Soup Selfie!

One of my Christmas traditions has always bucked the material/consumer driven holiday trend - Christmas Soup. More than a decade ago, while I was still living in Ottawa, Teri got together with a couple of her friends to make French Onion Soup. Since it is a dish that takes a long time - lots of cutting onions and boiling them down - they decided to make a day of it, hanging out together.

Every year since that start they have gotten together for an afternoon/evening in December to make soup together and then eat it afterwards. I joined the tradition a few years in and over time the group has grown with spouses and even a baby now. We just got together yesterday for Christmas Soup 2019 (see photo), made a delicious green minestrone one.

Christmas Changes

I like that my Christmas traditions are slowly adjusting to be less material/consumer driven. Don't get me wrong. I love buying, giving, and receiving gifts - remember giving gifts is one of my main Love Languages! However, with a tiny Toronto house, I don't have room for a lot of stuff, and I have always valued experience more anyway.

This year Kristen and I went to a play together instead of doing gifts - with the added bonus of a dinner at my favourite vegetarian restaurant Fresh a head of the show. (We saw a musical parody of the TV show Friends.)

The lists that get sent between family members each year and leaning more and more towards consumable items - we ask for our favourite foods, household items we need, fun treats of one type or another that we wouldn't necessarily buy for ourselves but really enjoy. These types of gifts bring such joy and at the same time don't add to clutter.

So, We Do Have A Name

Bit of an update on that donut business I mentioned before - we have a name! Full disclosure, I hired a communications company to help with this and they came up with it. They sent a list of suggestions many of which were great. I did a survey, got almost 100 responses from friends, family, and their larger networks. This was the decided upon result - I love it! We have the domain and social media names. Just working now on a logo.

FLIPSIDE DONUTS
- the act of looking at something from the other side, an alternative angle
- originally a reference to the back side of a vinyl music record and the location of less popular/mainstream songs

The name comes from the fact that we are turning the idea of the donut on its head. We shrunk it down and are making it gourmet - using a machine that makes them right in front of your eyes, that automatically 'flips' the mini donuts so they cook on both sides.

Our sweet flavours (raspberry and candied rosemary, smores, hazelnut plantain, etc) bring in unexpected ingredients and heighten what is often considered a common or even boring pastry to a new level of taste experience. These are fun, stylish, delicious, tiny treats! Not only that, but we are going on the flipside of sweet - and offering savory mini donuts too (curry, porchetta, taco, etc.).

The cafe itself will have espresso drinks, coffee, and offer a cozy, casual, but attractive place for friends and family to meet and hang out. And on the flipside of the cafe experience - we are licensed! We aren't a bar but at our cafe you can enjoy a beer while trying out a pile of poutine donuts at the end of a busy night, or throw some Irish whiskey into your coffee on Sunday Morning after bringing your young kids in to enjoy a sugary treat.

The cafe location is also on the flipside of the building itself, with Tank Lane being the main commercial street in The Distillery, we are in the south section of the main building, on Case Goods Lane.

Xmas List 2018

Two
- Treats (Temptations Dental)
- Little mouse toy
- Litter deodorizer (Arm+Hammer)

Joint
- Gift cards
--- Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Cineplex
- Travelling coffee mugs, not plastic
- King Sheets (100% Cotton)
- Help installing kitchen faucet
- Animal safe sidewalk salt
- Shower curtain liner
- Kitchen scissors
- Super large bath towels
- Foaming hand soap
- Steak knives
- Strong fridge magnets

Jason
- Gift cards
--- XBox, Amazon (for Kindle Books), MEC
- Coffee beans
- Sour candy
- Coke in glass bottles
- Craft Beer, not hoppy
- T-shirts, size Med
- Socks, shoe size 10.5
--- black dress, white athletic
- Sunglasses
- Spray sunscreen
- Dove for men shampoo
- Bar soap
- Clear glass coffee mugs
- Franks Red Hot Sauce

Me
- Gift Cards
--- Ricki's, Dollerama, IKEA
- Books (used is fine)
--- Fiction, William Gibson, Jasper Fforde, Gail Vaz-Oxlade (Never Too Late)
- Boardgames
--- Ticket to Ride: Expansion Maps
--- Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It
- Epsom salts
- Soap and Glory: Flake Away
- Canned corn
- Martin's Apple Chips
- Compact over-ear headphones (with cord)
- Android smart watch
- Kitchen scissors
- Potting soil
- Basil plants/seeds
- Chap stick
- Black no snag hair elastics
- Bath bombs
- Stud earrings backs that clip
- Travel toothbrush