Comfort Food sells locally produced whole foods for take home or catered events!
This week’s featured Mama of the week is Kimberly Quay, blogger and chef/owner of Comfort Food, a shop that sells take out whole foods and a caterers. Comfort Food is located at 437 Alden Avenue in Morrisville, PA and has been open for over a year now. Prior to Comfort Food, Kimberly studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and worked at some great Philly area restaurants, including Striped Bass, White Dog Cafe, and Jake’s in Manayunk. According to her blog, she has been in the food industry for 20 years now, starting out making cookie dough! Along the way she has learned a lot and now focuses her energy on her business, Comfort Food. ”Our storefront sells healthy, prepared foods to go, made from the bounty of Bucks County’s local farms. We also do catering, from small dinner parties to weddings, barbecues, graduation parties, communions…you name it, we can cater it.”
Kimberly is a single mom to two kids, ages 9 and 11. She said that her son plays travel baseball, “so we are all consumed by his baseball schedule. When I’m not working, you can usually find my daughter and I watching one of her brother’s games(she is a tortured baseball sister!)” She describes her daughter as “a wonderful artist, with an incredible talent for drawing and cartooning.” With respects to parenting, Kimberly said “I enjoy knowing that I’m teaching my kids to grow up to be kind, caring, funny young adults who are capable of making good decisions. I love seeing them blossom as they get older, watching their personalities really develop.” Parenting presents many challenges, and for a single mom who works full time at her own business, there is the added challenge of being away from her kids for extensive amounts of time (she works a 70-80 hour week!!) Kimberly is able to rely upon a very supportive network of help who care for her kids while she works, including her parents, friends and a team of babysitters. It helps that she really enjoys her work!
Teaching her kids strong values is important to Kimberly. She said she focuses upon “the usual-honesty, compassion, being a good friend, doing the right thing. I think all these things are taught on a daily basis, by me being a good role model. I have very high expectations for myself as a human being, and my kids see that every day.” When asked about how she teaches her kids about respect, she relied, “we often talk about what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes. I think having perspective in any situation is difficult, especially for kids. We have a lot of conversations that begin with,”Well, how do you think that makes him/her feel? How would that feel if that was you?”
Kimberly mentioned that she does not cook at home usually, but brings home food from her shop for her family. She said, “the most cooking I do is when we BBQ on Sunday nights if I’m not working. I pour a mean bowl of cereal in the morning.” Kimberly lives close to her shop, in Yardley. She said her favorite place to be in her neighborhood is to be is on her back deck with her partner, her dog and her kids playing in the yard. She enjoys going to the pool with her kids so that they can have fun with their friends and leave this busy mama alone for a bit to relax!
Social media is a great way to interact with customers and share Comfort Food’s menus!
Kimberly is involved in social media as a means to promote her business. On her blog, comfortfoodlive.blogspot.com, she posts photos of the daily changing chalkboard menu from her shop. She also regularly updates the shop’s Facebook page and interacts with customers there. She said, “I use Facebook and the blog to keep people updated on what we’re making, special menu items and pictures from events that we’re doing. Since our menus change so quickly, it’s great to be able to instantly get the word out that new items are ready. I once posted that we had crabcakes at the shop, early Saturday morning. By 3pm we had completely sold out and people were still coming in and asking for them! It’s amazing how many people really keep a close eye on Facebook.”
Stop by Comfort Food sometime to pick up some great food, say hello to Kimberly and tell her that Mama sent you! You can find Comfort Food in Bucks County at 437 Alden Ave., Morrisville, Pa 19067, 215-847-5707. Email: Comfortfood1@yahoo.com
Kimberly Quay at Comfort Food in Morrisville, photo courtesy of buckslifemag.com
Thanks to Kimberly for sharing information about her parenting style and business information with Mama’s Little Helper!
EurAupair: a provider of intercultural child care programs in the US.
With over 20 years of experience, EurAupair (pronounced “yoor´-ô-pair”) is one of the oldest, largest and most trusted au pair organizations in the United States. EurAupair was one of the first au pair programs to become designated by the U. S. Department of State to legally sponsor au pairs to come to the United States, and has placed tens of thousands of au pairs successfully with American host families since it’s inception. As EurAupair follows strict regulations, your family will be choosing an au pair from among the most qualified au pair candidates, and you can be assured that your great au pair will arrive with all the proper legal visa documentation.
About the EurAupair Program
Like the au pair tradition itself, EurAupair has its roots in Europe. From this long-standing heritage, EurAupair brings to the United States bright, responsible au pairs who assist in caring for your children in exchange for inclusion in American family life, the opportunity to study at an American college, and exposure to a new culture.
