Let the Holiday Stampeding Begin

Tis the season for gifts, friends, and food. Out of the woodworks will come lots of friends, lots of food, and lots of shopping. In the end, we’ll probably start marginalizing friends in an effort to shrink the pages-long list of gifts we’re expected to give out. There’s no need for you to do that this year, we can help. Let me first tell you that last week began our season of parties and get-togethers and we’ve stuffed ourselves with everything from seasoned olives to coconut shrimp to chocolate cake. I am super happy to say that one of those parties featured a platter of our very own marshmallows!



We made great impressions all around. Even the guests who “don’t like marshmallows” enjoyed ours. Peppermint and Mexican chocolate have been very popular lately. It might be the chill in the air or the singing Santa that every mall seems to have but folks have taken to comfort food to keep their spirits and patience high this time of year. Either way, we’re here for all of your party favoring needs.
Our December has been very successful. Those of you who have booked us for your parties, rest assured that your orders will be made and shipped to you in plenty of time for your Christmas, New Years, or Just Because parties you plan on hosting or attending this month. I say “Just Because” because I’m not sure what holidays other countries celebrate but our customers there will be partying with our treats on hand.

For those who have ordered Christmas gifts to be delivered directly to your friends and family, we’ve got you covered as well. You’ll be very popular after Christmas and definitely remembered for giving a unique gift that nobody else will have thought to give before. I’ve always loved folks who give me something I can’t easily find and I really love folks who give me something edible. You too could cover both of those bases in one swoop. We estimate that you can order as late as December 18th and still get your Christmas orders in time to celebrate in gourmet style. But why wait until the last minute, buy now and throw another log in the fireplace and miss out on the madness that is sure to follow as the last 2009 days tick by. Really and truly, who wants to fight over that last tube of cherry chapstick at the always-open drugstore on Christmas Eve night? I am gonna guess that a few of you are saying, “Nope, not me, again!”

Next year we have planned many wonderful seasonal flavors and themes so check back with our blog in January. Until then we say: Thank you all for buying from us and for subscribing to our blog and facebook page. See you in the New Year!
-The Mia Mallows Team

Front Page of Etsy 11/25/2009

Mia 28

Have you ever wandered into a store and been inundated with choices that left you bewildered and hopelessly undecided? I know I have and the only thing preventing me from pulling out a huge wad of cash and buying one of everything was the huge wad of cash.

You, our customers, have had this problem, but no longer. We've got a great idea to let you know about.

Presenting the Mia 28: a sampling of each of our flavors sent from our door to yours in one awesome package. You'll receive one of every flavor we currently offer. It's crazy, we know, but some folks have been asking to try many of our flavors before ordering a party palette and now here's your chance to try them all.

This package is perfect for deciding which flavors and colors will best accent your wedding, your parties, your corporate events, your eyes, or any other gathering that's coming up.

We have various flavors on hand at any given point because we're constantly making and shipping and we plan to do the same for the Mia 28s. These super sets of mallows will ship out every other Friday so that every order will have 28 of the freshest singles you can possibly get.

Check our website for the next shipping Friday and place your order to reserve your Mia 28.

You'll receive one of each of the following 28:
Vanilla, Banana, Bavarian Cream, Black Cherry, Blueberry, Caramel, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate – Mexican Style, Coconut, Coffee, Cotton Candy, Dulce De Leche, Eggnog, Lemon, Lime, Mango, Orange, Peppermint, Peach, Peanut Butter, Piña Colada, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Praline with Pecans, Pumpkin Pie with Shortbread Cookie Crumbs, Raspberry, and Strawberry

Our first 28 will ship out Friday, November 20th so that you can recieve them just in time for Thanksgiving.

It will be the first listing in our ETSY shop! :)

Front Page of Etsy 11/07/2009

Front Page of Etsy 10/29/09

Front Page of Etsy 10/11/2009

Put the swimwear away and break out the red suit, Santa.

The holidays are fast approaching. Look around and you'll find the earliest of birds have already put up decorations, themes, and an assortment of goods and services for the not-so-distant holidays. I can't say that I understand much about store front managers and their wily ways, but I could have sworn that some of these decorations were already in place mid-summer. It's a small wonder then that we feel a little left behind when it comes to our holiday marshmallow collection.

