We ( mostly Amanda) made a mistake...

I hesitate to write this blog for several reasons, none of them being that I have a hard time accepting when I make mistakes ( though I am a perfectionist). I hesitate, mostly because  when I finish writing this blog and I hit send, I am pretty much sending this out into a nebula for the reader to interpret how he or she likes, despite what I write.  And that my friends, is the catch-22 of blogging; one can read as much as one likes about another human being without ever truly getting to know them or understanding them, opinions form and sometimes they are not accurate---I fear this...anywho, moving on to my mistake. 


As most of you know, Aland and I closed down Cranky Boots for personal reasons. At that point in time, we seriously thought we were done with pops---though we loved Cranky,dearly. We canceled out of being a part of Eat Real, packed up our popsicles sticks, and sadly closed the doors.  Several weeks later, we were  still crushed about leaving our pop business, and felt as though we were abandoning our baby, so we talked it over, and decided that come hell or high water Cranky must continue. Being the artist type  that we are, we decided to keep this thing going one week before Eat Real. Being the loving beings that the staff of Eat Real are, they welcomed these prodigal sons home with open arms and reinstated our place at the Eat Real Table. Cranky was back in business! 


So far, so good, right?  Well, kinda.  Since we decided to jump back in on the Eat Real game super late, we were left with very little time to prepare. At that point in time, I did what I thought was good idea and decided to pull our inventory from August out of the freezer, sort through them, taste a couple from sample batches, and sell the " good ones" as Three Legged Misfits. (Discounted Pops). I also made our fall season pops ( pumpkin and fig) and those sold delightfully, without a hiccup but that little detail is moot.  The problem with selling Three Legged Misfits to our clientele this time around, is that no one realized that they were buying  Three Legged Misfits, ( I think this was poor communication on my part). Admittedly, some of the pops from the August inventory, which sold as Three Legged Misfits were not even up to Three Legged Misfit standard ( though there's no way of knowing this, unless you taste the pop and for obvious reasons, I couldn't taste a pop I was selling).  And this is my mistake.  I sold you guys pops from  our summer inventory assuming that you would know that they were clearance pops, and you didn't.  Well, some of you did, but I don't think most of you did.  We got a lot of compliments on our Three Legged Misfits, but I also heard a handful of complaints (understandably) of the pops being icy (which is what happens when certain flavors of pops hang out in the freezer for 3 weeks). Bottom line is that we don't like that you had that experience with us.  I am sorry. We are sorry.  


I've thought on this some, and I haven't quite figured out how I could fix this situation moving forward or what I could have done differently ( other than not sell discounted pops from our month's prior inventory), but I would like to give a free regular ( non-Three Legged Misfit) pop to anyone who had this experience with us.  We truly want our customers to have a wonderful experience when eating our pops, and if that means calling a do-over,we'll do what it takes.   


So, if this happened to you, please email me with the flavor of pop that you had, and come see us at The Layover this upcoming Sunday or let us know where we can drop one off, and we'll give you a free pop.  I promise, this time around, our pops will be everything that they are supposed to be: delicious. 

Layover Block Party

Why Cranky does what it does...

    There's been an uprising of Pop businesses in the Bay Area; that's not surprising, San Francisco is one of the hubs of food trend. We produce a lot of agriculture, so we have some of the most amazing produce. We attract a lot of artisans, so we have some of the most amazing wines, cheeses, and fanfare to bare.  A couple of years ago, the fad was cupcakes and frozen yogurt, today it's food trucks, illogical pairings that work ( for the most part), and people needing something to do with their lives until we, as a country, see our way out of this recession. All that to say, it makes sense for The Bay Area to be  fully immersed in food trend--some good and completely passionate, some completely for capitalist gain, and others---mmm---not-so-much, but to each his/her own. 


So where does Cranky Boots Cold Confections stand in the middle of  food trucks, cupcakes, and our country's hard economical times ? 


    The short answer is that we stand in the middle of community. Before the Pop fad hit the streets of San Francisco and The East Bay, Aland and I had a heart for building community using the means which we were given ( a love of food, a commitment to sustainability, a couple of dollars, and a curiosity). We did what any  rational human being would do and we connected the dots; we started with community and ended with a Pop in our hands.  


