start Curds & Whey. And you're getting more bang for your buck once they mature. (And they mature as soon as I set up shop.)

For now, I'm only keeping detailed records of who buys Store Bonds and in what increments, but in the near future I will issue actual paper Store Bonds. Because each Bond will have a discrete serial number, and will have a corresponding entry for it in my records, these Store Bonds can be sold, traded or given as gifts. Just like your US Dollars.

I intend to open a mail-order Curds & Whey until I have enough money to move to the brick-and-mortar storefront operation, which will be known as Curds & Whey Tea Cafe & Cheese Shop. I'm currently navigating the byzantine regulations of my home city; once I get my home certified and licensed by the Board of Health, and once I get enough money to buy a few supplies and inventory, the Curds & Whey shall begin!

That said, Store Bonds will be redeemable at both the mail-order concern and the physical storefront.

***
One of the things I like about Store Bonds is it enables those with lots of money to invest and those with not so much money to invest, to participate.

Don't think "Why even bother sending Wendy only $9? That won't help."
YES it will.

$9 will get you $10 in merchandise, and will buy me a brush to clean my knives and cutting board, AND a dish soap dispenser. Because of your $9, Curds & Whey can stay clean!

And what about $18? Well, that gets you $20 in merchandise, and gets me a pair of handles for the hand wire (used to cut soft cheeses) AND a tea scoop. It'll be hard to work without these things!

Are you up for $27, in exchange for $30 in cheese and tea? Thank you! That'll buy my shop a case of soy milk for those lactose-intolerant or vegan tea drinkers. I'm sure they are thanking you, too.

Have a spare $36? You'll get $40 in merchandise for that, and I'll get an entire case of twelve raffia mats to line my cheese display case. They look nice, are easy to keep clean, and make the cheese happy.

Does $45 work for you? I'll give you $50 in Store Bonds, and you'll give me the ability to purchase an entire case (250 bags in a case) of special bags in which I can sell - and protect - loose-leaf tea. Gotta have those.

So you get the idea, right?

Are you up for it? If so, go to my paypal account by clicking the big button below and get your very own Store Bonds!




Relive the Magic of FOOD TIME

Or maybe you missed it the first time around.

That's ok. There's always the archive!

Go here to listen, to see the playlist, and to see some fantastic pictures of cookies, cooks, ABBA and brains.

It was a fun time with good food and lotsa larffs.

Thanks again to Trent for putting it all together, Andrea Silenzi for running the board, and the gracious hosts for letting it all happen in their home.

Monday, February 23, 2009

One Step Closer

Today I learned from an official from my city that I can indeed operate a mail-order business from my home. I also learned the regulations pertaining to a home based business and they will cause no hindrance to my shipping cheese and tea from my house to customers near and far.

Whew!

Turns out that dullard I spoke to last week didn't have his/her facts straight. I had a feeling...
Too bad said dullard is a city employee who they actually let answer the phone and talk to people.

Now all I have to do is get someone from the city to tell me what the health code regulations are so I can make sure I'm in compliance, get an inspection and get some insurance.

Then I can put up a Website, make some postcards for th' locals, and start making some money!

In the beginning I didn't think I wanted to sell tea and cheese from my house, but now I think it's a pretty good idea, especially if it'll:
1) keep me from having to work for someone else
2) get me closer to opening an actual storefront

FOOD TIME on WFMU Tonight!

So your pal Wendy will be appearing as her alter ego, The Cheese Snob, on "Safe and Sound" with Trent, tonight on WFMU 91.1 fm or on here in the Internet.

Ok, enough writing in the third person. What is this, a Facebook status?

Anyway, yeah, tonight from 8-11 pm (eastern time), tune in to Trent's program for a special FOOD TIME event. There will be WFMU DJs and other friends of the station (like me!) presenting our favorite recipes, foods, etc. Cooking will happen LIVE on-the-air, and so will eating!