Au Pairs can work up to 45 hours a week, 10 hours/day max. They are there to take you kids to after school activities, or watch them when they’re sick or have snow days. They can take your toddlers to preschool and you don’t have to have out of home childcare for your little ones.
About the Au Pairs: more than a babysitter
Au Pairs are young adults from all over the world. They have experience working with kids and they are very well screened. They are excited to get to know a new culture and what a great way to expose your children to one too.
Local mom, Anitta Williams, is a local community counselor in Montgomery /Bucks County area for EurAupair. She meets with the Au Pairs monthly and has monthly contact with the Host Families. If there are any issues or questions she is there to help. Anitta was an Au Pair herself about 10 years ago. She said, “then back home in Finland I worked for the local agency interviewing Au Pair applicants. And as a mother myself I can relate to other families looking for child care.”
About the cost:
Affordable child care at roughly $340 per week includes your au pair’s round-trip international flight, visa assistance, comprehensive insurance coverage, weekly stipend and ongoing personalized support from your local EurAupair team. And remember, this is per family, NOT per child.
Deidrea Haysel is a busy mom who appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank
Mama’s Little Helper’s featured mama of this week is Deidrea Haysel from Hot Mama Gowns. She is the mom to two children, a daughter age 5 and a son age 3. Her kids love to play outdoors, especially swimming, climbing trees, bike riding and getting dirty!
Deidrea is currently a work at home mom, and she shared the following about her work history: ”I will use the word “unfortunately” because it describes how I feel about the situation; unfortunately I was never able to be a SAHM; I’ve always had a career in the corporate world and the choices we made concerning our homes and lifestyle would not afford me to be a SAHM, I often said I wish I could have gone back to the days when I was making a small salary and we could have built our lives around just my husband’s income, but those days were long gone before we had children and we had created a life and had future plans that could not be sustained on a single income. Up until very recently I had always been a full-time employee working outside the home with the children going to a home daycare in our neighborhood and I worked on Hot Mama Gowns into the wee hours of the morning and on the weekends. Since my appearance on Shark Tank, I’ve been able to become a WAHM which fulfills me in more ways that I ever dreamed. I truly, TRULY feel, I am a better Mother, Wife, Sister, and Individual for this type of work/life balance! I still work into the wee hours of the morning but I’m able to utilize my babysitter on days when I need her and still have HOURS with the kids, something that was very limited when I was working full time outside the home. My professional career has been in the Pharmaceutical industry, as a Territory Manager for the last 7 years. I REALLY love what I do and the interactions I have with customers and I thrive on learning so much about different disease states and how certain products can truly change a patient’s life; I LOVED what I did!”
Deidrea mentioned appearing on ABC’s Shark Tank show. She appeared on episode 205 of Shark Tank requesting $30,ooo for a 20% stake of her business, Hot Mama Gowns. While she did receive one offer, she chose to decline that offer. If you’ve never heard about Hot Mama Gowns, they are a maternity and nursing gown that a mom to be can wear during labor, after and for nursing her new baby. They are hospital/birth center friendly, as they have short sleeves for blood pressure cuffs, a full snapping back for easy access and tie front panels to aid with easy nursing. Plus, they are made from organic cotton fabric in beautiful patterns and come in sizes small through XXL. Check out Deidrea’s website for full details about her Hot Mama Gowns and her bio that shares her inspiration for her company or contact her via mail or email, Info@HotMamaGowns.com , P.O. Box 667, Townsend, DE 19734, 302-376-5926.
This Hot Mama uses social media to connect with her customers
When asked about her involvement with social media, Deidrea replied that she is “a HUGE believer and lover of social media! I Facebook, I tweet, I blog and I believe each of these tools is so important in growing your brand, growing and maintaining your customer base as well as creating good will for yourself and your brand. I believe the benefits of being engaged with your customers on an intimate, personal level, where the walls of “Big Business” are broken down are immeasurable and the impact it has on your business is long-lasting. And truly, I THOROUGHLY enjoy that interaction with my customers, I love hearing from them and being accessible to them! I LOVE meeting my Tweeple in real life and have had the pleasure on several occasions and plan to have lots more in the coming years! It is so amazing and fulfilling to meet someone face to face with whom you’ve had 140 character conversations over 2 years, it’s simply amazing, and I’m ALWAYS impressed by the authentic people I meet face to face!” You can find Hot Mama Gowns on their Facebook page and on Twitter.