Yup, we have officially begun preparing for our (and your) holiday gatherings. Think of us as your sweets caterers who will be happy to bring conversation pieces to your parties, but won't actually be there to eat all the good stuff before your invited guests arrive. Best of all, your friends and family will love you just a little more when they see what you've found them from our little shop.

With the summer heat waining and the days getting just a little shorter, I submit for your consideration something to help ease you into the holiday seasons.

Mia Mallows is very proud to present our first (of several) Holidays Editions marshmallow packages for your reading pleasure.

First up, our Fall Package. Order today and receive three pairs of delicious fall themed marshmallows neatly packaged and delivered to your door.



---There are two caramel mallows that have a warm soothing flavor to them and would go well with any drink, especially a cup of hot coffee.
---Two pumpkin spice mallows rolled over a shortbread crumble so each bite tastes just like a nibble of pumpkin pie, sans the fork, plate, and mess.
---Two pecan praline mallows that have been pecan coated for that extra fresh taste with a little crunch. It's like having a quick bite of pecan pie. The pecan praline mallows have been praised for their savory sweetness and once you try one, you'll agree.

Flavors link directly to memories for most people. Think back to the last time you had a party and the memories of the food will likely dictate whether you had a good time or not. Its the same with our treats, you'll take a snapshot of the world around you when you take that first bite. Our flavors are very important to us. With artificial ingredients you either get it right or 'Sweet Jesus' wrong which is why most of our flavorings are now purely organic. The taste is more pleasing to the pallette and less likely to cause puckering, the chills, or bitter beer face. Even though our batches are made to order, you'll find that your order today will taste just like your past favorites and hopefully twenty, maybe thirty years from now, you'll find that the taste brings you back to this day.

Next time, we'll talk about the Christmas Edition. Those flavors will definitely glaze your eyes over with holidays gone by.

Front Page of Etsy 10/05/2009

Halloween Edition Marshmallows:

Front page of Etsy 9/25 (Alternate)

Last Sunday (Sunday, Sept. 20th, 2009) we loaded up our waving banners and headed for the convention center. There we had been warned that the mad rush of blushing brides in waiting would be moving with the grace and pace of migrating geese. To say there was a crush of people is accurate but words can only describe the excitement in the air and the frenzied pace of folks racing up and down the aisles looking for everything from “wedding favor” small to “bridal coordinator” big. And boy did they find what they were looking for and then some.

The fair started at noon, but our day started bright and early at 8 am. Our setup was brightly lit and well done, we thought anyway. 30 minutes after the doors opened, we saw a change in a very few minutes time. Our staff, 6 of us in total, went from carpet anchors to full blown sample salesmen. There were only so many flavors that we chose to bring and folks loved all of them, naturally.

Folks came and oo-ed and aw-ed at the Bride and Groom apples that posed neatly at the top of our display. Our signature apple sat neatly below them. They came and left knowing that we had given them lots to think of. No telling how many varieties of marshmallows we can make for them but we did give them lots to think about. There are (today) 26 flavors that can be dipped, drizzled, rolled, or completely covered in chocolate, or not. Then there are toppings that range from little red dots to pea-sized sparkling pearls. We offer graham cracker coatings and a variety of crushed nut sprinklings too. Once the flavors and toppings are set, we can modify colors for those who might want a bright red pineapple marshmallow (it could happen!). Then there are size customizations that we can make that will be shipped and displayed in any number of packages with any number of colored and textured ribbons that will go with weddings, rehearsal dinners and corporate events. I’m sure I’ve missed several options and really your imagination is the limit here.

