The Prestige Pass

Let me introduce you to the new "Prestige Annual Pass."

Congratulations to Laurel Clark, winner of the naming contest. Cookies have been baked and will be shipped out tomorrow!

I’ve been busy today working on a logo and a registration page. First sneak-peek below:

Coming Soon …

Prestige annual pass members. An email arrives describing a new class. You don’t read it, you don’t need to. You are automatically registered. Other presents arrive — a monthly CD, a new cookbook. You never see an invoice and you never have to place an order or fill out a registration form. You’re a Prestige annual pass holder, and you move to the front of the line. You’re never concerned about sold-out classes, like the Fabulous French Desserts class or the Best-Ever Christmas Baking Class. You’re already registered. The Business Class? Limited numbers? You’re in.

After a year of learning and expanding and growing, of making meals and making money and making space, you deserve a vacation. After a glorious flight and a good night’s sleep in your hotel, you arrive in the Paris test kitchen of One Roast Vegetable, and you meet Shelley and other Prestige members. You head out to Shelley and André’s favourite café for a typical French lunch with paté, cornichons, salad with warm poached egg, French bread, and a glass of light rosé wine. It’s sunny with a light breeze, so you sit on the patio and watch the world go by.

~ all best, Shelley

Narrowing down the choices

OK, you have been amazing! Thanks for sending me lots of ideas for the new one-year, all-inclusive One Roast Vegetable VIP pass. This pass will entitle members to everything I offer this year – Veggie Club, cooking classes, cookbooks, video classes, audio CDs, and the very successful and popular Business Breakthrough class (valued at $675, offered twice a year).

But I really do need to name this pass by tomorrow, so that I can begin to sell the limited quantities next week (I’m only selling 10 passes in September).

So without further delay, here are the runners-up for the final. 

1. Gold Key Access
2. All Access Pass
3. Full Access Pass
4. 100% Access Pass
5. The Prestige Pass
6. Perfect Paris Pass
7. The Champagne Pass
8. Shelley On Demand
9. All Shelley All The Time

I need to make my final decision by tomorrow night, so if you don’t mind voting now, that’d be great : )

~ All best, Shelley

Contest to win Gingersnaps

When the box comes in the mail, you’ll make a pot of tea, and then sit down for a moment. You’ll unwrap the package, and you’ll marvel at how the cookies smell so fresh and so deliciously orangey. One dozen homemade Spicy Orange Gingersnaps. Handmade by Shelley’s little fingers, all the way from the Paris test kitchen. How do these cookies, that have arrived in today’s mail, taste so good? You sip your tea, and tenderly bite into another one. There may be a dozen, but you’re hesitant to share.

Would you like to win this delicious prize of a dozen homemade Spicy Orange Gingersnaps? You’ll need to put your thinking cap on tight. And you’ll need to vote now as I’ll pick a winner on Sunday evening.

I need a name for my new Annual VIP pass.

VIP members will pay a flat annual rate and will have access to ALL of my classes and products. Everything I offer for 12 months … all of my classes, audio CDs, the new Volume 2 cookbook.

Front of the line, guaranteed access to everything. No shipping costs. No need to register individually for new classes. They’re all yours.

And as a special bonus, all annual VIP pass holders will be invited to have dinner with me in Paris — I’ll be your tour guide AND I’ll even cook the meal.

I will be selling 10 VIP passes the first week of September.  But this all-access pass needs a name.

Some ideas so far:

• From Shelley to You – Full Access Pass
• The one-on-one pass
• Paris Shelley Pass
• The “Vegging In Paris” pass

What are your ideas?

To help improve your chances of winning, I’ll let you know that I have previously relied heavily on alliteration (Back to Basics, Kill Kitchen Klutter) but I’m not married to continuing this trend. My most recent naming was Your Business Breakthrough (thanks to Peggy Hall). The VIP pass name should be about YOU, not about ME, so I probably won’t put my name in it. The VIP pass’s name should represent the exclusivity and specialness of its members.

