1) Read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

2) Watch Stewart Smalley skits from SNL – noted “I am good enough and gosh darn-it- people like me!” line

3) Read old notes passed from best friend in high school with motivational quotes (back then written for bad break-ups), “When life gives you dirt, vacuum!”

4) Watch motivating movies: “Cinderella Story”, “Shrek” (1 through 3), “Beauty and the Beast” (this is not motivating but I like Disney cartoons), and in the spirit of the season “Elf” and “The Christmas Story”

5) I bake!  I bake recipes I love from my very beginings as a baker like cheesecake, carrot cake, pumpkin whoopie pies, red velvet cake, macaroons, etc.  Then I share what I’ve baked up with my NYC pals.  There is nothing like a smiling face after biting into something you’ve baked up to make you “think you can”!

So, Treet meet New York, New York meet Treet.  I know we’ll be the best of friends!

Recently, the Treet family had the pleasure of traveling through parts of Italy and Greece- wait did I say traveling?  I meant, recently the Treet family had the pleasure of eating our way through parts of Italy and Greece!  Honestly, the complexity of the local honey alone is worth a trip! Then when this honey is caramelized over roasted peanuts and then rolled in toasted sesame seeds it makes it very tempting to just drop everything and move to Santorini!  I wish more of our delicious sweet bounty had made it back to the states with us, but an 8 hour plane ride is a long time to go with out a Mediterranean snack fix!  I think my favorite part of the trip was stopping in a Corfu pastry shop (pictured).  It looked like Willy Wonka had just dropped off some supplies!  From mini handmade ice cream bars to sandwich cookies that resembled our very own whoopie pies, everything was as delightful to the belly as it was on the eyes! If you are a sweetie (dessert version of foodie), I highly recommend visiting the Greek isles and Italy- from hand-picked red pistachios to baklava- it’s a tasty adventure! Yumm..until we meet again, Ciao!

Corfu's Version of Willy Wonka

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So if you have been surfing the pages of TreetShop.com recently you may have noticed something snazzy and new on our homepage. We’ve started a new YouTube series entitled K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple & Sweet) from Treet, starring the Chief Sweetness Officer (yours truly). The plan is each month I’ll provide easy tips on baking challenges tha will give the home-baker an edge in the kitchen.

The inspiration for this idea came from my reason for attending pastry school- I wanted to learn how to fix things. That’s exactly what the Pastry and Baking Arts program at I.C.E taught me! It also taught me that I will be paying off student loans for the rest of my life…the philanthropic side of me said, “hey, why not share some of the super helpful tips you learned in school with others so they can save their pennies for more fun KitchenAid attachments”. Thus, my K.I.S.S from Treet idea started.

So, the first K.I.S.S. tip is a “Solution for Cold Buttercream”. I hope all of you Swiss Buttercream lovers out there find it useful! I’d love feedback and ideas for the next segment!

Photo taken by Jenna Huntsberger of The ModernDomestic

I love a good guest in the Treet  kitchen! 

For the past few weeks we have been practically hosting our own baking club.  I’ve truly enjoyed all the positive baking enthusiasm amidst the ovens! 

First, our beloved intern from Field School spent 2 weeks learning the tricks of Treet!  If you have never asked a 16 year old their insight on your business, you are missing out!  Yes, what they have to say may have you wishing you could revert back to high school and stuff yourself in a locker. However in the end their youth, social “in-ness”, and honest point of view is completely refreshing.  My intern was particularly brilliant, and I believe you will all soon be catching a glimpse of some of her thoughtfulness on our website. 

Next, we were visited by a very talented blogger from The ModernDomestic.  Not only could she whip up some sweet brownie bites; she was a pleasure to chat “shop” with.  She was also kind enough to post about our visit, “Theresa Luongo Pineilli Serves Up Some Tasty Treats at Treet“!

Ya’ll come back soon now ya hear!

All of these anxieties came to mind as I created my presentation. I even reached out to the pro’s for consultation!  My best friend is a school teacher, so she helped design my “mini cupcake assignment”.  On the day of the presentation, I was nervous…until I realized that I LOVED high school!  I gained so much from my high school experiences!  I realized that if I could make just one good impression, and encourage a student to be an entrepreneur than I succeeded! 

Entreprenuership is both a scary and exillerating ride, but as one of my good friends from my high school days used to say “if you don’t take the risk, you can’t feel the rush”!  So, I thank Mrs. Hendrickson for asking me to speak, I thank the wonderful students of Chantilly Academies, and I send a big thanks to the wonderful teachers and students of my own high school who helped build the background for this marketer, turned pastry chef, turned Chief Sweetness Officer!

As I was traveling today I decided to assess Treet’s essentials:

Something to do:  Bake good stuff

Something to love: bringing joy and satisfaction with every sweet bite

Something to hope for:  to keep baking, to have very happy customers, and to continuously innovate, create, and grow

…end quote

SunTrust is my bank, because it truly supports the small business owner from start ups to established companies (unlike the “bank of opportunity”). One major plus of doing my business banking with them is that they host panel discussions on a regular basis covering important/timely topics for small biz owners. Today I attended my first. I was interested to see what the speakers had to say, but it was at the Mandarin Oriental and free breakfast was involved too!

Aside from free eggs and pastries, I learned a great deal from the speakers and the attendees. In particularly, from panel speaker, Steve Strauss, author of The Small Business Bible (of which I am the proud owner of a signed copy). Steve pointed out that increased marketing and innovation is key to your company surviving and thriving through poor economic times. In addition, small biz owners should go back to the 80/20 rule to find what proportion of time they spend on the parts of the business that generate the most revenue. Since, the 80/20 rule is admittedly one of the only things I clearly remember from college, I believe this is solid advice that I plan to keep close in my pocket as I enter the bricks and mortar business world this summer.

Aside from what I actually learned today, I’d like to highlight my favorite quotes from a few of the entrepreneurs in attendance:

“My exit strategy is spelled D-E-A-T-H”

“I’m in the business of making money. I don’t do poverty”

“I knew there was something valuable to the chicken manure when I saw the heaps steaming”

It takes all kinds to start a small business…and if there weren’t enough “horses of a different color” what a bland world we would live in!