Dear Friend,

Greetings and welcome to the "Back to School, Back to Business" issue of Short Bites: the Vermont Shortbread Company Newsletter.

First, the report on last month's August Shortbread Challenge. Thanks to your help, we sold more shortbreads than last year! We didn't quite reach 300, but I gave it the old, goal-setting college try and once again the slowest month in the shortbread calendar was successful.

A portion of the proceeds will go to Childcare Resource. Stay tuned for the September Shortbread Honor Roll, where I'll be publishing a list of all VSC customers who participated. Thank you again!

Check out our new Shortbread on the Bike Path page - including a photo of Burlington's Famous Feline Cyclist!

My husband and I just enjoyed our last weekend getaway of the season - we took a trip to Quebec City and drank in all the magnificent European culture. Now that we've had our fill of relaxation, it's back to school and back to business... which includes yet another trip, but this one's local.

It's Flynn Center's Annual Fine Wine & Food Festival, and yes, Vermont Shortbread Company will be there giving away free samples! Join us if you plan to be in the area on Sunday, September 17.

In case you missed it... I was interviewed on Balance and Wisdom Internet Radio. Take a listen to hear some pearls of wisdom from the entrepreneurial side. :)

Finally: meet your baker! I recently added Jenny Hermenze, professional baker extraordinaire, to the small but steadily growing VSC support team. Read all about Jenny in this month's Bits 'n Bites section.

Oh - and don't forget to order buttery and delicious Vermont Shortbread for everyone you know! ;)

Shortbread Makes the Perfect Client Gift

Looking for the perfect way to say, "Thanks for your business"? Vermont shortbread is the premier gift choice for professionals. Send one today and see the amazing effect that fresh-baked shortbread has on your clients and colleagues.

Our Flavors: Traditional (plain), almond, chocolate, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, lemon curd, walnut-cinnamon. Try them all!

Click here to order using our safe and secure PayPal payment system.

Click here to order using our safe and secure PayPal payment system.

Early Bird Holiday Special - Featuring our All-New Shortbread Gift Reminder Service!

Vermont Shortbread Company recently added a new service to our list - the very handy Shortbread Gift Reminder Service!

You provide us with a list of all your gift recipients (along with their flavor of choice and text for gift card) and then WE remember to send it out on the appropriate date. It's EASY. Get all your gifts done in one fell swoop and ensure yourself stress-free holidays.

• 10% discount if you order 10-14 gift boxes
• 15% discount if you order 15-19 gift boxes
• 20% discount on orders of more than 20.

Learn more about gift-giving made easy

September Food and Wine Fest

Vermont Shortbread Company will again be exhibiting at the Shelburne Farms Fine Wine and Food Fest - Sunday, September 17, 2006 from 2-5 pm at the Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms. We hope you'll be there to partake in all the food, glorious food with us!

The award-winning Flynn Center's Annual Fine Wine & Food Festival is highly recognized throughout Vermont and New England. Held at the beautiful Shelburne Farms Coach Barn, the Festival features a selection of fine domestic and international wines and delicious, locally produced meats, cheeses, pastas, breads, vegetables, sauces, condiments, confections, and coffees. There is also live music, a raffle, a live auction of fine and rare wines from private cellars, food items and restaurant gift certificates, as well as special surprises.

The festival is held in mid-September, to coincide with the beginning of fall foliage season in Vermont's beautiful Champlain Valley. Attendance in past years has ranged between 800 and 1000, but in 2005 attendance was limited to 450 and that will be the plan for 2006. Ticket price is $45. All proceeds benefit the Flynn Center's cultural and educational programs.

I have been participating in this event for many years and it's one of my best marketing opportunities of the year. I hand out samples of my shortbread and most participants come back to my table several times. Several fest-goers have told me that VSC is their favorite table at this festival. This year, I'll be handing out samples of my cheddar/black pepper savory shortbread biscuits. I'm also entering new ezine subscribers who sign up for my ezine at the event into a drawing for a free gift box shortbread. I LOVE this event. It's always lots of fun.

For more info about this event, visit
http://www.flynncenter.org/events/benefit.shtml

Meet Your Baker

I'm pleased to introduce you to VSC's newest team member, Jenny Hermenze. Although you may notice that Jenny is *not* baking in this photo (she's katazome dyeing), we had to share it with you anyway to show her amazing creativity and attention to detail!

My husband "found" Jenny for me while partaking in breakfast with Governor Jim Douglas and assorted others at the Huntington Annual Vermont Maple Open House. Jenny was cooking pancakes when he engaged her in conversation. My husband came home and said, "I found you the perfect baker... she's a librarian... you and she have so much in common!"

Jenny and I hit it off immediately upon meeting. We're both from Connecticut. We both love fine food, wine, and books and we both have kids in the 7th grade. Jenny's creative, conscientious, and full of great ideas. She also has quite the culinary background as listed here and has taught me a thing or two about streamlining my baking process. Thanks, Jenny!

Jenny Hermenze's culinary experience spans the country - with baking "gigs" from 1983-1986 at Chez Panisse and Cafe Fanny, Berkeley, California, followed by various resort baking jobs in Denali Park, Alaska, and Big Sky, Montana. In 1987, Jenny settled in at Deja Vu Cafe, Burlington, VT and spent the next four years teaching food writing and food history at the New England Culinary Institute, with "World Flavors" and "Intro to Wine" on her list of electives. An intense love of learning inspired Jenny's ongoing quest to build the NECI library collection from a shelf of about 100 books to two collections (one on each campus) of about 2500 volumes each.

When she's not putting her creative baking and teaching talents to good use, Jenny runs her own business, Bridge Street Dye Works. She creates beautifully hand dyed shirts and scarves using a Japanese technique called katazome. Katazome pieces command high prices because they are so labor intensive. Jenny sells her work locally at Richmond Farmers' Market and major juried Vermont Craft Shows (such as Stowe Foliage, Sheraton). And if all this isn't enough to fill her days and nights, Jenny has recently taken up Taiko drumming!

The Vermont Shortbread Company tag line is "handcrafted with love, imagination, and tender care" so I had to be sure I would hire someone who would infuse the same love that I bake into every one of my shortbreads. Jenny was the perfect match. Sample her fine work - order Vermont Shortbread today!

Amy Kirshner of the Burlington Currency Project

Amy Kirshner of the Burlington Currency Project, recently hosted Shortbread on the Bike Path, making me the first ever featured member of BCP. Thanks, Amy! She also had a recent funny "Shortbread Gift of the Magi" story to share. Read her tale and testimonial on our Customer of the Month page.

Want to be a featured VSC Customer of the Month? Send your shortbread testimonial, photo and website link to Ann Zuccardy at jsaz@gmavt.net.

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Copyright 2006 Ann Zuccardy, Vermont Shortbread Company. All rights reserved.