How’s that for a tall order!

I’m ready to put your cookies in the mail early next week. I have molasses and ginger and cinnamon and North American flour on hand. I even have an orange so I can grate the peel and toss with sugar, to coat the cookies one-by-one before they bake.

Please share your genius ideas. Deadline for entries: Sunday evening (Aug 29th).

~ all best, Shelley

Your vote counts (Results!)

Yesterday I asked you to vote on some of the NEW classes I’m designing for this Fall. These classes will be in addition to the relaunch of my other popular classes, such as the 14-week Back to Basics cooking class, Stop Dinner Party Disasters, and the 4-part Fabulous French Desserts.

OK, so here are the results of your votes to date:

** click on image to see large view **

 

** click on image to see large view **

 

So I guess we’re going to have a busy and fun year, I can’t wait! 

 

FULL-ACCESS to ALL CLASSES and ALL PRODUCTS for one whole year!

I’m also busy working on my new Annual VIP pass (which clearly needs a better name!). 

VIP members will pay a flat annual rate and will have access to ALL of my classes. Everything I offer for 12 months … all of my classes, audio CDs, the new Volume 2 cookbook.

Yes, VIP members will get automatic access to everything I offer for an entire year. 

And the bonus? You’re invited to have dinner with me in Paris … I’ll even cook! I will be selling 10 VIP passes in September, so stay tuned.

Yes, let’s have a contest to name the VIP pass … you can start posting your suggestions I’ll mail the winner a dozen homemade Spicy Orange Gingersnaps, handmade by me in the Paris test kitchen.

~ all best, Shelley

Paris Post: Shelley’s Birthday (Dec 2/09)

To celebrate my first birthday in Paris, I made a really easy dinner (Thai Curried Chicken) at our apartment. We invited André’s cousin, Annie (who’s lived in Paris for 10 years), and our good friend Bertrand.

 

my favourite appetizers: feta cheese, hummus, pickled turnips, crackers, pickles, & olives …

 

 
Do you like our designer candle holders? The flowers were a surprise. I woke in the morning after A. had gone to work to find them on the counter, with bonne fete painted on the empty juice bottle. (Andre had hidden the flowers sans water, overnight somewhere in the apartment.)

 

Shelley, Bertrand, Annie, André

 

Bertrand, me, and Annie.  Yes, this is what 43 looks like.

 

~ all best, Shelley

Paris Post: Baking class (Nov 28/09)

I continue to film the Best Very Christmas Baking Class videos. The first two recipes were Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf and Easy Bar Shortbreads; you can see the photos in this post.

Here’s the next two recipes:

Cappuccino Shortbread with milk chocolate on top (here’s the red ball again!).

And Chocolate Cranberry Squares:

 

And these pictures are taken from our street in Paris, right at the end of November when all the Christmas decorations were put up.

 

    

~ all best, Shelley

Paris Post: Painting a Lemon

OK, this is a follow-up blog from my previous post about starting a new painting. So I think maybe it’s time to start adding some colour, even though all of my lines aren’t quite correct.

The lemon goes well:

 

 

But then something happens when I try to put the base layer of the blue on the mug.

 

 

I decide I don’t like the blue, so while it’s still wet, I get a damp paper towel and I wipe off the paint.

 

I add more blue / purple …

 

 

Then I take it off again.

Honestly, I’m thinking I liked it better when it was just green and white!

(My art teacher – the one who lives in California and coaches me by Skype – when he sees these images, he actually confirms my gut feelings, and he encourages me to go back to the green-and-white version with just a yellow lemon.)

~ all best, Shelley

Paris Post: Christmas Baking Class (Nov 16/09)

As I continue to post my photos from last year, I’m now up to November 16, 2009, which is the day I start filming the videos for my “Best Ever Christmas Baking Class.” There are 4 lessons, and all of the baking can be made in advance and popped in the freezer for a stress-free holiday season.

