Jake Rothschild | Getting Clarity

Greetings From An Unreliable Blogger

November 6, 2021 by Jake Rothschild
As the title lays it plain…I have not yet found the rhythm to write these essays with any kind of consistency. It isn’t that I don’t have plenty to say or share…it is because I lack the discipline required to be …well…reliable when it comes to this form of expression. Raising my glass…here’s to better days and a shift in perspective and behavior…

This is a weekend of choice for me. Translation? I don’t teach even a single person for the next several days…and it is the first spate of time in months that I have this…freedom? Don’t read me wrong…I love teaching more than almost anything else I get to do…but I have NOTHING scheduled on my docket right now but playing catch up on obligations…and doing things I WANT to do. It’s like Christmas come early and I might be a bit giddy…if not also shell shocked.

I should mention that while it is just past lunch time (wait for it) I’ve been up since 4:30 this morning. I woke up next to my friend Beau (English Foxhound) for those of you not heretofore in the know…and while he was sleeping peacefully, likely dreaming of the next squirrel to chase, I was thirsty for coffee and getting my first day of mine started.

With not having to be anywhere, I thought I’d get to sleep in, but my internal clock knew deep down I wouldn’t want to waste a minute lying around when I could be doing things around my house. Beau opened one eye, looked at me with his inimitable “are you kidding me?” expression. I threw him a shrug and was off to the kitchen to make a cappuccino and determine if being awake this early was a good idea….and it held.

My dear friend Chelsea, I hoped, would be by not long after sunrise with seven homegrown rose bushes, that she needed me to take under my thumb so that she could make room for other ventures in her magical garden. These roses will remain hers…but I will be their willing caretaker and I cannot wait to begin, by planting them in a place not yet named in my “sitting garden.”

I cannot help but think of Melania Trump as I plan this garden. My home is no White House but this is me doing my bit. I plan to summon the spirit of the young Jacqueline Kennedy when I plant and to cap it off I may burn a picture of our former forced lady as part of my ceremony. Petty? Sure. Angry? Definitely. Vengeful? Without question. Dark and fun…yep.

With lunch in my belly I did also want to share with you how I salvaged already cooked/dried out macaroni that I rediscovered sitting in their pot in the refrigerator and what I did to make it one of the best meals I’ve had in a very long time.

I took the two cups of macaroni, lying lifeless in the pot, put them on the stove on low heat and immediately added a full cup of half and half and four slices of butter. With a wooden spoon I made sure all of the elbows were loosened from the bottom of the pot and from one another while the butter melted.

Next I added

3 tablespoons of capers

1/4 of thinly sliced red onions

2 teaspoons of cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon of white pepper

1 tablespoon of liquid coconut aminos

and then a cup of heavy cream.

I stared and stirred as the elbows reswelled to their plump otherness and then it hit me. I could add an uncooked frozen salmon filet, keeping the temperature on low and let it just…well…meld.

For a final touch I added 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella and in another 10 minutes…It was, spoonful by spoonful sending my taste buds into orbit.
I have a fire roaring in the fireplace in the living room, making the room where I am typing feel too good to leave, but/and…it’s time to plant those beautiful bushes that Chelsea dug up and delivered . I haven’t gardened all year and now that it is cooler and much more bug free, I am raring to go. Yesterday I harvested Scuppernongs. Roses today and tomorrow I’ll rescue the Greek oregano from the English Ivy that has taken over the herb bed.

Two in the ground and I’ll add more roses over the next few hours. I’ll be sure to share a picture of the garden itself so you can see where I’m headed with this new space. Maybe I’ll even learn the meaning of the word “relax” in this place.
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The Next Frontier

September 30, 2024 by Jake Rothschild
The last three years have been so chock full. From surviving the pandemic both personally and professionally to moving the business after being in the same location for 18 years to reestablishing ourselves in the location where it all began- it has been 36+ months of surviving, figuring things out, and adapting to our new normal.

I am working very hard on a project that has been going on for something like 15 months. I’ve never been more focused nor have I ever been so challenged internally or externally. While there are many lovely things about this process it has been some of the hardest and most frightening months of my adult life.