In regards to parenting, Deidrea mentioned that she works to teach her children to be thoughtful, kind, sharing individuals who think of others before themselves. She enjoys seeing her 5 year old daughter be the sensitive person in a crowd and offer help when it’s needed without being prodded. She mentioned that her 3 year old, while still learning, already has a giving, affectionate way about treating others, which makes his Mama proud! In regards to parenting challenges, Deidrea has to be the disciplinarian five days a week due to her husband’s work schedule. It’s hard to balance being a fun mom with being the strict mom who is working to develop respectful, thoughtful, and caring children. Deidrea mentioned that she enjoys the fun and energy having kids brings. “It’s like I’m reliving my childhood all over again with the best playmates. Teaching them games I used to play as a kid and running and hiding and giggling with them, they make me feel ageless and energized.”
When asked what tip about parenting she would give a new parent, Deidrea replied, “there is no “right” way, and what works for someone might not work for you. Don’t worry about doing it “right” just do what feels right to you. You can’t go wrong when you are following your instincts and heart; this is your family and YOU have their best interests at heart and you don’t have to worry about answering to anyone!”
She also mentioned that some of the worst advice she heard as a new parent was regarding the pressure everyone puts on baby’s sleep, and sleeping thru the night. “Other parents wear it like a badge of honor “My Jill slept 8 hours last night”, “My John is already sleeping thru the night” as if this is the norm, when it ISN’T the norm; babies are individuals and should not be made to conform to what we WANT. Babies have needs and their bodies and brains are growing and changing so quickly in those first months; it’s more important to cater to THEM, than to make them conform to our lifestyle because it’s what we want. It’s more important to focus on what they NEED, than what we WANT. And your child WILL sleep thru the night; when they are ready!”
And finally, when asked what she does to de-stress and relax, Deidrea replied, “I just had to Google relax and de-stress; those words have been removed temporarily from my life!! Since most every moment of my life if filled with either kids or work, I have very little I can do to de-stress. What I do enjoy when I break away from the computer is watching DVR’d episodes of guilty pleasure reality TV (Real Housewives of NY, OC, NY, etc)!”
Deidrea Haysel from Hot Mama Gowns
Thank you Deidrea, for being Mama’s Little Helper’s featured mama of the week!
If you know a mom you would like to see featured here, email Diane@mamaslittlehelper.org.
Tastefully Simple consultant Jacki Pitkow enjoys raising her boys in Bucks County!
This week’s featured mama of the week is Jacki Pitkow, mom to two boys ages 3 and 5 years. Her boys keep her busy by playing with cars, playdoh, crafts, going to the playground, and play dates. Her older son likes to play his Wii and DS games. She mentioned that parenting is “certainly an adventure! It’s wonderful to be able to support and see how my 2 boys grow and explore the world! I love to hear my boys tell me they love me, it warms my heart! I couldn’t ask for anything else! Seeing their accomplishments in life from activities like karate and preschool are priceless.” She finds parenting to be challenging at times, as “boys will be boys and things can get a bit crazy sometimes! Keeping an even keel is really the best option but not always the case. The boys sharing toys can be a challenge and they don’t always want to share. This is one of the biggest challenges. Sometimes buying 2 of the same toys is the solution, other times is teaching them that they must take turns!” A common challenge with which many parents can relate!
When asked how she teaches her boys about being kind, Jacki said, “my husband and I make sure they know how to share and we speak about donating and helping others out. Because I own my own business, I have the option to donate to causes which I believe in. On a regular basis I host fundraisers and donate to non-profits. This includes Kisses For Kyle, March of Dimes and Susan G. Komen. I am always open to helping other organizations and would love to be contacted by the community for this.”
Being a work at home mom helps keep Jacki connected
Jacki is a work at home mom. She explained, “I have a background in Hotel/Restaurant Management and worked as a banquet manager for many years. I decided to leave the business and enter the corporate world. It’s there I met my husband. When I gave birth to our 1st son my husband and I decided I would leave my project manager role. I wasn’t home with my son for very long when I realized I felt shut-off from the world and needed to reconnect! Going back to my love of the food business, I started to research options. My sister suggested this really cool company – Tastefully Simple! After some research and consideration, I signed up as a consultant with Tastefully Simple (a gourmet foods company marketed via home parties). Currently I am a team manager and will be celebrating 4 years in business this July. This is a wonderful mix and I love it! I have a wonderful team of ladies whole excel in their own ways. Being a consultant for Tastefully Simple allows me to control my schedule and choose when I want to work. My husband and inlaws help watch the kids when I have a taste testing party or business meeting. We also have some very reliable baby sitters which the kids love! I love food and Tastefully Simple has fabulous products and as a company they are very rewarding! I feel very lucky to be able to work with such a flexible schedule.”
