If you don’t have a dream..

My dear friend Dan and I can talk forever about one of my favorite Latin-American authors, Julio Cortázar. This writer is a genius and has an amazing ability to play with you, taking your imagination to other places, other times, turning the illogical into perfect logic. Throughout his stories you just lose control letting yourself enjoy and live the impossible. Fascinating!

Each time I hear something nice about my alfajores, somehow I experience the same adrenaline and emotion of being part of a story that seemed to be impossible, illogical, pure fiction. It’s unbelievable how in this short amount of time my dream of bringing a little taste of my culture, and helping my family at the same time, became to reality. And yes, sometimes I feel like I’m in the middle of a dream, and I’m afraid of waking up, but as I learned with Cortazar, I just let myself enjoy and live this sweet ‘impossibility’ called Maitelates. Special thanks to my loving husband Matias who never ever stopped believing and supporting me.

See you tomorrow at the market!

Another HOT Ann Arbor Summer is here

HELLO SUMMER!! Long time no see you….
The Ann Arbor summer welcomes the most beautiful flowers, greens, strawberries, gardens and colors. We even welcome and dance our own amazing festival & art fair!! The town is full of joy, music, colors and….. yes…….. heat!
My chocolate covered ALFAJORES are like me… they have a hard time dealing with the heat. And, as much as I would like to spend the whole market day with everyone, I need to take care of my sweet cookies and watch them closely.
For now until the end of the summer, I will be at the farmer’s market -look for the yellow table!- every Wednesday and Saturday for a short period of time. You won’t see me there after 12 pm (noon). So please, if you have any kind of chocolate emergency, you can always find my delicious ALFAJRES at Comet Coffee or Everyday Wines or Foodzie (http://maitelates.foodzie.com/)
Enjoy the … colors!

Back and reloaded!!

Good days in Chile!! It’s always hard to leave it, but knowing that Ann Arbor will be the final destination makes the flying back WAY easier! Some of us a little more tired than others…. but happy happy to be home again!

Proudly being one of the Best Sellers of www.foodzie.com I’m back, and the alfajores are too! With a new look, new labels and new flavors, Maitelates is here to rock again! Don’t miss the opportunity of tasting the new delicious flavor: strawberry!

See you on Wednesday and Saturday at the Farmer’s Market!

I'll be right back!

And nope, I’m not talking to you, Brian, or to you, Agnes, or Peggy, or Alex, or Denise, or Carol, or Gary... This time I'm not talking about going to the bathroom at the market...again…and again… I’m talking about going to Chile!!! My beloved long skinny country! But wait - I’ll be right back!

Pedro, Matias, and I are leaving this week. And as long as that swine flu does not kill us, we’ll get to visit our families, our friends, our language, our food… oh yes…our food!!! We can’t wait to have some marraquetas (the best bread ever), empanadas (meat pies), reineta (my favorite fish), quesillo (fresh cheese), and Super8 (chocolate bars).

I will visit my grandmother’s countryside house, and I will bring pictures of the outdoor space where we used to make our summer supply of Dulce de Leche.

I’ll try to go see the coast, too; Viña del Mar and Valparaiso are some of my favorite places to go. They're just beautiful! The same with the mountains... if I’m lucky, my 70 year old father will do what he’s been doing since I can remember -- get a good cane, a hut, and take Pedro and I for an excursion to the mountains.

And last but not least, while in Santiago I’ll make sure to get more ideas and provisions in order to improve and develop an even better alfajor. I’m excited and looking forward to it. When we come back, I’ll be bringing a good taste of my Chile to you.

See you at the Market on the 23^rd of May!