We started with Oakland, and loving her the way we do, but also fully aware that she is often times considered " the ugly sister," we committed ourselves to being in solidarity with who she truly is. She is creativity, often before her time, community, justice, leadership, and those  in between places chocked full of wisdom and grit. And in those places, those go between places of  laughter and struggle, charm and horror, progression and stagnancy, is  where we found our farmers, our artists (shout outs to Robert Trujillo, and Sharon Murriguez), and YOU, our customers needing a bit of reprieve from day-to-day living.  


Our motto is, " to bring some joyous essence of summer nostalgia to everyday folks..." and what we mean is that yes, we want you to enjoy our pops and we want them to take you back to childhood, but know that when you are eating one of our pops, you too are also connecting the dots; we also want the joyous essence of summer nostalgia for our farmers, our artists, and for the East Bay community. We aren't a fad. We've had our ups and downs, and scares and not-so-good ideas, but we're committed to building and sustaining the Bay Area community, which is you, I, and We. 

Zagat, love.

 I liked our mention on here, I thought we'd share: 

http://www.zagat.com/buzz/next-gen-popsicles-popping-up-all-over

Life is Living

We love being a part of the Oakland Community, so when Bryant Terry e-mailed us asking if we'd hit this up( /http://www.lifeisliving.org/), we had to say yes!  Y'all come out and support what's going on in Oakland on Saturday, October 8th, and while you're at it wouldn't hurt if you stopped by to get a pop from us. 


Here's what's on the menu: 


Sweet Potato Float w/ Cream 
Sweet Potato Float (Vegan) 
Figs with Goat Yogurt and a Balsamic Gastrique
Hibiscus Pineapple Limeade (Vegan) 

Eat Real

You guys, Eat Real put us on the map. We love being a part of the festival, this year we will be in the craft area, this Saturday and Sunday, come see us!

We are bringing out some of our fall flavors:

Pumpkin float
Spiced pear
Fig with goat yogurt and a balsamic gastrique.

See you there!

Sweet Lil Boos and a recipe

Project Avary ( http://www.projectavary.org) asked us to come to Mendocino and give Pop Lessons to their kids. The kids attending have been affected by the prison system. Either both or one of their parents had served or were serving time in Prison. So, of course we said yes!  Hands down, teaching at Camp Avary was the most  rewarding experience of the summer.  The whole experience was ineffable and not even in some charitable sort of way, which makes one feel good about himself. It was in a way that makes one feel insanely alive and utterly connected to other human beings. 


Before we could even unload the car, we were  greeted with hugs and squeals from children and young adults eager to make pops! And pops we made, as Aland and I  taught 37 kids ( some who have never even  seen fresh fruits and veggies) how to create their own unique treat!  


As we began our lesson, almost all of the kids were surprised to see that we didn't just pour kool-aid or fruit juice into ice trays and call it a day. They seemed to  really enjoy the Farm to Freezer tour, as they picked through a plethora of fresh fruit to create their own masterpieces. The kids were super creative and really involved in each of the four pop making stages. One group came up with a flavor called " Mellow Yellow" and it consisted of cantaloupe, lime, banana and cream. A group of girls were enamored with the idea of re-inventing Strawberry Banana, as they came up with at least, 6 different variations of the flavor:  Strawberry-Banana with a hint of lime, Strawberry Banana with cream, Strawberry Banana sans the cream, and the list goes on and on.  HOWEVER, our favorite flavor of all time was done by a group of 5-9 year old Master Chefs, who wanted us to share their recipe with the world, and so, in their honor: 




The Madrone (named after their Cabin Bunk) Pop: 
Makes 4-6 Pops 


6-8 Red Plums 
6 Limes 
1 cup of Organic Cane Sugar 
1 cup of Water


Cut plums into small pieces and juice limes. Place water and sugar in a pot, and bring to a boil, until mixture thickens. Place all the ingredients in a blender that is safe for making soup, and blend until the mixture is smooth and free of chunks.  Pour in molds and freeze for 6-12 hours.  

...The kids will get to taste their delectable creations tomorrow (Thursday), at their Lake party and we're excited to hear back on how everything turned out, but did I mention that Aland and I had the most rewarding experience of the summer?? Oh, I did? Well, did I mention that on our drive home we saw a Humpback whale breaching? It was almost as cool as seeing sweet Lil Boos find a bit of reprieve from the often harsh and unfair world through a beautifully created pop.