Cookie
lovers, I am happy to introduce to you our talented intern, Kate. Kate came to
us from Darien High School’s senior internship program, which allows high
school seniors to gain experience in the working world before heading off to
college in the fall. In the fall, Kate will be heading to Saint Mary’s College
in Notre Dame, IN but in the meantime, she has been lending her design talents
to In A Jar.
Just
in case you haven’t been keeping up with us on Etsy and Pinterest, Kate is the
designer of some of our newest designs for our baby shower line. We’ve started
a new section “Designs by Kate” and if you’re having a rough day and are in
need of a visual pick me up, these designs are sure to bring a smile to your
face. I know playing favorites is wrong, but I cannot get her adorable Very
Hungry Caterpillar designs (the It’s A Girl! Jar has a girl caterpillar with a
pink hairbow!).
We’re
having a great time working with Kate and although we’ll be sad to see her
internship end, we know she’s going to be amazing all her future endeavors at
school.
A little about Kate’s favorite things:
Food: Bacon, egg, and cheese, I could
live off these
Outfit: My blue and white striped dress
with my favorite pearl necklace
Spring has sprung! The trees are budding, flowers are no
longer only living in grocery stores and floral boutiques, and all the heavy
sweaters can be moved to the back of the closet. Here in Colorado, my friends
and I had something even more wonderful to celebrate because with the arrival
of Spring came another new arrival: my friend Kate’s first baby! Connor is the
most sweet and adorable baby I’ve ever had the opportunity to hold and gush
over, but I’m getting ahead of myself because before he came along we had to
throw the fabulous Kate a wonderful baby shower!
I was a first time baby shower planner, but with the help of
my Pinterest addiction, I found some great ideas. Kate was waiting for the
birth to find out the gender of her baby, so my friends and I in the language
arts department had to find a theme that was gender neutral. I love pink and
blue, and since Kate is a reading teacher, I couldn’t resist the classic blue
and pink color scheme of Pat the Bunny.
With the help of design wizard and cookie chef
extraordinaire, Kristin, I found myself the possession of the most adorable In
A Jar favors and custom water bottle labels as well.
My co-workers were so thrilled with the invitation that not
only did the RSVPs pour in, they even took the invitation to the bakery so that
the frosting would match the invitation.
The afternoon was delicious and fun. We strayed from some of
the more traditional baby shower games, as the shower was hosted at our school
and included some of our younger male teachers who seemed frightened whenever
the words “diaper” or “baby” were mentioned. Kate and Colin received many
presents for their impending arrival, including many classic children’s books.
After the shower, I noticed that many a lunchbox had a small
bag of cookies tucked inside, but that few teachers were anxious to share their
chocolate chip treats. In my book, that is the sign of a party well planned.
Congratulations again to Kate and Colin.
If you would like to purchase our Pat the Bunny designs and
favors, please visit our etsy shop. I love blogging about a fun party, so if
you would like yours featured on our blog, email pictures and a quick note to
inajarfoods@gmail.com. Happy baking and happy Spring!
As organic foods continue to grow in popularity, there are still some naysayers who contest the nutritional value of organic foods. They may be grown without pesticides and in more sustainable ways, but some question whether or not organic foods provide more vitamins and minerals.
Fortunately for all the devotees of organic foods, a recently published study has shown that organic tomatoes may be 40% smaller, but they contained significantly higher levels of Vitamin C and lycopene, a compound that may help reduce stroke.
While our cookies may not have tomatoes in them, we're always happy to hear that food grown and prepared the right way, pesticide and chemical free, is a better choice for your family's health and well being.
This week at In A Jar Foods, we have a lot of reasons to celebrate: our sweetness has spread to four Whole Foods locations!
Now it is easier than ever to satisfy your organic sweet tooth. There is nothing more exciting than walking into the grocery store and seeing the cookies we care about so much gracing the shelves. When we think back to the early days with those first test batches of oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip, the late nights of label designs and recipe tinkering, it's impossible not to smile. We hope to keep getting bigger and better in our quest to bring easy, delicious and organic cookies to your cookie jar. And we'll make it even more simple: here are the addresses! Program them into google maps and you've got yourself a one way ticket to deliciousness.
Whole Foods Greenwich: 90 E Putnam Ave Greenwich, CT 06830
Whole Foods Westport: 399 Post Rd W Westport, CT 06880
Happy shopping and keep following our blog, twitter and facebook for updated locations. You may even run into Kristin herself serving up samples at a Whole Foods near you!
A nice brisk breeze has been in the air lately and what better way to enjoy the fall than go apple picking??
To make this delicious and flavorful apple sauce all you'll need is:
4 Organic Macintosh Apples (hopefully picked from a local farm!)
Tablespoon of Organic Brown Sugar
Pinch of Organic Cinnamon
Instructions:
1. Select four of your most beautiful macintosh apples.
2. Peel them.
3. Chop them up and put them in a bowl.
4. Cover the bowl and microwave them for 4 minutes or until soft.
5. Pour the softened apples into a blender and add a tablespoon of brown sugar.
6. Add a pinch of cinnamon.
7. Puree to your desired consistency and voila! You've got delicious homemade apple sauce!
Share your delicious homemade creation with friends/family or save extra in the refrigerator as a snack for later! (We personally think glass jars make a wonderful storage container!)
Hope everyone had a great start to fall this September and we can't wait to share our next Organic Recipe of the Month with you! It's gonna be a spooky one!