Good People

I’ve told some of my friends that my brain is usually dead after 7 pm… and truly there’s no way to revive it! After 7 my ideas, my thoughts, all my good intentions go to some other place and I’m a real 'asleep person walking'. No kidding! And yes, poor Pedro, I have to blame him for this one.. he has so much energy and so many ideas and so many adventures to conquer, and so many teeth to break…. From 7am to 7pm, he pretty much consumes all my energy! Good thing that my adorable husband Matias takes over before that 7 time… if not…. well… that ‘if not’ is not really an option…. for now… thanks MiRey!

All this, to explain that for miraculous reasons, Maitelates has its own energy and is really growing!!!! Thanks to my friend Lisa, Mary -the owner of Everyday Wines- has been selling my alfajores at her store since February. After that, Jim –the owner of the recently opened Comet Coffee- contacted me and he’s been selling not only my alfajores but also a killer coffee named “Leche Dulce” made out of my own dulce de leche!!!! Then, not content with those two great serendipitous opportunities, Susie, the manager of Foodzie.com, created a “Maitelates Store” on her amazing online marketplace for food artisans. What about that!!!!

I went to visit Lisa & Jeph at Selma Café on Friday and my friend Kim asked me if I could think of good advice for people that want to start 'their thing’ too. Right away a few words came out of my mouth and I said “People!! Good people!! This is all about team work!” If you really want to take a new exciting step in your life, just surround yourself with all the good people that are there –your family and friends-, or out there, willing to help, willing to support you, willing and happy to be a part of transforming your dreams into reality…

A hard day...

For the first time, I had a very hard day at the market.
There were flowers all over the place and the sun was shining. Also, Sheryl started my morning with the best raspberry muffin and Brian did an amazing job selling many, many alfajores, Despite all this, though, there was a sadness hanging over the market...

Richard, the old smiley farmer sitting in Carol's car, wasn't there. His eyes were closed, his hands were tired, and his smile was gone. Carol, trying to be strong, said that there's not much to do; I fell to pieces...

We are not ready to let him go. I am not ready to let him leave!!! It's Richard! The lovely old man always sitting in Carol's car, smiling and waving at everyone. For the first time while working, I cried and cried and couldn't stop crying.

This market is way more than just the place where I sell my products. This market and these farmers are my family, Pedro's family! And it is just awfully hard and sad to see Richard shutting his smile down... I wish all the best to him and I hope with all my heart to see him next Saturday sitting there... If not, I will always be thankful for his smile and I'll never forget his strong, loving hands.

Special thanks to you, Carol, for all these years of caring and taking care of him.... you've been amazing!!!!!

Sorry we are open!

“Perdon … está abierto” es el cartel que sábado a sábado cuelga mi amigo John Roos frente a su puesto de café en el mercado. Me río cada vez que los veo (al cartel y a John).

El mercado de Ann Arbor –The Farmer’s Market- ha sido uno de los grandes protagonistas de mi aventura chocolatera. Y con toda su colorida sencillez, me ha hecho volver al principio, tomar un momento y ver agradecida que todo ha valido la pena.

Madrugar, congelarme, aprender técnicas de sobrevivencia para cuando se anuncian horas de clima inclemente, saludar, conocer gente, escuchar historias, observar, seguir observando, y escuchando, y admirando y emocionarme de estar entre este puñado de granjeros con años de venir con sus camiones, con sus manos gruesas, sus sonrisas trabajadoras, sus miradas viejas. Simple naturalidad que me lleva al punto de partida, que abre mis ojos a mirar y admirar. Que gente! Que suerte!!

Alex y Agnes con sus manzanas… “Alex, como haces la cidra de manzana?” “Fácil Maite, exprimo un montón de tomates”

Farmer John, sus huevos y su mañanero “good morning gorgeous”! Gary y su carne de búfalo “it’ll melt in your mouth”.. Denise, sus flores y su enorme simpatía.. Peggy por todos lados.. la buena de Carol cuidando al bueno de Richard… Grandma sus galletas y su espíritu fuerte… tantos, tantos mas….. que tanto tanto me han regalado!!

Sorry, we are open.. only Saturdays!! Hasta la próxima..