At the end of 5 fun hours, the brides made their way to the nearest escalators, elevators, and exits, all of our lives having been changed for the better. Now we find ourselves inundated with work and we couldn’t be happier about it. The customers we have found are going to enjoy every bit of our mallows and we hope some of our readers get to see and enjoy them in person.
After the dust settles (and it could be a long time), we’re going to take our show on the road and visit some of best festivals across the state, especially now that the weather is cooperating a little more. We hope to see you out there if you didn’t get to see us last weekend. Of course, we will continue to be online for your ordering pleasure for years to come.

featured on etsy 09/22/09

Featured on Etsy 09/20/09

Sazo Sizzled

Last week, we were invited to be marshmallow experts at a gathering of wedding planners, consultants, photographers, and coordinators at Sazo, located in the Rivercenter Marriott downtown San Antonio. It took longer to write this sentence than to say "Yes, we'll be right over.".

The night, a Thursday, was filled with laughter, food, and a flamenco guitarist with accompanying dancer. Our samples flew off the display shelf and onto more than 70 guests plates that night and we had a wonderful time talking about the flavors we offer (26, in case you're keeping track of what you've sampled so far) and the packages we can offer as uniquie wedding favors (lots, in case you're trying to keep track). We talked and talked and talked mallow all night long and everybody was oh so nice to us. I'm sure if we sold supplemental, out of country travel insurance, we probably wouldn't have been so warmly welcomed, which is unfortunate because we were ready to launch MiaInBiggaTravelTrouble.com (not really, in case you're propping your feet on packed luggage and googling it).

Once we finished talking about everything except 7th grade math class, we turned our guests loose and they managed to find their way to the chocolate fountain conveniently located 180 degrees away. If you haven't tried a sweet strawberry marshmallow passed under a curtain of smooth milk chocolate, you haven't reached that euphoria one normally can't attain legally. It's like all bodily sensations stop and look up to see whats causing your mind and mouth to scream in joy. Grandmothers might need to be sitting for this experience or risk already-shaky knees losing focus and causing unintended results. I might be a little over the top on this but try it and prove us wrong.

If you're planning a wedding and have scored yourself a chocolate fountain already then I'm sure they've offered you the usual assortment of strawberries, pretzels and maybe even bananas but they will also include marshmallows. Yes, they will include the variety we've all grown up with and that's ok, but imagine that beautiful fountain on that beautiful day flowing an endless sweet curtain of silky chocolate and not having something as unique and eye catching as gourmet, hand-made marshmallows to go with it. It sure would be something they'd talk about for years. Heck, it would take that long to get the chocolate stains off the kiddo's dress shirts but for that one night, you'd have laughing, dancing kids and those type always, always make for perfect weddings.

Orders have come in and shipped out to so many wonderful places in this world, I just wish shipping and handling charges covered hand delivery. We sure wouldn't have minded heading across the Atlantic. One of our (now most beloved) customers has taken the Mia Mallows experience online to share her thoughts with the rest of the world. Here is proof positive that we're making the world a more mallow place, follow this link for an A-Z rundown of her experiences with us.


Incase you want to go directly to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg_QAyC4xag

As always, Thank You All for your positive feedback and support and we hope to see you in San Antonio at the Bridal Extravaganza on September 20, 2009.

Here Come the Brides

September is two things to us here at MiaMallows.com. First, it’s going to be the month we set up a booth at the San Antonio Bridal Extravaganza and second, it’s right around the corner!!!
Let me preface this event by saying that we set up shop at the practice trial run about a week ago where we met very nice caterers, florists, event planners, and travel agents. All of them were fabulously welcoming and were eager to talk to us, the new guys, about their lives. It wasn’t log before they were sharing stories about last year’s big event, though oddly enough, none of them were really smiling as their eyes rolled across their “you don’t know what you’ve got coming” faces. Still, they were very encouraging and did provide helpful tips that I’m sure will help in serving all of you out there.

The plan is simple: survive the onslaught of some 2000 brides looking for everything from wedding consultants to unique wedding ideas and favors. This is where we plan to step in and fulfill their every marshmallow need. Something about having that many brides, many of whom will have their soon-to-be’s with them, makes me shudder. I get this feeling that I’m going to end up like the Dunkin Donuts guy who will wake up before the roosters do trying to get to the store to finish off those last thousand or so peppermint or peanut butter mallows. Each and every Mia Mallow employee will be there with a smile and a sample waiting for all of you to arrive. All the stops will be pulled for this event and that means we’ll have all 26 flavors on hand. If you happen to be in the San Antonio area on September 22nd and have always wanted to try one (or all of our flavors), this will be your best chance so far. Just remember two things. First, there are going to be mobs of people but we’re already designing a layout that will help us stand out, and second, it’s right around the corner!!! If you can’t make it (Canadians, you may be excused) then we understand and hope to post pictures of the madness after the event, provided we recover the use of our limbs or learn to type with our ear lobes.

