COOKIE-BAKING PAIR HAS A HIT KITCHEN DUO WAITS TO SEE IF BIG DEAL WILL GO THROUGH.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer STUDIO CITY - Most companies are afraid to eat their profits; not so for Van Gogh's Kitchen. The brainchild of Susan Pasarow and Jill Schiff, the company makes a tasty little art project - colorful dough that can be molded into creative shapes and baked into cookies. Sold under the brand name Get Kookie Kookie teen idol of 1950s whose character was depicted by slick shirts, tight pants, and “wet look” hairstyle. [TV: “77 Sunset Strip” in Terrace, II, 282–283] See : Foppishness , the dough is soon to be destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for national release if a proposed deal with Wal-Mart goes through. Not bad for two moms working from home on a $10,000 budget. ``I never in my wildest dreams imagined this,'' said Pasarow, a 35-year-old public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most consultant. Watching Van Gogh's Kitchen, named for its combination of artistic and culinary elements, take off has been a pleasant surprise for Schiff, 31, as well. A former fifth-grade teacher, she spent many hours in the classroom looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ways to put her creative mind to work. ``I always envied the art teacher,'' she said, rolling up a lump of purple dough. ``I tried to work in elements of visual arts visual arts npl → artes fpl plásticas visual arts npl → arts mpl plastiques visual arts npl → into what I was teaching.'' That's just what happened with Get Kookie. As the two were experimenting with dough with their young daughters, mixing colors into a sugar-cookie base, they hit on the idea of attractive cookies. Since youngsters have been sticking their hands into Mom's mixing bowl for ages, Schiff and Pasarow decided to try for a product that would be fun for both kids and parents. ``It looked remarkably like Play-Doh,'' Schiff said. Knowing that children everywhere have snuck snuck v. Usage Problem A past tense and a past participle of sneak. See Usage Note at sneak. a surreptitious SURREPTITIOUS. That which is done in a fraudulent stealthy manner. bite of the salty toy, the inventors seized upon the similarity and started mixing. To appeal to the 3-and-up set, they offered four vibrant shades of Noun 1. shades of - something that reminds you of someone or something; "aren't there shades of 1948 here?" reminder - an experience that causes you to remember something dough, but to satisfy safety-conscious adults, they took out the eggs and dairy products dairy products dairy npl → produits laitier dairy products dairy npl → Milchprodukte pl, Molkereiprodukte pl , allaying fears of salmonella. The formula was devised after a long process of testing. ``We took out the raw egg and baked it without knowing anything about food chemistry and it came out great,'' Schiff remembered. ``Then we taste-tested them on the entire neighborhood.'' After their Studio City neighbors approved the taste, the duo decided to try adding pigment to the recipe, but kept the nature of the project under wraps. ``We kept it real secret - we didn't make it with color so no one would know what it was,'' Pasarow said. ``We were really paranoid about people finding out what it was.'' The secrecy worked and no cookie interlopers INTERLOPERS. Persons who interrupt the trade of a company of merchants, by pursuing the same business with them in the same place, without lawful authority. snatched the recipe. Soon, the pair were in negotiations to get the product into stores. A variety of chains and independent grocers signed up, taking the sugar cookies into the refrigerators of markets up and down the West Coast. After first hitting stores in October, Get Kookie has been selling steadily, and Pasarow expects a big boost when the Wal-Mart agreement is completed. Though the image of two small-time small·time or small-time adj. Informal Insignificant or unimportant; minor: a smalltime actor. small entrepreneurs leaping from their kitchens into major chains seems unusual, it's not impossible, according to Albertson's spokesman Miguel Gutierrez. Buyers are encouraged to look for interesting products, then deliver them to receptive areas. ``We're very much into neighborhood marketing,'' Gutierrez said. ``If customers want a certain product, we're more than happy to get it into our stores for them.'' If Van Gogh's Kitchen's success continues, the pair is considering an all-natural version and another with holiday-themed colors. Through the daily hassles of running a business, juggling marketing plans, distribution deals and product development, along with leaving time for their families, they have no regrets. ``I always wanted to invent something,'' Schiff said. ``It's been a dream come true.'' CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) ``We took out the raw egg and baked it without knowing anything about food chemistry and it came out great. Then we taste tested them on the entire neigborhood.'' - Jill Schiff co-owner of Van Gogh's Kitchen, seen here with partner Susan Pasarow, right, and some Get Kookie creations. (2 -- color) no caption (Front of GET KOOKIE package) (3 -- color) no caption (Dough art flower) Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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