I remember thinking in my twenties and thirties how hard everything was to me, but now in my sixties, I am stunned by how much harder it is even with all I have learned. And why, you might be thinking is that so? I think my answer can be summed up simply. I turned my life inside out and upside down to see if I had at least one more big thing…one more big idea in me before I needed to slow down. That is part of it. The other part is simply fear. I am realizing I have made much of this journey harder by giving into fear or as one of my dear friends says…dancing with the devil.

There have been many gifts of learning with this project…not the least of which is learning how even more amazing the people I have the privilege of working with are. With me not there with them as much they are showing me how the business can grow and thrive by setting them loose. We talk every day, but now they are running the show while I build the next one.

One thing that has evolved for me personally is learning more of what I made of…and more about what I need to take care of me. To get really personal, I took the Myers Briggs when I was in college. I learned I was INFP. For those of you who are not familiar the letters stand for Introverted (I) Intuitive (N) Feeling (F) Perceiving (P). To learn more there is plenty more info available.

When I got the test results it was share with me that I was right on the line between Introvert and Extrovert based on my answers. What has happened over the years since is that I have moved the needle more and more towards the introvert column all while being required by my work to be more and more extraverted in public.

I’ve done some television spots, I’ve been interviewed and featured in magazines and I’ve gotten in front A LOT of students. I loved all of it a little but the teaching I loved and love a good deal more. I enjoy the process of sharing. I have learned, though, that I need to reconcile the need for me to represent our brands and my propensity for hiding from the camera and in three words… get over it.

So in the coming months it is quite possible that you will see more of me, but my hope is that I am able to do that in a way that works for everyone who follows me and what we all do. I want you to enjoy and benefit from it and I want me to shift the way I feel about it. For those of you who do this I will welcome your input.
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Getting Reacquainted With An Old Friend. Me.

May 18, 2020 by Jake Rothschild

On Friday night, I posted on my Facebook page, with more than a little internal skepticism, that I would be taking the weekend off. I got “Likes” galore and loads of encouragement. It had been 9 weeks…all because of Covid-19.

The Cooking Schools that I worked so hard to build…came to a full on pause. My team at Jake’s Ice Creams were mostly school age and now sheltering in place. My dear GM took her family to her special slice of heaven in Martha’s Vineyard.

It was just me and George and Ed. These two who can make and build just about anything joined me in figuring out what needed to happen next. I kept saying to myself…people still have to eat…and I will feed as many as I can. It meant getting additional licensing from the Georgia Department of Agriculture for meal prep…and a fresh new work space in the kitchens at Irwin Street.

As that work began and then progressed, I focused every day of every week shopping for ingredients, making ice cream, pinting and quarting it, and delivering it. Every single day I was doing this or something related to hanging on for dear life…and getting our bills paid.

We have a GoFundMe and my friends have been very supportive….but we got nothing from the SBA even though I applied very early on. And I, like many others, still haven’t received my stimulus check. Have I worried? Of course. But not about the business…and not about myself. I’ve worried about the health and well being of my friends and family…and people I’ve never even met.

I worried (and still do) about the ever increasing divide among my fellow Americans. Wear a mask some would say? How dare you ask me/tell me to do that! Wait a little longer before we assemble? How dare you threaten to ruin the economy. And these messages are from people I truly respect. I just don’t agree with them. And well…that’s going to have to be okay. I am learning to choose my battles and understand what my true priorities must be.

During this extraordinary time, I’ve learned more about what I am made of. I believe I was made for a time like this because I have had to “pivot” (a word some of my friends loathe) my entire career. I am not saying any of this has been easy, but…and this is a big one…

I’ve never been more creative. And I’ve never been more prolific. Never. In the last nine weeks I finally developed and launched our own line of sherbets and they have sold extremely well. I developed and launched Haute Milk, our plant-based, crazy delicious answer to non dairy ice cream. We are about to full tilt launch BoozeScream…alcohol infused ice creams…and I’ve redesigned the shop so that when we reopen we will be more than ice cream and we will be called Jake’s Good Foods. Everything will be geared towards grab and go with choices we have asked and you have shared you want for prepared meals.