We’ve done festivals in the past and some have been as good to us as we hope to have been to our loyal customers and readers. This fall, in fact, we are planning on hitting the roads of Texas, sans horse-driven carriage, in search of sad faces wanting, no, needing, something to make them feel happy and content again. I’m not sure if Mia Mallows can bring this country out of its woes, but we like to think it’s a step in the right direction. Nobody has ever had one of our mallows and kept a sour face, even after the lime flavored ones. Hmmm, maybe we should send some to Washington. I’ll have to start working on a presidential seal next.
In any case, this should serve as your advance notice. I hope you can join us for all the fun and if not, you can always order all 26 flavors and throw your very own wedding party. In fact, we encourage you to do so. Operators would be standing by if we had any. Someday soon I hope.

On another note, Audrey’s Country Crafts is having a raffle, giving away an 18 pack of my delicious gourmet marshmallows. Please visit her blog: http://bzzagentroyalty.blogspot.com/2009/08/giveaway-from-miamallows.html

Little Miss Mallow

Have you ever had the fortune of being left with someone else's child to watch over? You get that sense of responsibility knowing you can spoil this kid without having any of those real long term consequences like medical bills because they ate too much or dental bills because of what they ate. Everything in moderation and you'll be fine is what I've always gone by. Well, that’s far beside the point I'm trying to make. Lets tap the brakes here for a bit and state that I am not going advocate doing anything to harm or emotionally scare anybody; no, my sense of humor is entertaining someone while entertaining myself a little at their expense.

If you haven't been to our website, www.miamallows.com, tisk tisk tisk. We'll wait here while you wander over . . . For everybody else, I'll keep going. That cute little girl pictured on our website is my niece. A very talented friend was kind enough to draw her up from a picture we had lying around and she looked so well drawn that we knew it was perfect for the site. She's an energetic girl who looooves marshmallows, making her our favorite niece, naturally. Every now and again we goof around and she takes the same ribbings we all took when we were her age and she's pretty quick to know when something is up. A while back, when she was really on a marshmallow kick and we decided it was time for her to taste a new flavor and gauge her reaction as a forerunner to a possible new flavor.

After chomping down two chocolate covered bite-size mallow squares using a skewer stick, she took a thirty second break and ran over to the couch to see what all the laughter was about. I think she later figured out that the conversation humming over her head was actually about her and the laughing was the ruse to unseat her from her command perch. While she was away, we took the opportunity to run her skewer into a bit of country sausage that was sitting one bowl over; a leftover from our just-finished dinner. Moving quickly, we replaced the now-loaded skewer back in its place before a tiny hand led its owner back to take care of some unfinished business. As cute as a button, she picked up the skewer, rolled her eyes toward the television, unrolled her tongue, and proceeded to lick off what she thought was chocolate. After the third lick, and the fifth set of eyes that had locked onto her in the moment of dead silence, I think she finally figured it out!

Her face focused as her mind began to work out the mystery of the not so sweet marshmallow that had slipped in right under her nose, literally. And here, we'll skip over her half-minute dramatic moment of diva-ism and subsequent tantrum and finally reach the point I had been trying to make and that is: marshmallows are in fact a useful multipurpose means of entertaining a child; results will vary.

A full 98% of the time, kids love our marshmallows (the remaining 2% are fibbing we believe), were it not for loving parents and mischievous adults who remember looking up the chain of command and realizing how far it went up and realizing it takes a lifetime to climb even in your own home.

Next time, we'll discuss marshmallows in the quantum mechanics world and how flavored ones may just disprove String Theory.

The sausage on a stick marshmallow.