Since Jacki is in the food business, she shared a yummy dessert recipe with Mama’s Little Helper. It uses Tastefully Simple products, that she certainly could help readers purchase if they would like to make Crazy For Coconut Truffle Fudge Bars themselves!
Using social media for business and personal purposes helps Jacki stay connected. She said, “I love social media and it’s a big part of my communication to my friends, customers and potential customers. I use Facebook for both business and personal connections. From a business standpoint, I’ve signed a consultant to my team as well as received orders and parties from promoting my business on Facebook. I feel this is one of the more effective platforms for me. Twitter allows for a wider audience and I do have a nice following, but I don’t see as much business come from it. I feel linkedin allows me to stay connected with my business contacts. I am also the woman behind tweeting and social media for the business group NBPA (Newtown Business and Professional Association) and feel all businesses need to have a presence online with social media! My goal is to start a blog to share with the world my favorite recipes, as well as insights on social media and the direct sales world.”
A favorite neighborhood spot to explore for Jacki and her family is Newtown. From the variety of restaurants to visit, the parks for the kids, and many other local businesses they like to patron. ”Bucks County is such a beautiful place and has so much to offer and explore!” A great family tradition they have is visiting Disney every year. She said that her kids love it and even though it’s a tiring trip, the family has a fantastic time. “It gives us a chance to all be together for a good amount of time! It’s precious to see the enjoyment on my kids faces,” she mentioned.
To relax without her kids, Jacki enjoys a night out with friends or her husband. She thinks it’s important to have some adult time away from her kids to chat, eat and relax. She also enjoys going for walks, listening to music and just taking in her surroundings. She also mentioned that as a side hobby she likes to find the best deals that she can on the web for purchases before buying. She said, “I love a great sale!”
If you would like to contact Jacki regarding Tastefully Simple, she can be reached via email at jpitkow@comcast.net.
Today was my daughter’s very first day of volunteering. We gave our time to @ReUseYourShoes, a great charity program started by @KevinFKane that collects shoes for people in need. We came together at @WeLoveSubaru at Reedman Toll in Langhorne PA to help sort through thousands of donated shoes for feet in need. It felt great knowing we were helping to get people’s feet back on the ground (yes, I thought of that myself). I got to see some people I know like @JudySueFarms @ashleykanoff @nratner and meet new people I’ve been following on Twitter and Facebook, like Big Joe McCarthy (Stacy’s hubby). I loved Stacy’s avatar ever since I started my Facebook page for Mama’s Little Helper. It’s a huge flower in front of her face, for Smart Girls Real Estate. Love it! The colors are bold pink and caught my attention immediately and I see it everywhere. Check out the video that was aired on @Good_Day_Philly yesterday!
Summer vacations are about to begin in the Bucks/Montco/Philadelphia region for children and their families. Parents and caregivers are always on the quest for inexpensive and family-friendly entertainment for young children to occupy those hot summer months. The Regal Entertainment Group, which includes 284 Regal Cinemas, United Artists, and Edwards Theatres across the country are offering a solution for inexpensive family entertainment all summer long: kid-friendly movies for a dollar! This is a great way to stay inside a cool theater on a hot morning and provide your charges with a couple of hours of giggles and fun.
The Summer Movie Express will offer selected G and PG rated family movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10:00 am for nine weeks, starting on Tuesday June 21st and running through Wednesday August 17th. Each theater will have their own schedule of which movies they are showing each week, so if one lives close to several theaters, the selection of movies each week will increase. In the Philadelphia region there are several theaters participating including in Bucks County The Oxford Valley Theatre Stadium 14 in Langhorne, The Warrington Crossing Stadium 22 in Warrington, and in New Jersey, the Burlington Stadium 22 in Burlington. For a full listing of participating theaters, see the Regal Summer Movies website.
Admission is only a dollar per person and a portion of that will be donated by the theaters to the Will Rogers Institute, who uses the money to fund their mission in the areas of medical research and health education. Regal has committed to donate a million dollars to the Will Rogers Institute from the proceeds of the summer movie series.
Some of the movies included in the Summer Express Movie series are Ramona & Beezus, Open Season (1, 2, and 3,) Megamind, Yogi Bear, Charlotte’s Web, Jason and the Argonauts, How to Train Your Dragon, Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppetts from Space, and Karate Kid. See the Summer Movie Express website for the movie schedule of your local theater.
These are not first-run movies, however, for younger children who may have not yet seen these movies in a theater, it makes it an exciting and different experience than sitting at home and watching on the television. It also is a great way to cool off when its too hot to play in the sun all day! Be sure to get there early, as it’s possible that the theaters will be crowded. Plan your schedule by checking out the full listing of kids movies this summer and making sure to see your kids’ favorites! See Mama’s calendar for some of the theaters schedules.
