As Cheers N Paint prepares for the 2023 holiday season, I am acutely aware of the stress it places on our studio manager and the ownership of the studio. I try not to dwell on the need for a financially successful holiday season, but it is the time when the entire management team is focused on a year-end push to profitability.
That is the truth about small family-owned and operated businesses; even as we enter the most important family time of the year, we are most stressed by the needs of the business.
I look to a few simple things to help shed my stress. First, I make sure I have set aside a good amount of time to be with family and friends; business is critical, but not without family and friends. Next, the Cheers N Paint Team pulls together to carefully plan the calendar of events, to get advertising in place early, and to once again make sure Cheers N Paint busiest time of our business year has time allocated for family and friends.
Finally, I look to my favorite stress busters to help me through. They include doing something good for those less fortunate, reducing my computer and phone time so I can pick up my paintbrush, and my favorite thing of all, cooking for those I love.
Giving Back to our Community
The first of these three stress relievers are pretty simple, find a way to give back to the community. In the holiday season it is easy to be self-absorbed, but it is important to be aware of the needs of others.
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Donating to a good charity
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Spending time in service to others
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Taking care of a friend in need of support are among my favorites.
Discovering Artistry at Cheers N Paint
Picking up a paintbrush is new to me, candidly before we began our adventure with Cheers N Paint I had never painted, in fact I was planning to buy a sign shop but my daughter who loves to paint insisted Cheers N Paint was a better business for us. I think she was right; my mom had been an incredible artist and my wife, and I had introduced our daughter Lauren to art when she was fairly young. I thought her degree in graphic art aligned better to signs, but the truth is her love of creating art has pushed the business forward year after year.
Since we acquired Cheers N Paint in 2020, my wife and I have made several trips to the studio. We choose classes much the same as our clients: find a piece of art you might like to paint and just do it. Candidly, I am pretty sure my artistic talent can best be described as limited, but the two hours I spend in front of the canvas are just so freeing. I can literally feel the stress being released from my pores and I do find a creative side in my thinking, strange for an accountant/finance guy. My favorite part of the classes is my willingness to inject creative additions to the pictures we are painting, I have added a jaguar to the tree and a hippopotamus to the river in a jungle painting and taken Olaf from Frozen and made him a frightening figure. Not bad for an accountant.
Looking to boost your creativity this year? Check out one of our upcoming paint and sip classes in Cary!
Embracing Creativity in the Kitchen
I see a strange parallel between art and cooking, perhaps it is my creativity in the kitchen that drives my willingness to bring creativity to the canvas.
So, when the holidays arrive, I take all my creative juices to the kitchen where I am free to create. Whether it is building a chili to be enjoyed with business colleagues, a special pasta dish for friends or gathering up whatever the pantry has to offer so I can create a special meal for family, I am always ready to risk it all.
Our family has a tradition of baking cookies at Christmas time. Even though we are very busy, taking a few hours to bake together is such fun and a welcome break from our busy schedules. Plus, we get to “taste test” our cookies.
One of my favorite winter recipes is chili, and I enjoy an afternoon simmering a pot on the stove on a cold afternoon. While my chili can be traced back to a proven recipe I found online, few, if any of the original ingredients or measurements of quantities survive. I don’t suggest quantities of spices, this will be your chili so be creative.
My chili is built around Sweet Italian Sausage, lean ground turkey, Ancho chilis or powder, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper and if you like hot, ground cayenne pepper. I also use a variety of beans (one can each of black, red, and chili). My basic recipe requires browning uncased sweet sausage in olive oil with diced red bell peppers, onions, and garlic…don’t forget to salt and pepper your veggies. Once the peppers soften and onions are translucent, add the garlic and give it a quick stir and make sure not to burn your garlic, as burned garlic is bitter. Add a small can of tomato paste and work it in with the mix of sausage, onions, peppers, and garlic for a few minutes to allow the tomato paste to begin to caramelize. When canalization occurs add one or two cans of water or red wine, then add 2-3 pounds of uncooked ground turkey that has been seasoned with paprika, ancho chili powder, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper (no quantities do it for your taste and remember you can always add seasonings including cayenne later).
The final step calls for I large can of San Maranzano tomatoes and a bay leaf or two, again your call.
Let this entire mixture simmer for at least 30 minutes, then taste and adjust seasonings adding as required to meet your taste profile. Finally add your beans and continue to simmer your chili. This is where I look around to see what leftovers I have, I find corn niblets, fresh cherry tomatoes, diced pork, steak, or chicken all work well with chili. As you simmer, always keep an eye on the level of your sauce, add water liberally and if the sauce is too thin, remember you can always add corn flour to thicken the sauce, thickening takes 10-20 minutes.
The key to creating your chili is much like the key to painting a personal masterpiece: step back often and refocus your objectives but most of all trust your instincts. And, like a paint class, cooking lets me be creative, relax, and enjoy the finished product. It’s even better when you can enjoy eating a meal or painting a canvas with family and friends! Make memories this holiday season.
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