Etsy Front Page

I was on the front page tonight, I think from about 10:00 pm to 11:15pm EST.

It felt great! I didn't find out until the last few minutes, but I loved it! Thank you, utilemud!

I'm also in the gift guide for wedding invites and favors: http://www.etsy.com/gift-guides/170

Thanks everyone, for featuring me on blogs and treasuries!

:)

The Apple Results

We've finally gotten a free minute to look over your comments on our blog. Thanks to all of you who have put in a little blurb. We appreciate everybody taking their time to post. Out of your responses, we have randomly selected two folks who will receive a sample of our signature chocolate apple. If you’re name wasn’t selected this time around, another go-round will happen again a little later on. Our goal is to offer these sweet chocolate dipped apples on Etsy very soon. There are other ideas that we’re still dreaming up.

A Newtonian Experiment

Last week we snuck in a little blurb about an experiment we were interested in running and those of you who suffered through the entire blog, hopefully, found it and posted a message. If you did, great! We are going to notify a few randomly selected folks to get their mailing addresses and here's why.
Our chocolate covered apples have always been a fan favorite amongst customer families. They are huge, sweet, and a little tangy. That’s good because a family can sit around, slice this monster up and everybody gets a serving or two. Evenings with friends, birthday parties, and anybody who is planning on visiting their friends and families have really taken to the idea of showing up with our apples. Now, after a few requests for direct delivery, we have begun to toy with the idea of shipping our apples all over the place, you know, to help end world cravings. The problem is, we won't sell anything that needs shipping unless we're sure it’s going to survive and remain pristine until it leaves this world, one slice or bite at a time.
At no expense to you, we would like to send out a single-boxed chocolate dipped apple for you to evaluate. The goal is to get feedback sent directly back to us about the condition it arrived in, along with some other info that we'll include when we contact you via e-mail. Hopefully, we’ll soon be able to add to our listings on Etsy and beyond to include chilled chocolate dipped apples, just in time for the hot summer.
Again, thank you all for your interest in our little mallow world.

The rocky road

Ever wonder how many ways you can prepare a marshmallow to be devoured? If you answered Yes, that's wonderful. We never did. That is until we started making them, then making lots of them, then dreaming about them, and finally blogging about them.

What we've found is that there are endless ways to cut, color, flavor, and accessorize marshmallows. Some ideas have come from our customers, who are quite crafty. The most interesting idea we came away with recently was a suggestion that we incorporate or somehow theme a marshmallow after one of America's favorite ice creams, Rocky Road.

A challenge was at hand and we've been known to try different flavors whenever we have the time. How successful are we, that depends I guess on whether you like spicy, sour, or flowery mallows. I can't count any of our experiments out, somebody someday will ask us with a grin if we've tried this or that and we'll be there nodding. For our RR, we had to incorporate the main flavors of the ice cream without actually using ice cream and after a bucket, err, hour of research, we came up with a unique take on the dessert.

First, we started with a milk chocolate flavored marshmallow, although using a darker, bitter chocolate is on the "when we find a chocoholic . . ." list. Next, the nuts we went with were walnuts, because they seemed to stand out well and spread evenly and deeply throughout when mixed into a fresh batch of marshmallow. Afterwards, well, we were just kidding ourselves by going light on the chocolate; who doesn't looooove chocolate. A quick reach across the counter, a twist of a lid, and a fist full of semi-sweet mini chocolate chips were sailing into the mix. We relished stirring that pot like an eager child waiting for grandma to stop scraping the cookie dough bowl.

What we created that day left us feeling as though we caught lightning in a bottle.

We haven't taken pictures to post and even when we do, I don't recommend you lick the screen, it won't taste quite the same. What I will say is that the response has been very positive so far. Soon, we'll be offering these little crunchy, smooth, chocolatey nuggets and we think you will have one of those "wavy screen" flashbacks to us the next time you pick up a candy bar. Thank you all for following us on our little mallow path. Although we already have our Rocky Road taste-testers, we would still like to select a few of you for a little audience participation. A few interested folks will be randomly selected to do a little experiment with our signature apple. That’s about all I can divulge until a future blog, sooooooooo, if you're interested in joining us (its free, both joining and the experiment), please comment on the blog, and I will notify you by July 7th, 2009, if you are selected.

