The Sweet Ice Kitchen: How to Make a Lemon Syrup

Welcome to the Sweet Ice Kitchen! Today we're showing you how to make a lemon syrup! We hope you enjoy this video - we were a bit shy, and there was a LOT of giggling edited out, but here we go...

(Watch in HD here!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

If you saw last week's post, you'll know that we silk-screened some t-shirts at The Print Studio. We made these as gifts for some of our favorite business partners in Hamilton - here are a few more photos from our time at the studio, since we didn't do the big reveal last week.

Again, we had such a great time at The Print Studio, and highly recommend taking a workshop there. It was so fun and a really wonderful learning experience and now that we have memberships, we can go back and screen-print any time we want to!

Okay, so here we go with our Valentine's deliveries! Gahh, so much fun!

Stop #1: Cake + Loaf! (The best bakery in town...in our opinion). They are so sweet - they knew we were coming and had amazing Valentine's cookies waiting for us. YUM! Cake & Loaf is such a nice place to stop in - you're always greeted with a big smile and an amazing selection of goodies to choose from.

Stop #2: Needlework! This stop was so fun and giddy. Kate and Liz squealed and immediately tried on their shirts. We had a hilarious argument: "You're the cutest business partners" "No, you're the cutest business partners!". It was also the day of their grand opening (which happened during the Art Crawl and was a huge success), so there was so much excitement in the air! Congrats on such an amazing endeavor, Kate and Liz!

Stop #3: The Cannon! This is our favorite coffee shop in the city, but I suppose we're a bit biased. But REALLY - it's so great. Anne and Cindy are dear friends of ours, and have recently opened Cannon Coffee Co., where they serve amazing coffee and bake up absolutely delicious treats. There's a great fresh-but-cozy atmosphere and you'll always be swept off your feet with Anne and Cindy's pleasant smiles and conversation. Go there, k? 

Stop #4: Kitestring! Well, this was fun! There was just so much screaming and laughing and of course we got to partake in the Kitestring-stash-o-candy. You can tell that Chris and Jenn have a lot of fun together but there's also a really deep friendship and mutual respect that is really evident, and that's so great to see. What nice business partners!

Stop #5: White Elephant! If you know Hollie and Jane, or if you've ever been to White Elephant, you'll know that these girls are a power couple (in the business sense of the word)...there's nothing they can't tackle! Their store is gorgeous, their banter is hilarious and they're just delightful people in general! We stopped in here during art crawl, and as usual, the shop was just packed (with people and amazing merchandise!) Yay!

Stop #6: Detour! Unfortunately we couldn't catch Kaelin, but we did stop in and see Crystal. This husband-wife duo and their wonderful coffee shop is a reason to visit Dundas in itself...what began as an amazing direct-trade roastery has turned into an incredible cafe, and it's been amazing to see these two work together towards their dreams. Also, they are our source for the beans we use for our Sweet Espresso syrup!

Stop #7: Our final stop! We met with Chris and Amy - future owners of what will surely be an amazing coffee shop in the core (#cafeoranje). While their doors aren't open for business yet, you can already see that these two are an amazing match when it comes to working out your dreams and running a business together. It was such a joy to sit down for coffee with them and hear about their process so far, and we can't wait to support them on this amazing whirlwind adventure!

We had an amazing time delivering our Valentine's Day gifts! It's such a honor to know all of these people and to gain from their knowledge and experience. During this process we've realized that this is only be 'Round One' of handing out these shirts, because there are just so many other talented and inspiring (and cute!) business partners in Hamilton. It's just thrilling to be part of a city with so much talent and with such excitement in the air! It was also nice to catch up and share a bit about what we have in store for Sweet Ice - which you'll be hearing about soon! Lots on the horizon for these business partners!

(See 'Part 1' of our silk-screening adventure here and little video from our workshop here!)

Back to School!

We tried something new! Silk-screening! We wanted to make something (to be revealed soon!) for some friends of ours, and in regular Sweet Ice fashion, we thought the best option was to do it ourselves! 

We signed up for a membership at The Print Studio on James St North, and registered for their one-day silk-screening class. Paula, Matt and Chris did a great job of walking us through the prep for the class - creating a simple graphic for the t-shirts we'd be printing. 