I’ve discovered that we can make our business run on pint sales when we barely gave them a serious thought before. I’ve also discovered how much folks want delivery and prove it by ordering on the regular. As for the Cooking School, I learned two weeks ago that we can deliver a great class online and now we’ve relaunched our concept as a virtual school with a twist…we deliver or ship the ingredients in advance so all you need to do is show up and get your mise en place on. Companies that we hoped would come back are…and are booking briskly…and soon we’ll be looking at what I hope will be a brighter future than perhaps we had prior.

I am not saying I am glad for Covid. Not in the least. What I am glad for is how I responded to it. Taking these last few days off, I’ve had a moment or two to take stock of who I’ve been being through all of this. I have worked harder than I’ve ever worked and with longer hours, but I’ve done it…and I see sunshine ahead on this rainy Sunday evening. I couldn’t have done this without daily chats with my dad nor without the help of my tiny team and countless friends and customers who believe in us (and can’t fight their need for a Jake’s fix).

The company is now growing bit by bit and we are getting wonderful help that will take us where we need to go. My biggest takeaway is that I can trust me to be willing to go down with the ship, but be willing to do what it takes to keep afloat instead. I will go to bed tonight saying my prayers for the health and well being of my friends, my family and you…as I have done every night since this craziness began.

I wish you all safety, health and peace of mind. And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say…be mindful like never before and PLEASE VOTE in November.

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Valentines come in all shapes, sizes and locales…

February 14, 2016 by Jake Rothschild

As I am very much single these days, I did not have high hopes for this Valentine’s Day. That’s okay. I believe that having a day centered around love is awesome, but I try to practice this idea every day vs. just one. I get accused of being sappy and syrupy sweet by some because of how much I love love. It’s true. I think love is the best thing going.

So, not expecting hearts and flowers, you can imagine my surprise when possibly one of the biggest dreams I’ve dreamed since my childhood, began coming true earlier this week. A friend of mine in Toronto is planning a week long trip in Provence early this coming Fall for her and a group of friends. She put it “out there” that she was looking for a yoga instructor and a cook/chef who could teach a few lessons to her guests. It sounded wonderful to me all on its own, but there was more. This vacation will be taking place in Julia Child’s kitchen at her summer home for three decades.

Those who know or know of me won’t be surprised to learn that I was an odd kid growing up in that little town in North Carolina…so odd that I’d watch Julia Child on Public Television when I got home from school. I watched the Galloping Gourmet, too, but it was Julia who first interested me in the world of pots and pans and knives and cheeses and the like. I dreamed that one day, I’d have a kitchen like hers and I’d be able to whip up the kinds of things she made for me as my afternoon snack. I even imitated her voice just to give myself a giggle. I’m sure it was just one of the many reasons why I got so many strange looks from my brother and sister. I didn’t care. I thought Julia was amazing and hilariously funny. For real.

When I saw Karen’s post about her upcoming trip, I gulped. I really did. I knew that I was late seeing it… and that others had volunteered for the teaching post. I remembered what Seth Godin taught me about it being my turn and what Greg Faxon, an incredible coach I know, said to be about being brave at all costs. And with that I threw my hat into the ring…and a few days later I received the news. I’m going to Provence.

I soon told Sandy, my business partner and favorite teaching pal about my news and in a matter of minutes it was clear that it was, in fact, our news. Sandy is an amazing baker in addition to being a wonderful cook and a fantastic teacher. She had to go, too. And she said yes. So, in honor of five incredible years of working together (we celebrated last week), I bought her this book. We’ll be teaching classes from it at The Cooking School at Irwin Street this Summer and making sure that we deliver a dazzling experience to the wonderful folks that will be at Julia’s house in September.

A Valentine that came early and a dream that is overwhelmingly coming true. Thank you, Karen, for letting this be. You’ve made me and Sandy two of the luckiest foodies in the world with this news. We won’t let you down. And now the obligatory… Bon Appetit!