The life of a marshmallow

We have had folks come by and to satisfy their curiosity ever since we got started. They feel obliged to pick up, poke, squeeze, or otherwise hand-bounce a 6-pack of our mallows. I can’t say I blame them. We do, after all, sell something that stimulates the sense by their appearance, smell, texture, and of course, taste. The raised eyebrows and subtle nod usually leads to what I wanted to talk about today.

How Long Do Your Marshmallows Last? I’ve always taken this as a valid question.
We haven’t added preservatives to our recipes for two reasons.

1. The ingredients aren’t especially perishable. Marshmallows don’t require refrigeration or special conditions, such as vacuum sealing to keep their sexy, fluffy cube shape. In that, we got lucky because shipping has never, ever been a problem. Our early batches were mailed to relatives, who we asked to resist the urge to bite and claw their way in, and instead turn around and send the package back. The result: you’ll get the same wonderful hand-cut treats that you see in our galleries every time.
   
2. Thanks to all of our wonderful customers, our marshmallows don’t really last long enough on a shelf or in your home long enough to tire them out and for that we give you our most sincere thanks.

Our testing and experimenting have shown that a freshly made pack of marshmallows will last eight weeks in its packaging. 8 weeks is as long as we have tried so far, so if you can resist the urge to pry the bag open longer, let us know how they hold up.

I’m sure the factory-made products use mostly the same ingredients we use. The difference being, they need their stuff to last months as it travels across the country and onto store shelves where they will sit until a family’s special event or, perhaps, the winter holidays come around. Nothing wrong with that, we wouldn’t ask anybody to compare ours with theirs, though doing so could be a fun thing to try. Our Original’s have a taste you just won’t find out there, but I’ve digressed enough already.

So, there you have it, buy today and enjoy on your summer vacation, on a long car trip or flight, at the family campsite or picnic, while attending your summer seminars or even to soften your mean Aunt Ester’s half hearted hug as you show up unannounced for the yearly stroll up and down the family tree. There I go again on another tangent, sorry about that. My point being: they won’t last long (in your hands that is).

I’ve got more questions that I’ll answer soon with maybe a little marshmallow trivia or other life altering marshmallow info to come. Life, I believe, is just too short to not indulge every now and again. The simple things sometimes make the biggest impressions and the very best memories. Hand a marshmallow to a child; you’ll see what we’re talking about.

Introduction

Mia Mallows has a short, sweet beginning. About a year ago, we stumbled upon the philosophy of creating something original but still familiar to everybody. Several ideas looked promising and we might still pursue them one day. The problem is that we’re having so much fun with our little marshmallow seedling.

We started making marshmallows for friends and family, but as the demand for them grew, we knew we needed to expand. The hunt started and ended fairly quickly when we came across an ice cream shop that had counter and kitchen space up for lease. That was about 3 months ago. Today we have fully moved into Yoyo’s Creamery here in San Antonio and have finally ironed out all of the little things that every business goes through getting off the ground. The secret mix of sweets and flavors was tinkered with until we got it right. Anybody can buy a marshmallow and even toss a few things together and come up with one, but few would stumble across the sweet (but not too sweet) flavor and soft (but not too soft) feel that we are very, very proud to offer. Our original vanilla marshmallow is familiar but very different and our flavored marshmallows will never have that overpowering artificial taste that often comes with factory-made desserts.

With so many ideas for different combinations it’s going to take a while before we’re done offering new flavors. It’s been great so far and we’re especially happy knowing that our customers are always getting the best marshmallows anybody could offer.

Another way we are looking to expand is through Etsy. We opened our Etsy store on June 10th, and have been greeted with wave of hearts. I will be posting new items weekly, and here is a preview of our signature apple, which will be posted on Etsy, as soon as we receive our shipping supplies.

We dip a big delicious red apple in our very own marshmallow fluff and roll it in walnuts. When the marshmallow has set, we cover it with dark chocolate, and drizzle ribbons of white chocolate.