Once we got there, Chris was just spectacular at showing us how to transfer our image to the screen in the dark room, how to rinse the screen, how to set up their super-awesome-carousel-printing-station, how to ACTUALLY PRINT, and then set the ink, and then he even tried on one of the shirts we made, just for good measure! Yay Chris!

Here it is, guys. It's official - we highly recommend taking a class at The Print Studio. Our experience was an absolute delight, we learned so much, and now, with our membership (the basic fee starts at just $50/year!) we can't wait to go back and print everything we can get our hands on!

Oops. Meg accidentally got ink on her finger and then on a shirt and then used what she thought was dish soap to get it out, but then it wasn't dish soap, it was vegetable oil. That was interesting. ANYWAYS, we'll reveal what we made next week. Here's hint: It's a Valentines gift for some of the coolest cats in Hamilton.

(See 'Part 2' of our silk-screening adventure here!)

Our Lovely Designers

It's been a lot of fun starting up a small business together, and we can honestly say that besides making snow cones and sharing them with our wonderful customers, developing the Sweet Ice brand has been one of our favorite parts. Julie (of Jubilee Creative) is our graphic designer, and she's collaborated with Andrea Manica (our illustrator-friend from Toronto), to create something that we just think is so great, and such a true reflection of how we view Sweet Ice.

We asked Julie and Andrea a few questions about the work they do and the time they've spent with us and the Sweet Ice brand. Here's a bit of their perspective:

What sparked your interest in design? Well, that probably goes all the way back to Grade 7. One of our larger art projects for the year was something called a “Christmas Book”. Basically, using old Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and magazines, we had to layout 20 pages of cheesy Christmas goodness – recipes, carols, gift lists, awkward photos with Santa, you name it. I distinctly remember sitting at my dinning room table, assembling my “family memories” page. My mom looked over my shoulder, and remarked on how cleverly I used different pieces of Christmas cards to frame our family photos. Mom, who didn't even know how to turn on a computer back then, said “It would be great if you could make a career out of doing this some day”. And like usual, Mom was right. Every day, I’m cutting and pasting, bringing elements from different places together to craft something new and beautiful. Ironically enough, I can't cut straight with a scissor to save my life. 

What are you favorite projects to work on? Two years ago, I walked past one of my logos on a sign on Ottawa Street (Little Bird). It was my small part in something that is tangibly contributing to the city's landscape. I've been chasing that feeling ever since! This year, I had the chance to work with more Hamilton-based brands. I love identifying with these passionate, driven, local people. And the variety! In what other place could I work on a music conservatory logo one day, and a Canadian political policy journal the next? On more basic level, I love designing wedding materials, mainly because I get to make pretty things.

Where do you find inspiration? Everywhere! That's a cop-out, but its true. Blogs, books, magazines, movies, art, my cat.

What did you enjoy about designing for Sweet Ice? Lindsay and Meg are infectious in the best possible way - their excitement made me excited! Their vision was well-defined in their heads, so the challenge was visually bringing it to life. It was so rewarding to see it all take shape. Plus, they bought me coffee and cookies. Isn't the designer suppose to treat the client?

How would you describe the Sweet Ice branding? I have a hard time summarizing it better than Chris Farias did when we first revealed the brand publicly:  "[It's] Dick and Jane meets girl guides meets 1960 Folk Music Poster Art". If I could add to that, I would say it's sweet, authentic, a tad retro, and just a little unexpected - which is Sweet Ice in a nutshell!

How did it work to collaborate with another artist on this project? It was wonderful! I wish I could do it more often, to be honest. Most of the time, people assume all creative types can do exactly the same thing. But as much as I'd like to be a jack of all trades, I know my specialties. For that reason, I relish in the opportunity to collaborate with another artist, because they bring their own unique set of skills to the project.

Have you had a snow cone? What kind?! Oh man! Let me count down the list. I've tried: Raspberry Lemon, Sweet Espresso, Peaches & Honey, and Gingerbread. I'm a little upset I haven't had a chance to try the Apple Jack - but there will be plenty of time for that in 2012.

What are some future dreams and goals for Jubilee Creative? To keep doing what I'm doing! I want to keep creating, designing, and growing alongside this city. Hamilton's creative culture is second to none - I can't imagine doing it anywhere else.