Pictured is the above parfait recipe in a 16oz mason jar. Just screw on the mason jar's lid, grab a spoon, and you have a great treat for the beach or a mid-day snack!
When Kristin began testing her cookie recipes at the earliest beginnings of In A Jar Foods, many flavors, packaging ideas and designs were flirted with but one phrase was repeated in every discussion, "It has to be organic." I admired her determination for delicious organic recipes, but I knew very little about what made organic food special.
I'll admit, I've always enjoyed organic food (and organic food shopping trips) because it makes me feel happy and more healthy. Whether it's a local farmer's market in Mississippi or a specialty food store, there's something about sun ripened produce, fluffy breads and succulent meats that just seem more special knowing that nothing harmful went into them along the way. Organic products help me make meals (and of course cookies!) that I feel good serving to my friends and loved ones, but working with Kristin has pushed me to think beyond my emotional reaction and evaluate what is it that makes organic food something that is worth everyone's consideration.
First, let's talk about what organic actually means. According to the Mayo Clinic's website, organic farming differs from traditional farming in many ways. First, it's about what farmers use to grow their crops. On an organic farm, farmers utilize natural fertilizers like compost to allow their crops to thrive. Conventional farms turn to chemical fertilizers and sprays for their harvest. And what about when crops are growing? Anyone who has enjoyed (or suffered through) gardening knows that weeds and buggy pests begin to creep in at some point. Organic farms go back to their farming roots, eliminating pests by introducing beneficial species and keeping weeds at bay the hard way: hand weeding their fields, rotating crops and using mulch. Conventional farms' solution to these dilemmas: chemicals, chemicals and more chemicals. The more I looked into it, the less at ease I felt about some of the foods that crossed my plate.
Although my research was initially quite discouraging (and an appetite killer), I felt as though I finally understood why Kristin was so adamant about making In A Jar Foods an organic company. We live in a world where so many of the foods that we encounter seem blurred with a big question mark. Whether it's children eating (and sharing) lunches at school or going out for a date with your special someone, chances are not every morsel of food we'll eat is organic, natural, and delicious. But in my home, I've decided that organic is 100% the way to go. Home should be a safe haven in every way possible, from soft pillows and blankets and a big hug after a tough day to food that I know has been handled and produced in a responsible, not a chemical-laden way.
Organic is not just a label or a trend. We hope that when you enjoy our sweet treats, you feel both the joy of delicious cookies and the confidence that your baked goods are filled with love, not chemicals.
The Summer Olympics are here so why not start eating healthy like an Olympian?? This Summer salad is full of antioxidants, fresh fruits and veggies, and protein to get you on your way to that Olympian body you've been dreaming of!
**If you need a fun summer activity you can get the organic ingredients for this salad from your local farmer's market or go strawberry picking at a nearby orchard!**
Just add:
3 Cups of Organic Romaine Lettuce
1/2 Cup of Organic Strawberries
1/2 Cup of Organic Mandarin Orange Slices
1/2 Cup of Organic Pineapple
1/2 Cup of Organic Blueberries
1/4 Cup of Organic Almonds
1 Grilled Organic Chicken Breast
Drizzle one of your favorite light dressings on top and voila! You have a sweet refreshing salad to help you escape the summer heat!
*My favorite dressing for this salad is a Light Creamy Poppyseed Dressing. A Raspberry Vinaigrette is a close second!*
Happy first day of summer!! Beat the heat with this easy organic coffee frappuccino recipe! We think it tastes just as good as the one from Starbucks and will save you a lot of money!
To make this delicious frappuccino just add these ingredients to your blender or magic bullet:
1 cup double-strength organic coffee
3/4 cup organic milk
3 tablespoons organic granulated sugar (or to taste)
2 cups ice
A pinch of xanthan gum OR 1 teaspoon dry pectin (keeps the frappuccino from separating!)
After a beautiful Memorial Day weekend, most of us have only one thing on our minds: summer! Whether it's your summer travel plans, that yearly resolution to finally shape up your golf or tennis game, or which camps you'll be shuttling children to, summer means a whole new schedule and the end of a school year.
As a teacher who has just finished my first year in the classroom last week, I've spent the beginning of my summer reflecting on the ways that my students have thanked me. Some are memories that I will carry in my heart, from that "lightbulb" moment on a struggling reader's face to the student who transforms from a rebel to a scholar over the course of the year.
But there are also the material tokens of appreciation that I appreciate. I had one student arrive on the last day of school with something for me that completely melted my heart. She was a student whom I had taught at the beginning of the year before she had advanced to a higher level class, and she stopped by my room as a group of frenzied sixth graders were using wet wipes to clean everything in sight. She had a tray of sopapillas, fluffy pastries covered in cinnamon sugar, that her grandmother had helped her make the night before. Her visit was short, she told me "Thank you," handed me a sopapilla, and turned to leave. But as I bit in (much to the chagrin of my sixth grade "worker bees") I felt so happy that a student had taken the time to give me a gift that came from the heart. There is just something about sharing food that goes far deeper than a gift card ever could.
Teachers don't teach for the paycheck or the glory, but after a year of working hard to help students succeed, I promise that we appreciate all forms of "Thank you" that we receive. If you have a teacher in your life whom you would like to thank with a gift, In A Jar Foods has just the treat. Complete with a tag that reads "I'm one Smart Cookie thanks to you!" a jar of organic oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip cookies will be a sure fire hit with any teacher. Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my family shows me some "teacher appreciation" with a warm batch of cookies waiting for me after my flight to Connecticut on Friday :)