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Farm living is the life for me…

February 11, 2016 by Jake Rothschild

This morning I was moved to say another heartfelt thank you to the many folks who help me make my little farm the special place that it is. When I developed my idea of home back in 2006 into an urban farm I had a huge undertaking ahead of me. Had I known every single step I would have to take to get it to where it is today, I might not have done it. I would have been too overwhelmed. But…little by little, day by day my little homestead has grown into something that makes me smile large.

Sweet Selma Farms, named for my great aunt Selma, is all of one acre of land in a small town called Historic College Park, in the great State of Georgia. Selma is the lady on the right standing out in front of our home place in Warren County, NC, with my great grandparents.   She was well known in those parts, in those days, for being a mighty farmer and a mighty friend to the downtrodden and the hard working including the share croppers on her land.

My mini version is nothing compared to hers but is what is commonly referred to as an urban farm and it would be nothing more than a glorified garden if there weren’t so many totally cool things going on here that make it resemble more of a professional endeavor.

First there’s the house. Once known as the Hatchery, the building that comprises my home was once a bait and tackle shop in one unit and a cricket hatchery in the other. When I found the odd shaped building in the charming town where it sits, I didn’t see it’s potential for a residence. In fact it was available for storage only. It wasn’t long, though, before I saw the light and the potential of the place and made my move to turn it into my home. It took persuading the city council that this former commercial building could ever be turned into something handsome and residential, but after showing them that it was actually featured in National Geographic in the September 1053 issue for being a fine place to buy mail order crickets. That seemed to make all the difference and not long after I had myself a building permit.

Three years later, I found myself moving in to what became a nearly 4000 square foot home with 22 foot ceilings in the main wings, three bedrooms, three and a half baths and a huge kitchen perfect for teaching classes. The house has slowly evolved over the years with small improvements here and there, but for the most part it is still what my friends refer to as “the house that Jake built.” It’s been 10 years since that special day and today when I was recapping what has been accomplished in just the last year, I actually got short of breath thinking about it.

On the farm we grow muscadine and other varietal grapes, peaches, pears, apples, blackberries, blueberries, figs, sage, basil, mint, tarragon, tomatoes, eggplant, asparagus, chard, collards, kale, okra, corn, garlic, lettuces, and soon, sweet potatoes and ginger.

For livestock, we went from having 40 to having 93 chickens. It’s enough to care for 40 but 93 seemed downright insane, but we needed that many to keep up with the demand for eggs at the breakfast we serve at Jake’s at The Irwin Street Market. They came from the local feed store, from friends who needed to downsize, from rescue pages and from being born right on the farm. I’ve been asked what I’ll do when a hen stops laying and I give the same answer every time. A hen is born with approximately 4000 eggs inside of her waiting to develop. During her life time she will lay most of them whole and ready to eat. The idea of any of them working that hard to then end up in a soup pot for broth may be the “farm way” but it is not my way and mine will live out their lives with my gratitude for their delicious production.

Next came two rescue peacocks, Hubert and Bertrand. Both were born with deformed feet and had we not taken them in they would likely have been put down. They are stunningly beautiful, they don’t eat much and they make great watch “dogs” for the flock by honking whenever they sense danger. They are loud but the chickens don’t mind them a bit and I think they make the farm more colorful literally and figuratively.

Next we brought in another kind of flying beauty…many thousands of honey bees. Our friend Teena Bare agreed to work with us to take care of them and their phenomenal honey and she also threw in a lot of priceless education. Along with Teena came Wil Miller and Mark Hebert who also raise bees and were willing to help her with harvests and general care for the hives. As someone who is allergic it has been very hard for me to stay away

Then came Jim Tom (named for the famous moonshiner), a full grown tom turkey who had a propensity for chasing cars and then his owner’s boyfriend. We brought him down from Toccoa and soon found him not one, but two girlfriends from teenage brothers in Senoia who raised a small flock for their 4H project.

Jim Tom is perhaps one of the most beautiful and regal birds I have ever seen and because of the love he got from Katie, his “mama,” he is a true gentleman. I admit that I swoon every time I see him and he seems to know it and shows off his tail feathers to let me know that he knows I am admiring him. I am hoping for he’ll charm his way into offspring with his ladies, Lily and Lulu in early Summer.