I will be presenting on cheese, of course, and I'm bringing one special cheese to share with Trent and to share with YOU. If you want to play along at home, go to your neighborhood cheesemonger and buy a piece of Piave Stravecchio.

It should not be regular Piave. It's not that I have anything against it, but it's not aged as long as Stravecchio so there will be some differences.

Stravecchio's paper label is red. Regular Piave's label is blue.

So yeah, my slot, "Cheese Chat," is scheduled for 9:50pm-10:00pm, right after Bethany Ryker's "Fine Wine Time." How apropos! But folks, this IS live radio, so the times may not be exact. You'd be safe (and sound) to tune in to the ENTIRE program.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Inspiration

Yesterday I went to Fish's Eddy on 19th and Broadway to look for some dishes, glasses, teapots, etc. for the cafe. What I found was a whole lot of inspiration. I love that store, and part of why I want to have a cafe at all is so I can buy all my dishes there. Of course they will be mis-matched. Who do you think is writing this thing anyway?

Fish's Eddy buys up entire lots of dishes from defunct restaurants, country clubs and the like. It's all pretty much Homer Laughlin or other "sturdy-ware" china, and you can find great patterns from different eras. Lots of vintage stuff. Many of my dishes at home come from there and I've found some cool items there. It's perfect for someone like me who wants to open a cafe, needs sturdy dishes, but wants them to be interesting.

So...

I picked up a 2-cup teapot; it's just plain white. I have a 2-cup Tetsubin here at home, but that's my only teapot. I want to have a 2-cup regular ol' porcelain teapot because I'd like to develop a line of tea cozies to sell on Etsy. I will knit these cozies and use a little crocheting in there, too. But first I have to learn to crochet. It shouldn't be that hard. So the new teapot will also serve as my model.

Anyway, once I get the tea cozies on Etsy, I can link my Etsy page to my (soon-to-be) online cheese and tea shop. Cross-merchandising Baby, gotta love it!

Also, as much as I am positive my shop will be successful, I also know in the beginning of the storefront's existence there will be quite a bit of downtime. After I've made all my orders, made sure the cheese is all taken care of, etc., I'm going to need something to do. So, I'll bring my knitting needles and yarn and make some handicrafts I can also sell and use at the shop.

So yeah, I got the 2-cup teapot at Fish's Eddy. I also bought two different tall, sturdy drinking glasses for the iced tea (and for water). One is tougher but plain; the less-tough one has a nice graphic on it that looks like an old milk bottle label. I'm going to use them at home and see if the dairy-label one is sturdy enough for cafe use. Of course I could have both kinds at my cafe, but I'd love to have a bunch of the dairy ones, for obvious reasons.

I also got a vintage colored glass cow figurine. It will sit on my stovetop with my Holstein creamer until I have my shop, at which point it will be part of the decor.

If I had more money I would have just bought boxes and boxes of dishes and glasses and cups and such last night, but I also would have had to carry them around, and I need to wait until it's a better time to do that with my business's money.

I asked the clerk if Fish's Eddy does any kind of volume discount for restaurants and cafes. Turns out they do! You just have to bring your Tax ID (shoulda done that yesterday...) and some sort of business card or something and they won't charge you sales tax (whoops), they'll give you at least 10% off, and maybe more depending on how much you buy.

This may actually make more sense than buying my dishes from a restaurant-supply place like Hubert (as much as I love Hubert) because this will save me on shipping.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Announcing: Curds & Whey!

I just registered my business name with the state of New Jersey, and I also applied for and received my tax i.d. number from the IRS.

So now may I present to you...

Curds and Whey Limited Liability Company!

Of course my business will be known as "Curds & Whey" - the LLC is silent :-)

Now that I'm registered, I feel comfortable revealing the name of the business. Thank you all for your patience.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Roquefort Files, the official blog of Wendy M. Levy's (soon-to-be) Cheese and Tea shop and cafe.

Thank you to Jason Slack for the name of this blog. He is a clever chap!

More content to come. Please visit again soon!