The Cottage Foodie

Today I'm talking with Matt at The Cottage Foodie. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters, and topics adjacent. I'm your host, Mary Lewis.  A Tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Homegrown Collective, a free-to-use farm-to-table platform emphasizing local connections with ability to sell online, buy, sell, trade in local garden groups, and help us grow a new food system.  You can find them at homegrowncollective.org. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe.

00:29
share it with a friend or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Matt Rosen, also known as Sergeant Shortbread at the Cottage Foodie, because he has a new thing going on. Good afternoon, Matt. How are you? I'm doing fantastic, Mary. Thanks for having me on. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. Just  to catch people up, Matt and I talked quite a while ago about his business, Sergeant Shortbread. He makes fabulous shortbread, I have heard.

00:54
And then he decided he wanted to do this new thing called the cottage foodie. So this is kind of a catch up and to talk about that. So tell me about yourself  and what you're doing now.  Yeah. So like you said, I started out in the cottage food  community or the cottage food industry as Sergeant Shortbread.  I still am a cottage food producer here in Minnesota. Yeah,  I love it. I don't know if I'll ever quit.

01:23
Physically, that might be the only way that I stop, but we'll have to see. Only time will tell, I guess. But  yeah, I've been a cottage food producer here in Minnesota for,  seven years now. Yeah, seven years in April 2018 I started. yeah,  like I said, been a cottage food producer since then and about a year and a half ago or so  just had a...

01:50
I don't know, a revelation if you want to call it. I'm not sure  what exactly you'd call it, but  I just felt like there was a need for a  directory  of cottage food producers.  for those of us who remember  the yellow pages,  maybe I'm dating myself here a bit, but. I remember them. Yeah. There's no digital yellow pages for cottage food producers. look for.

02:19
for this and I saw there are some out there but it didn't look like they were really being  managed or maintained and I wasn't sure if they were still being used and so I thought well I'm gonna do a  new upgraded version of this and  so  yeah, joined up with a social media, a digital marketing company  and we created a platform for cottage food producers to  become members and have profiles on

02:48
the cottage foodie  and  then  in return, what I do is I do some of their digital marketing forum. I don't take over their digital marketing and so I tell them, keep doing what you're doing. This is just gonna be  in addition to what you're doing.  So  I run Facebook ads  for them. Anywhere we have members, I  run paid advertising in their areas. So for example, I think

03:17
in Minnesota here alone, we're close to 70 members. so essentially I just run it in the entire state of Minnesota, just because I'm not going to pick and choose little communities. Once I do that, I'm going to be covering the whole state practically anyway.  But take for example, California, I think we have four or five in California.  Two or three of them are in kind of the Los Angeles area and that surrounding area. And then two or three of them are up in like the San Jose Sacramento area. So

03:47
So I just run specific ads within those areas. I'm not running in the entire state of California.  I mainly just want to highlight the cottage food producers  within their areas.  So for example, I might put San Jose in the Facebook when I'm doing a targeted  audience, I'll put San Jose plus 20 miles. And so it'll be San Jose and then 20 miles from downtown San Jose, it'll cover that.

04:16
So yeah, that's what the cottage foodie is all about.  I  grew my business, my cottage food business from  being a cottage food producer to moving into a commercial kitchen. So I do have a  wholesale food manufacturing license on top of my cottage food producer registration. So  I just wanted to help other cottage food producers  grow their businesses if that's what they wanna do.  If their goal is to...

04:46
move into a commercial kitchen and sell in grocery stores and coffee shops and things like that, then I just want to be able to help them achieve that.  And I know that one of the hardest things that we as cottage food producers  will run into is,  and I hear it all the time,  how do I get my name out there? Nobody knows I exist. I can't hire somebody to do my marketing and I can't afford.