Nathan Strange, one of my advisors on the project, has been an inspiration from when I first shared with her that I wanted to farm the property, and I’ve bought plants from her, asked her about a thousand questions and learned more than I ever dreamed I could. Howard Berk and Todd Pittard came along to add their mushroom garden for their               2 FunGuys brand which is now booming in an area of the property that was otherwise obliterated. Howard has patiently taught me the right way to do things and when my home flooded at Christmas he was right there several days later to help me divert future rains to an area good and far from the house. Todd has helped me process meat birds and roosters and he has shown me a calm and peaceful way of being that I have found quite uncommon in this life.

There has always been a need for some kind of assembly/construction/repairs and each time I’ve been able to count on the expertise of Willie (Sullivan) and Grant (Kile). They are magicians with talents bar none, a sense of humor that helps me keep it in the road, and a can-do attitude that harkens back to yesteryear.

And then there is Jamia, who not only helped tame the gardens, but also my home with the many projects I have going on. Together Jamia and Chris and I have begun to see the fruits of our labor…even in this chilly, wintery part of the year and I cannot wait until Spring. Jamia has also branched out as a teacher at the Cooking School at Irwin Street with “Got Soul?” and so far every class she has taught has been a huge hit. Stay tuned for more news about this one…

This Spring when things warm up and the plants start poking their heads out of the ground…the asparagus, the basil, the mint…we’ll be offering classes on everything from Chicken Raising 101 to Cooking with Herbs to How to Grow Your Own Mushrooms. We’ll keep you posted so please keep an eye out for our class schedule.

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When they applaud…

January 29, 2016 by Jake Rothschild

It seemed this week as if anything and everything was conspiring to stop me from joining my pals at a reunion here in sunny Orlando, Florida. On the tail end of Mercury going Retrograde (I am a stubborn believer in the concept) my computer crashed (literally and figuratively), one of my banking relationships went technically haywire (I was one of thousands across the country to whom this happened), I couldn’t get a round trip flight, and then the furnace at the guest house went on the fritz, right when guests from China were arriving for a two week stay. There’s more, but this is plenty enough to illustrate my point.

I was sure the message was, “STAY HOME!”

But…here’s the thing. Last year, I was fortunate enough to be chosen by Seth Godin (yep…that Seth Godin) to come and join 80 other folks from all over the world to learn how to truly make a difference in our lives and in the lives of others. To say that I was thrilled to tears would only tell a part of the story. The bigger chunk was the struggle I had with believing I deserved the opportunity.

I grew up with people who for the most part meant well, but never gave or allowed me the feeling that what I was doing was enough, let alone, great. I heard the statement, “don’t rest on your laurels” enough to make sure that I never did and the fall out of that was that I never learned to relax or savor an accomplishment or feel truly pleased with myself. It meant to me that I had to work to deserve anything and when I got “there” the bar was raised yet again.

The team of people I have around me now would not allow me to cancel this trip…and from Lewis to Bjay to Marie to Sandy to Jamia to Jan and so on, I was surrounded by love and determination that I get to this event.

The irony? I am here to speak on the art and science of manifesting.

I arrived at my hotel in Orlando this morning, worried that I was here too early for check in, but Francesca at the front desk had no problem sending me right up to the 10th floor, to a room with a beautiful view of the town and a lake I cannot identify. When I got all settled in, I sat down at the desk to put in a good day’s work. I opened my email and soon found that The Cooking School at Irwin Street has just won a national award for excellence from Groupon. I was frankly blown away because I didn’t know there was such a thing.

We have one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings of anyone working with Groupon and now we have the “badge” to prove it. The school is a business that we started in 2011 and it is truly one that Groupon helped build from the ground up. In our first “sale” we sold 1100 + classes and that empowered us to grow and grow and grow. We worked with other coupon groups as we grew, but none delivered the impact that Groupon did and for that we remain eternally grateful.

