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Featured Business - Munchkin Designs

Munchkin Designs Founder, Lisa Komer values family life and has worked hard to build a sustainable business that combines and reflects her passion for family and children. With a successful career as a retail buyer and a degree in psychology/business from the University of Oregon behind her, the leap to business owner came naturally.

Munchkin Designs was started in 2006 after Komer realized a need for chic stationery and gifts for style-savvy new moms. Tired of the same cutesy gifts and generic birth announcements available, Komer set out to offer more modern alternatives. Starting small, Komer’s first few products quickly built a loyal following and she knew that she was on to something. Today her custom invitations, announcements and personalized gifts are sold worldwide from her online store, http://www.munchkindesigns.com/.

While Komer’s commitment to quality products and client satisfaction is paramount, equally important is her commitment to her own family. Undaunted by combining business with motherhood, Komer has embraced her role as a “mamapreneur” and the walls between work and family life blend in an easy harmony. In fact, the business is a family affair with her own children offering her inspiration and ideas for new products and her husband offering ongoing business support.

Inspired by great design and today’s modern families, Komer enjoys her new career as a business owner and artist. A natural when it comes to color selection and combining design elements, Komer’s designs hit the mark and speak to style-savvy parents around the globe.

Komer is also passionate about supporting and promoting other mom owned businesses. This passion has lead to the redesign of Munchkin Designs. Stay tuned as Munchkin Designs relaunches in a few months - we'll be bringing you the very best of Oregon mom designed products!

http://www.munchkindesigns.com/

Featured Business - Cocoa Velvet!

Cocoa Velvet is a small, Portland family business handcrafting chocolate truffles with passion and commitment. At Cocoa Velvet we have a genuine passion for chocolate. Creating a Cocoa Velvet truffle starts with seeking out exotic chocolates from premium growing regions and even unique estate plantations, then bringing the character of those locales through to you. The chocolates we use are like fine wines: both the terroir and the skill of the chocolatier are on display in each taste. We know that when you taste our unique chocolates you’ll never turn back. More than a dozen years ago, Paul started making truffles on an impulse because he tried the best tasting chocolate we had ever encountered. They weren't pretty, but they were absolutely delicious because they were made from the best chocolate he had ever found. A passion for chocolate grew quickly into an obsession, and he found himself making first dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of truffles in a myriad of shapes and flavors every year for family and friends. He found himself on a mission to find the best chocolates in the world and bring them to our kitchen in Portland, there to transform them into truffles. From that first encounter with good dark chocolate, we have been educating ourselves and other people about cacao growing regions, different types of trees, and the process of transforming cacao into chocolate, and then into truffles. The more you know, the more you’ll enjoy tasting each bite, and experimenting with what pairs well with a specific chocolate.

Cocoa Velvet was born from the idea that the best truffles are made from the very best chocolate: grown on select cacao plantations and brought to Portland via master chocolatiers. We mix it in small batches with fresh local organic cream, add infusions of tea, liqueur, or sometimes nothing at all if the chocolate is that good, and wrap it all in a shiny chocolate shell. We make and pack all of our chocolates by hand so each has a quality that is special and personal.
We invite you to find out about your passion for chocolate through our truffles, education nights, wine and chocolate pair nights, and our chocolate dinners.

Please try some -- we think your own passion will respond!

Paul and Kristin Atkinson

**Cocoa Velvet will be serving their amazing truffles at the event. You will also have the opportunity to win a raffle prize from them - a 6 piece box of truffles for 6 months!**

Featured Business - Sauvie Island Sweet & Savory Food Co.

Sauvie Island Sweet & Savory Food Company is a mother-daughter team who love to create original “Sauvie Island/Northwest” inspired desserts. They use the bounty of the island and combine with old classics to create new and exciting treats. Their fresh ingredients are largely sourced from their own farm on Sauvie Island and the neighboring small farms.

Attendees will be treated to these amazing cheesecakes - chocolate espresso, marionberry, meyer's lemon or original. A fantastic dessert to serve for Mother's Day!

Visit them at www.sweetandsavoryfoodcompany.com

Featured Business - Kids Central Kitchen

As parents of three active, young children, we were frustrated we couldn’t find prepared snacks that were both healthy and good tasting. We began experimenting in our own kitchen with an energy bar we could send in their school lunches, serve as an after school snack or send to the soccer field. We wanted to create something that was made with whole grains, was lower in fat and sugar and actually tasted good. After months of trial and error, we finally came up with a winning combination and referred to it as our “Propeller Bar.” Our kids loved it!.

We then began experimenting with other favorite baked goods like chocolate chip cookies, brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies, sugar cookies, banana bread and even pancakes! We kept at it until we came up with tastes and textures our kids liked while maintaining the nutrition and health goals we were after.

With our own children and many little friends we developed a taste panel and kept improving our recipes until they all gave us the thumbs up. Kids call it like it is and they weren’t going to give us the go ahead until they tasted something they really liked!

In our ongoing quest, we noticed the enthusiasm of our children grow as they helped us measure, mix, set the timer, clean up and eat our creations. This gave us the idea to make dry mixes the kids could add wet ingredients to and bake. It developed into a fun family activity we could do with ease.

Though our mixes are designed for kids, grownups find them just as delicious and satisfying. We hope you and your family enjoy them as much as we do!

- Mark & Maureen

visit: www.kidscentralkitchen.com

{we will have samples of Kids Central Kitchen's yummy mixes including a gluten free mix at the Girls Night Out event}

Featured Business - Me Too! Cafe

{Me Too! is a place designed for families}

Me Too! has two main areas: A warm, cozy café with traditional café tables and comfortable couch and armchair seating areas, and an attended play area filled with fun and educational activities.

The café is the perfect place to have a cup of coffee, a light lunch or a delicious dinner. Me Too! marries great food with a great environment. Enjoy your cup of espresso, premium salad or dinner entree in an attractive environment designed for grownups & still kid friendly - relax in comfortable leather couches and armchairs or at a café table.

The play area provides a fun and educational experience for your kids. A separate, enclosed space with large picture windows (perfect for peeking!) The play area is designed to let your kid be a kid, at the same time that you are enjoying just being an adult for a while. The play area is filled with great activities, including train and lego tables, a pretend theater and a reading corner. Their experienced ‘play partners' make sure your children have a great time while they are there.

Hours

Monday - Friday 9.00 am - 8.00 pm

Saturday - 10.00 am - 8.00

16755 Baseline Road #102

Beaverton, OR 97006

503.439.6586

http://www.metoobeaverton.com/

Join us!