05:14
all this paid advertising on Facebook and social media. And so,  so that's where the cottage foodie steps in is I just want to be,  I want to help out in that way. If  as much as I can. Next step should be starting a podcast, Matt.  Oh gosh, don't even get me started by my wife. She will not be happy that you mentioned that because  she's  she, she had, matter of fact, she told me once I started the cottage foodie, she's like,

05:44
please promise me no more businesses. Please don't start any more businesses.  So,  you never know,  who knows? Maybe you and I can team up to do a podcast together. We could be co-hosts or something. That would be really fun. I have not done a co-hosting thing. The closest I've come is guests, because you guys are basically my co-hosts for each episode.  Yeah. So a different co-host every day. It's amazing.  Yeah. When I started the podcast, it was about

06:13
exactly what you're talking about. was about getting people a platform to be able to talk about what they do. And it's worked really, really well, actually.  So I love it. And I keep saying that I'm sure people are sick of hearing me say I love my podcast, but I do.  Well, yeah. And I know you love what you're doing. So it's it's kind of great when you find something that  I don't know, get you up out of bed in the morning with a smile, I guess. Yeah. And and the thing is that

06:40
people like your listeners and the people who buy my cookies,  they can feel that when someone like you and I are passionate about what we do and we're excited about what we do, people feel that and they just, they gravitate to that. So it's just a lot of fun to  be within that community where people are just as excited as you are about what you're doing and what they're doing. And so  it's just, it's a lot of fun. And so it's just fun to be part of. Yeah. Who knew good vibes were attractive.

07:10
Weird, right?  Okay, so  I thought that the cottage foodie was just from Minnesota, but it's not. It's nationwide. It is. Yeah.  So, funny story.  It,  my whole goal when I thought of it and when I started it was I wanted this to be a nationwide  platform or a  nationwide directory.

07:35
But the initial thought was, okay, let's start in Minnesota because obviously that's where I'm from. And  this is where I have my roots and this is where I know like a lot of the cottage food producers in the state. And so it was just natural, let's start in Minnesota. Let's just see if this works. Let's just see if people are even interested in, know, cottage food producers are interested in joining.  Will consumers come and actually know that this exists? Will they come and search? You know, can we get traffic to the site?  And...

08:04
Yeah, so I went live May 1st of last year, so 2024. And in August, I happened to have a conversation with a national business platform for cottage food producers. I don't want to, it's not mainly in the sugar cookie, the decorated sugar cookie community, but predominantly that's who a lot of their customers are. It's called My Custom Bakes.

08:32
And they are,  it's an online business platform for cottage food producers to when consumers come, they can, it's a great way for them to customize their order so they can do very specific. Like for me, there's no customization. You're going to order a dozen blueberry lemon shortbread cookies or you're not. I mean, it's not going to be, I'm going to have like three blueberry lemon and then I'll have seven dark chocolate sea salt.  You know,  you can't customize that  through, you know, the

09:01
the platform that I'm on, but with My Custom Bakes,  it's very detailed about what a consumer is ordering. so  the person who  founded My Custom Bakes also founded Borderlands Bakery, which is an online bakery supply store. So  any kind of bakery supplies.  And I had a conversation with them  and they actually said,

09:29
We'd literally have been talking about this for months about wanting to create something exactly what you've done. And now you did it and we don't have to. So what do you say we partner up and how can we like join forces? And so, yeah, from that point on, that was August of 2024, I said, well, I guess we're going national a little quicker than I anticipated. And so just because they have a...

09:58
I think, you know, they're in the thousands of members in their, in their My Custom Bakes platform and, and then Borderlands Bakery, uh, just on Instagram alone, they have, gosh, I think it's 180,000 Instagram followers. And so, so I thought this is just a great way to, um, get our name out there, um, on a national, on a national scale. And so I don't want to miss this opportunity to just really grow.

10:28
the cottage foodie nationwide. so we jumped right in. We said, okay, let's do it. It's a little quicker than we wanted to, but let's go. And as of today, we have, I believe, about 120, a little over 120 members and 110 of them have actual profiles in the directory. And we are in 22 different states covering 22 states.

