Ahhh... the newsletter.... The place for those of us that run a business to run our special offers, witty remarks, earth-shattering revelations, etc.  I, of course, have decided that I need to jump on this bandwagon and get my newsletter rolled out to those of you that really do care... *crickets chirping*

When I decided to start a newsletter, I knew that I didn't want to fill the entire thing with paragraph upon paragraph about lil' ole me, so I thought that it might be nice to convince some other business to join me in my little adventure!  One brave soul took me up on my offer and I really appreciate him for doing it!  I'm not related to him, have never dated him, in fact, have yet to set eyes on this gentleman, but I do know his business is respected, he is interesting and kind enough to let me interview him over the phone (since we had about 12 inches of snow on the ground and it was about -5 below) and dude, he makes chocolate... by hand.  Enough said!  The following text is the interview that he gave me for my newsletter!  I really enjoyed it!

I recently got the chance to sit down with the owner of Andre's Confiserie Suisse, Rene Bollier!

Never a busier guy will you meet, but he certainly loves his career - handcrafting some of the finest chocolates in the world!

Without taking him away from his confectionery magic for too long, I got the chance to ask a few questions that I, the Queen Bee, was just dying to know the answers to...

QB: So, Rene... how long have you been the owner of Andre's Chocolates?

R: About 9 years now. I started training with my dad (Marcel Bollier - Andre's son) from the time I was about 5 or 6 years old. My dad had me start at the bottom, you know, cleaning floors, straightening up and then to cutting cookies, slowly I worked my way up.  I actually spent a number of years in Switzerland training as a pastry chef before I came home to Andre's."

QB: What is your favorite thing about making chocolate?

R: Definitely the creativity that goes into it.  Every aspect of it is extremely creative.  I love to work on developing new recipes, manipulating the chocolate to have certain looks... certain textures.  But the creativity of it, for sure.

QB:  What is your favorite "flavor" of chocolate?

R: We hand make a variety of single source dark chocolate truffles with cocoa beans that come from Madagascar, Ecuador, Bolivia & Venezuela.  Much like coffee beans or the grapes for wine, when you take items from a specific location they will have a unique, individual flavor.  The single source truffles are fantastic.  Some are earthy, some fruity, really bold... interesting.

QB: So, if I were planning a visit to Andre's Chocolates - and I am - what would be the one thing NOT TO MISS?

R: Well, we really have 2 items that you shouldn't miss out on.  Our Signature Chocolate Covered Almonds are the first.  Those are, by far, our biggest seller.  Every year we produce about 40,000 pounds of chocolate and almost half of that production goes to the almonds.  The second "must haves" are our truffles - both milk and bittersweet.  Those are very good!  Our ratio of cream to chocolate is just right to give a really bold flavor.  There is just the right amount of creaminess to the fillings.

QB:  Ok, Rene... all seriousness aside!  Tell me... if I looked in your refrigerator RIGHT NOW, what would I find?

R: (chuckling) Very little.  Mostly, just a lot of milk for my 3 year old.  Both my wife and I love cooking but we really do it on the spur of the moment.  We don't stock up on large quantities of food.  Living in Europe, we got used to being really close to the grocery store and would just go and buy our food for the day.  Now, we really just stock the essentials.  Milk and maybe some Boulevard Beer.

QB: If you could go to the past, where would you go?

R: I think I would want to experience the 60's.  It seemed like it was a generation of forward thinkers, young individuals.  It seems like it would have been a really interesting time.

QB: Roadrunner or Coyote?

R: Roadrunner.

QB: Tom or Jerry?

R: Tom.

QB:  What is the first thing that you would buy if you found out that you had won the lottery?

R:  A lake house, somewhere close.

QB:  If you had one superpower, what would it be?

R:  Invisibility!  I could just disappear!


This was the end of our conversation, as Rene had to get back to make chocolate that the world loves.  I can't wait until the roads are clear enough for me to get out of here and go try out some of the items that he recommended to me!  I will certainly be taking the coupon that is included in our monthly The Beez Kneez newsletter.  He offers FREE CHOCOLATE to my readers.  Now, you tell me, what is better than that?

You can visit Andre's at either location... 5018 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64112 or 4929 W. 119th Street, Overland Park, KS 66209.  Both locations have different hours, so be sure to check their website to find out when they are open.  Andre's Chocolates Online

Thanks again to Rene Bollier and everyone at Andre's for the special offer and taking the time for my interview.  I look forward to visiting... again and again!

The only thing missing is the village idiot...

So.... it's been a really long week.  Well, a long few weeks actually.  When school is on break, things are both easier and harder, especially since we home school.  Plus, combined with the weather (think 5 degrees with 5 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow), it has been difficult to get as far as I would like to each day.  I've been putting many, MANY hours into Birdz & Beez stuff, from updating the website, shopping for a new shopping cart, studying into SEO, implementing a plan to offer rewards to those loyal subjects that are dying to market our products for us, end of year inventory, taxes, shipments, deliveries, and on and on we go.  I find myself now dreaming in html, daydreaming about more followers, watching my Twitter and Facbook pages obsessively and actively trying to grow my mailing list!

It finally came to the point that I needed a very serious break!  Over this last weekend our church had about 550 people in for a big family weekend, just full of activities.  I only chose to go to one event  and that was the costume dance - I couldn't get away for more than just this one thing.  Since I am the Queen Bee around here and the theme was Royalty, what else would I go as, except a Queen, of course! 

My dear husband went as Henry VIII and I think his "dress" was very pretty, too.  My son was Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves) and spent the evening distributing gold coins to all the children in the land (read cafe-gym-atorium).  By the end of the night, some of those kids were following him around like the Pied Piper!

Alas, a good time was had by all, but I was sad to have had to return the dress to the costume shop from which we rented it.  I think that it might be fun to just dress up in it and deliver packages, go to the UPS Store, stop by my Post Office Box or just answer the door all decked out in my queenly attire!  The huge hoop skirt and 3 inch heeled boots could be completely optional!  A boisterous thanks goes out to Costumes & More in Kansas City, for outfitting us at the last minute -again - and giving us an exceptionally great price!  We have used Costumes & More previously and will continue to do so in the future.  It's always fun to just go in there and look around.  I think that place might just be able to outfit every one of my personalities...

So now, the fun and games are quite literally over and I am once again stationed at my desk, where I stare at my computer screen for so many hours each day that it feels like my eyeballs will become square!

I have recently decided that what I really need is an unpaid worker bee.  Someone who would be willing to be paid next to nothing but will do my every work related bidding.  I have my son and husband to fulfill all my other wishes.  My ideal worker bee job description goes something like this: Publicity genius with tons of contacts, bubbly personality but can be a stinger if needed, impeccable organizational skills, mind reading, able to predict the future and will work for candles, soap, diapers or sprays.  If you know anyone that fits this description, please send them my way!

So, this week I am working on all new, exciting stuff.  I have decided that since I am not nearly busy enough, what with running the business, being my own webmistress, home schooling, running the house, paying the bills and walking the dogs... I really just needed one more thing to do.  So, I am starting a newsletter.  I hope that I will be jam packed with good useful information that will complete your life and nourish your soul.  In lieu of that, I just hope to be able to provide a special offer or two, fun information and a reason to read about us once each month!  So, if you feel like you just have to be "in the know" sign up at the website to be added to the mailing list.  Otherwise, you are really going to miss out on all the wisdom, wishes and warm feelings that I impart on my loyal subjects.  Oh, you know you want in...