We are able to stand on our own feet now and while we don’t rely on Groupon income anymore, we still appreciate the exposure we get from them and now, today, the recognition that we have done our job well for our beloved students. Thank you Groupon, thank you Sandy, Tony, Carlton and thank you to all of the literally thousands of students who have walked through our doors to learn how NOT to be afraid of the kitchen and to have a blast learning how to feed themselves yummy food from scratch.

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Committing to Commit

February 26, 2015 by Jake Rothschild

When you say yes to someone…even to yourself…how much time did you spend thinking about it? Soul searching? Weighing the pros and cons? Imagining the success ahead? The failures?

I ask because I’m right there with you…realizing that I really need to ask those questions before I commit. When we know, we know, but even when we know something looks, tastes and feels right…do we really have the commitment it takes to make that “yes” real and bankable?

As a serial entrepreneur that runs an incubator for other entrepreneurs…I meet and work with people every day who say they want a particular dream. Yet…more often than not, I wonder how much time they thought about it before…and how much time they think about it now…that commitment it takes to make their dream an amazingly wonderful thing…and not a crippling nightmare.

You think you want to start your own business…which, by the way, means you will be balancing at least 6 or 12 hats on your already drooping head…and it means…and this is the point of all of this…that you are going to have to know what commitment truly means.

Are you going to make that call that may make the difference between having the next sale and not being able to make your next payroll? Are you going to keep that next appointment and NOT cancel because you just don’t feel like it? Are you going to respond to those emails from your teammates that you let sit for a few days (or gasp, a week) even though you are so filled with dread you wish you could crawl under your bed?

The thing is…your very credibility is on the line.

You’ve announced most likely to your friends…your family…your coworkers…your social media audience…that you are going to do this “thing.” So now…you kind of have to, right?

Right.

You do…if for no other reason you said so. Otherwise…why did you risk the public embarrassment of effectively saying…I wasn’t really committed? I think about Steven Carse, locally famous here in Atlanta and likely famous globally before too terribly long. He’s the guy who found himself without a job at AIG, a financial services company, but with a dream of starting his own popsicle company.

Crazy right?

Yeah…not so much.

Steven was committed. Like…really committed. He came to me…circled the idea for some six months…and then plunked down his check…signed a lease and started King of Pops. His little dream is now selling in shops all over the country including that grocery concept called…um…what is that name?

Oh yeah. Whole Foods.

Every time I see Steven and his brother Nick post something I smile and scratch my head a little…and smile some more…because never once in all the time I’ve know them did I ever question that these men were committed…not just to a popsicle company, but to much much more (look ’em up to see what I mean).

Commitment is one of the toughest things for which we ever sign on. It looks so doable when we first examine it. It even looks kind of sexy, but in no time at all it becomes something else…a ball-and-chain that can make you regret ever having the creative thought to do your own thing in the first place.

Where do you think the expression, “It’s Lonely at the Top” originated?

Maybe that lonely thing is the key to all of this. Maybe…just maybe…you need to make a list of the things you need to make AND keep you commitment. For me, it was having a great partner and a great team. For you it may be something else. All I know is, as hard and as frustrating this particular day was for me… that I wouldn’t trade what I do or with whom I work for anything (and I do mean anything).

I guess that means I am committed in a really big way.

How about you?

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About Jake – Bio

December 29, 2013 by admin

Biography

Jake Rothschild, owner of Award-winning Jake’s Ice Cream, The Cooking School at Irwin Street, JD Rothschild Gourmet Hot Chocolate, and The Irwin Street Market, has been in the specialty foods business for over 20 years. He is passionate about food from growing it to developing recipes to getting his final product into retail packaging. Perhaps his greatest passion is helping others do the same. In 2009, Rothschild created Irwin Street Community Kitchens and now helps others from concept to market in his 7000 foot facility. ISCK is one of three official shared kitchen concepts sanctioned by the Georgia State Department of Agriculture.

Irwin Street Market is an incubator as well, retailing handcrafted, artisan foods from all over Metro Atlanta. Rothschild was born in Chapel Hill, NC and has called Atlanta home for the last 30 years. He resides in College Park in a home he renovated from an old bait and tackle shop and an old cricket hatchery. The property is called Sweet Selma Farms and it specializes in pecans, figs, eggs and herbs.

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