From Linds and Meg: Thanks so much Julie! You are an absolute dream to work with, and we give you the highest recommendation everywhere we go. Every time we get an email from you, it totally makes our day. You're always sending over 'design goodies', and it's so neat to see that you're as excited by this branding project as we are! We're honored by your excitement and enthusiasm, and can't wait to work on future projects with you! 

What sparked your interest in illustration? I've always loved to draw, ever since I was young, and not until I was about 18 did I realize that I could be an illustrator as a job! My friends who I met at OCAD inspired me to switch my major and focus on studying Illustration.

What kinds of projects have you worked on? I started out making flyers for friends who put on house shows back in Kitchener, and since then have made posters for my church, for concerts of friends, the zine library school, and even pop!Montreal. I've been creating my own zines and crafts to sell at fairs and expos. My favorite projects are ones I can do which will bring acclaim to people I love.

Where do you find inspiration? I find inspiration in my friends!! And nature, beautiful things, joyful & free spirited ideas, food, animals and girls.

What do you enjoy about designing for Sweet Ice? Well, I get to draw food. And the girls are awesome! Not to mention - their snow cones taste AMAZING. I love supporting small businesses run by people who have so much desire to do well! For themselves and their community!

How would you describe the Sweet Ice branding? It's got an old-timey yet charming feel and is totally suited to the girls who run the show.

Have you had a Sweet Ice snow cone? What kind?! Oh man, I've tried the Apple Cider snow cone. It tasted like apple pie and I want MORE! I've also tried some of the other flavors that my friends have ordered. I really want to come back to Hamilton strictly so I can have more cones.

What are some future dreams and goals for you and your involvement in the arts? I don't tell many people this, but if I ever worked for Martha Stewart Living magazine, that would pretty much be my dream. Can you imagine if I met Martha? I'd faint!

From Linds & Meg: Andrea, you are so sweet and SO talented! We're really thankful that we can use your amazing abilities to make Sweet Ice the CUTEST EVER! Every time you send illustrations to us, we just squeal at our computers because they're so dang awesome. We're so excited to send you more requests, so we can see more of your great illustrations. Thank you for everything you've done so far - we can't wait to see how Sweet Ice can partner with you even more in the future!

Our year in review!

Happy New Year!

This was our first year of Sweet Ice goodness, and it was a whirlwind for us! Starting Sweet Ice and making all natural snow cones was an idea, and then a dream, and we certainly didn't plan on making it a reality as quickly as we did. One thing led to another, and a successful snow cone wedding turned into a business venture. Then a Shasta trailer ended up in our hands, and now, here we are, planning for a really huge Sweet Ice season! Even though it wasn't what we planned, we wouldn't want it any other way, and we're really grateful for the fun we've had, and the support that Sweet Ice Snow Cones has received this year. Here's a few monthly highlights from our year for ya. It starts in June because, well, that's when Sweet Ice started, and we like to keep things real!

Our first event! Our friends Jared and Michelle got married, and we made snow cones for their wedding. It was the cutest wedding ever, and they had a bike processional from the church to the reception, so all the guests were happy to have something cool and refreshing. We tried a watermelon flavor at this event, but it was a bit strange (still working on that recipe), but the other two flavors were DIVINE! We're really thankful that we were asked to make snow cones for this event, because it is really what started this whole crazy adventure!

We got our trailer! This 1962 Shasta was just HANDED to us! It was something we only imagined could happen, so we were floored when everything worked out as perfectly as it did. While we did have a really successful season, we still need to raise the funds needed to renovate this lovely thing so we'll be hosting an online fundraiser in the next few months, which we're really excited about!

Time for our debut: our first public event - the Art Crawl. We were so humbled by our success at Art Crawl. We totally didn't prepare for the Hamilton-snow-cone-love, and sold out of syrup before 10pm... less than three hours! There were line-ups all evening, and we were serenaded by the lovely Kori Pop. This is one of our favorite Sweet Ice memories so far, as we just couldn't believe how friendly and excited everyone was.

Our BIGGEST event of the year was in September. You know what it was... the best day of the year for all of us: Supercrawl! Supercrawl was incredible on so many levels. The vendors were amazing, the art installations were incredible, the music was AWESOME, and the Sweet Ice fans were aplenty! We served just under 1000 snow cones that day, and we sold out of all our flavors just as the night was winding down. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Runner up highlight for September: Hanging out with Andrew (Songs to Wear Pants To) and Hannah (My Drunk Kitchen), and having our snow cones in their nomming video...