This is a fun opportunity for kids of a variety of ages, so you can bring all of your kids or grandkids for a morning of fun kids movies this summer. Snacks optional!
Opening Day at Sesame Place Promises a Fun 2011 Season!
This past Saturday, Mama and her clan were invited to participate in the opening day festivities at Sesame Place in Bucks County. What picture perfect weather we had! It was a bit too cool for the water rides at the park, but that did not put a damper in our day at all. We arrived promptly when the park opened at 9:30 and had a chance to check out the day’s schedule with the park map. We picked out a show time for Elmo Rocks and decided to see the two parades planned for the day. The first parade was the annual character arrival Corvette Parade. We got to line the parade route to see all of the characters, including the newest addition, Murray, arrive sitting in beautiful corvettes.
Murray's debut at Sesame Place
After the parade we headed over to the rides. My son, at age three and a half, can be somewhat fussy with rides and decided he preferred the hands on attractions as opposed to the traditional rides. We did enjoy the teacups at Grover’s World Twirl, which made my son laugh hysterically because he made mom and grandmom turn green! He loved being a monkey on the Nets & Climbs, dragging his dad along with him. I was surprised how daring he was, considering this is a kid that won’t ride on the carousel! He loved the Monster Maze and didn’t even get phased at being knocked over a few times by the swinging bags. Big Bird’s Nest was another favorite. It is a large circular “nest” that is a bit bouncy without being a full-fledge trampoline. There were lots of soft, vinyl blocks that the kids had a blast using to build with or toss around, or even jump on! We visited the nest twice, he liked it that much! We saw the newest ride, Elmo’s Cloud Chaser, which is a family friendly swing ride. We didn’t get a chance to go on it, but it sure did look like fun!
In the Sesame Neighborhood, there are mock store fronts and a model of the brownstone stoop from Sesame Street. They even have Oscar’s trash can, although it is kept shut. (We told our son that Oscar was sleeping.) My son LOVED this area, because he could pretend to be on Sesame Street. He knocked at 123 Sesame Street’s door to see if Gordon was there. There was a little gate that led to the area next to the stoop on Sesame Street. It was a working gate, which attracted lots of little ones playing there. My son told me that it was his favorite part of the park. My husband and I were a bit frustrated that out son was not interested in the rides because we wanted to go on them, but we know that at this age, imaginative play is more appealing to our son. What was so great about Sesame Place was that even little ones can play in their own way and have fun, while older kids can have a different experience doing what they enjoy. Sesame Place really does a great job at having entertainment for the whole family!
The gate at 123 Sesame Place
We had the opportunity to see the Neighborhood Street Party Parade, which is new this year. It was just beautiful; colorful, musical, and filled with interaction. The characters got off the floats and danced and there were dancers who performed at pauses in the parade. The floats were amazing and so festive. It was very crowded, but we still were able to see most of the parade. If you want to see the parade close up, definitely find a place on the parade route early. We got there about 15 minutes before it started and the curbs were filled already!
The Neighborhood Street Party Parade!
Ernie at the Neighborhood Street Party Parade
While we did not go on the water attractions, we did walk through the entire park to check out everything so we could see what we could enjoy on a future trip. There were so many cool water rides that if it had been warmer we could have enjoyed! Big Bird’s Rambling River looked like a lot of fun, as did the Skysplash. There was a little area in Twiddlebugland called Silly Sand Slides that my son loved. They were the slickest (dry) slides and he had a blast climbing up the tower of balls. We concluded our day seeing the Elmo Rocks show, which was amazing. The characters sang and danced to pop music that was on the Top 40 charts when I was a teen. Everyone had a blast dancing along.
Throughout the day we saw characters in the park posing for photos. My son had no interest in posing, but lots of kids did. The park took photos for you that were available for purchase. It was fun seeing Telly and Cookie Monster walking down the street! At one point I walked right into Bert, who was coming out to a meet and greet session. (I think I was more excited than my son!)
I was really impressed with how clean the park was and how on top of maintenance the employees were. We even saw many folks from management around the park making sure that operations went smoothly on the first day of the season. Every employee we interacted with was kind and helpful. The gardens looked great, planted with fresh annuals. Everything was sparkling clean for the new season of fun! Check out Sesame Place’s 2011 operations calendar to plan your visit this season! It’s a fun way to create family memories. We had a great time and can’t wait to go back again! Thanks Sesame Place for including us in the opening day fun!
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