Lesson #1: Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf.

I hadn’t brought any Christmas decorations with me to France, and since I am filming these lessons beginning in mid-November, it was too early to find any ornaments for sale in the local stores. (I know in North America, you can buy Christmas decorations starting at Hallowe’en, but not in Paris.)

I did find a few plastic balls in the back of one shop, but they were 4€ for each single ball! Needless to say, I only bought one ball. It’s red. You’ll see it reappear in a few lessons …

Lesson #2: Easy Bar Shortbreads.

I thought I’d show you the process I go through to get a good photo. I am using a digital SLR camera (Canon 20D), so I can change the shutter speed manually. I have a regular lens, nothing special.

So with white cookies, I knew I needed some extra colour in the pictures. I’m in the living room here, where there’s more light in the afternoons.

 

Without a flash (good light, too blurry):

 

With a flash (crummy lighting, but not blurry):

 

Yes, I could have dragged out my tripod and this point and taken this picture again without the flash, but I am too lazy.

And anyway, the stocking overwhelmed the cookies.

 

So I put the cookies on the dining table which is in the living room, right against the window where there’s lots of light.

My first try, too much light (shutter open too long):

 

 

this next one is too dark, shutter not open long enough…

 

(I also realize that I can see myself in the red ball, reflected with the camera, but am hoping that no one else will really notice…)

 

This last one is the best picture so far, but it has a bit too much of the table in the image:

 

So I open this last image in Photoshop, and I crop out the extra table, making the cookies and ball the centre of the picture. Here’s the final version:

 

The next two Christmas baking lessons are coming soon

~ All best, Shelley

Paris Post: Eiffel Tower (Nov 13/09)

Because we live about 15 minutes walking distance from the Eiffel Tower (la tour), we often stroll through the grounds, crisscross to go to the library, stop to watch tourists, and occasionally to picnic in the shade. But actually go UP the tower? Hardly ever …

(These pictures are taken with André’s little point and shoot Sony.)

     

 

I like the Eiffel Tower shadow in this one

 

 

and if you stay long enough, there’s sunset …

~ all best, Shelley

Paris Post: Photos from Belgium (Nov/09)

An overnight trip to Brussels; the train from downtown Paris takes about 1h15, so it’s pretty speedy, door-to-door. We were headed to Belgium for a concert … yes to see the 1980s band ‘a-ha’, which may be A.’s favourite band in the world.

The train departures board is big and busy. Our train is the 8th one down, 12h25 to Bruxelles-Midi (Brussels).

The view from inside the Gare (train station) in Paris is pretty spectacular.

We arrive in Brussels and head off looking for lunch; I like the look of this place – looks healthy and green.

This place specializes in selling speculoos cookies (cinnamon snaps, like ginger snaps, but very Belgian). The king-ish mold in the window is used to make giant cookies. In France we use crushed speculoos cookies to make cheesecake crusts (since we don’t have graham crackers here).

Belgium is famous for its chocolate and its beer. Here’s a store appealing to tourists – 250 kinds of bottled beer …

and then of course there’s Belgian waffles … André had one of these …

the big square, buildings on all four sides … lots of gold trim and grey buildings

and there’s a line-up to take a picture of the peeing sculpture. no kidding, this is very famous,  Mannequin Pis, is a big deal! Even though it’s quite tiny…

“I must eat in this place with all the pies!” – turns out they also had a great chicken tagine for lunch …

inside walkway; covered stores

and i wanted to buy a hat here, but A. was sure that 239 euros for one hat was too much …

Lots of small alley streets with open-fronted restaurants; inviting us in with all of their fresh seafood.

and here’s where I buy truffles every year for a contest… this year’s contest was to name my business class, and Peggy won with “Your Business Breakthrough.” Mailed her a box of Belgian truffles to celebrate

the concert at the Ancienne Belgique was great

~ all best, Shelley