This was probably our favourite event of 2011. When we started Sweet Ice we had a crazy idea to do a Snow Cone Dance Party, complete with mixed-drink cones. It seemed a little too crazy to work, but ended up being just crazy enough! We were so excited for our giant light-brite, the spiked snow cones, the amazing music by DJ Donna Lovejoy...we kind of forgot that there would also be a room full of really awesome people with really killer dance moves. Once all these things came together, it became one of the best nights of our lives. We're already so excited for Sweet Ice Dance Party 2.0!

Hmm. What did we do in November? Oh ya... NOTHING! After all these crazy adventures we took a BREAK! Well, at least we tried not to talk about or think about snow cones. We retired our snow cone buttons for a few weeks. We stopped eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We put pictures of snow cones on the wall and threw darts at them. OK, none of that is true. But we didn't have any events in November, and it was nice to catch a breath. However, a break can only last so long, and by the end of the month we really missed a lot of things about Sweet Ice.

Oh joy! Santa was good to Sweet Ice this year! We were asked to participate in the Kitestring Christmas Spectacular, and we were so honored to support the CKA charity alongside a whole bunch of other really awesome businesses. This was the first event where we didn't wear our aprons (Sweet Ice goes glam!), and also likely the only event where you'll ever be able to get our Gingerbread + Spiced Rum snow cone and get Christmas snow cone buttons!

It's been an amazing year for both of us, and we've had so much fun with this adorable little business of ours. Thanks to everyone out there who has bought a snow cone, made jokes with us at our booth, supported us behind the scenes, worn our buttons, and applauded our efforts all over town - we're SO appreciative! We're excited to see what the next year holds for us, as it is our first full season, and we've got so many thrilling goals, plans and ideas.

Happy New Year!

With much love,

The Sweet Ice Girls

The Christmas Spectacular!

Well? The Christmas Spectacular was....definitely spectacular! We had such an amazing time. Great people, amazing music, delicious food, and the snow cones were a hit! Thank you, Kitestring, for giving us the opportunity to be part of such an amazing event for such a great cause. You can see more pictures here.

(top 3 photos by Katie Shoreman)

Memorable tweets: 
@JackiYo: #xmaspectacular pageant was awesome. Can't wait for boozy snow cones!
@chgodwaldt: #xmaspectacular after party. I want me some @sweet_ice_cones!
@katedoesthecity: About to be double-fisting snow cones once again, #xmaspectacular style.
@TieALittleRibbon: There are snow cones. With alcohol. WIN.
@WE_interns: The #xmaspectacular after party is bumping! My Cosmo sweet_ice_cones was so yum!
@ConceptCrucible: Where are you? We're in the nook next to the bar, having snow cones and pixie stix.
@sarah_rogers: @sweet_ice_cones - here I come!
@Jesselinney: Boozy Cosmo snow cones #genuis
@joshgcreative: I was given the full sweet_ice_cones button collection from #xmaspectacular. #fanboy

Christmas Prep...

Our weekend was busy with prep for the Christmas Spectacular! We're so excited - we can hardly stand it! Get this: milk and cookies from Cake & Loaf, coffee from Red Hill, grilled cheese from Gorilla Cheese, cupcakes from Cupcake Diner...we feel so honored to be participating in an event with all these lovely businesses!

Now for the flavor announcement: we've come up with two new flavors for this very special Christmas occasion, and we're sticking with one oldie, due to popular demand. 
Flavor 1: Cranberry Clementine Cosmo
Flavor 2: The Gingerbread Cookie
Flavor 3: The Apple Jack (tried and true!)

We used fair-trade organic spices for the Gingerbread syrup - it takes JUST like a cookie!

Juicing clementines was something new! We can't wait to debut the Cran-Clem Cosmo... 

In other exciting and Christmas-related news, our dear designer Julie (from Jubilee Art & Design) made us Christmas buttons for the Spectacular! The Button Pushers donated the shells for these beauties, and we spent a nice evening pressing them in front of the Christmas tree. Make sure you get yours at the dance party! Merry Christmas, and see you on Friday!