10:58
with our cottage food producer membership. That's amazing. And I'm actually one of your members, but I just haven't done anything with it yet.  When, when ingredients went up in price sharply was about the time I was like, I am not getting into this right now. Yeah. It's tough. Yeah, it is. And the other thing I wanted  to bring up is I got an email the other day from somebody.

11:26
who wanted to know if I was available for a cookie pickup on March 27th, because supposedly there's a big corporate event that's gonna happen in LaSore, Minnesota. And I read this and I was like, I don't think there's a big corporate event happening in LaSore, Minnesota on March 27th. That sounds like bullshit to me. So I wrote back and I said, have a couple of questions. How many cookies are you looking for?

11:54
And something else, I remember what the other question was.  And  the person wrote back and said something like, like, I just need to know if you're available and then we can talk details. And I thought, yeah, that's got scam written all over it. And so  the reason I bring this up is if you are a new cottage food producer,  do your research when people approach you about making something for them, because  that, would have been a really weird

12:24
thing, you know, and I didn't say yes when they asked if I was available because when you say yes to something on the phone or in an email,  you might be saying something, saying yes to something you aren't actually prepared to say yes to. Yeah. So be careful people.  And the other question I have for you, because you were a college food producer  is like, God forbid this happens, but let's say somebody says I need

12:52
50 shortbread cookies two months from now  and you know, they pay half upfront. And then for some reason when you make them last minute, because lots of people do that,  they burn and you don't have time to make the rest of them. You don't have time to redo it.  Do you like consider that that payment that half down a deposit and if something goes wrong?

13:18
you refund them that money and pray they don't bad mouth you or how does that work?  You know, if I ever ran into a situation like that,  I would refund it all. I would give it back.  And that's just who I am.  I would feel right.  I would just have to eat the cost  of my time, my ingredients. I'm the one who burned them. It's not their fault.  And so,  you know, think about it from their standpoint. Okay, so I burned these cookies and I

13:48
email them the night before, oh, by the way, you're not going to have your 50 cookies for your event tomorrow. Yeah. You know, know, look at, look at the, the position you're putting them in. And then for me to say, Oh, by the way, that half down, I'm keeping that because that was just your deposit and that's non-refundable.  So,  um,  yeah, I, I just, I would not, I would not feel right. Yeah. Hanging onto that deposit. I would just have to say, I have to own it. I, I messed up.

14:18
I'm not gonna be able to fulfill the order that  they requested. So here's your money back. I'm so sorry this happened.  I sincerely hope that you'll give me another chance.  Exactly, yeah. No, it's just, I know things go wrong with businesses and it could be as simple as burning the cookies  or as bad as your house burning down. And that definitely burned the cookies.  It's just one of those things.

14:46
When we used to do a CSA, people would pay us for the season ahead of time to the tune of 500 bucks for the biggest share we had. And we would put that money in the bank and we would leave it until the end of June because that way the people that were coming to get their stuff during June,  if they weren't happy,  we could return their money.  If they didn't say anything by the end of June, that

15:11
then they were out of luck. were getting what they were getting for the rest of the season and that was in the contract for the CSA. So, yeah, I was just curious about how people handle that because I have not really sold anything  yet.  Well, I've sold granola at the farmer's market with my cottage food registration, but other than that, I haven't really done a whole lot with it yet. Yeah, yeah, that's  and you know, I guess  each

15:38
to each his own,  everyone can run their business how they want, but  I just, I wouldn't feel right.  I'm the one who messed it up. Now, if the consumer comes and says, you know, I've already made the cookies and they come back and say, oh, you know what, nevermind, cancel the order.  Then in that case, like, okay, that's fine. know,  good luck finding somebody else and that your deposit, I've already made the cookies, so your deposit is.

16:06
is non-refundable. I would definitely not refund it then. Yep. And then what you do is you turn around and find somebody who wants those cookies and you sell them.  Yep.  Yep. You sell them. And if you're  feeling generous, just take them to,  you donate them to a local shelter or a hospital or take them down to the police station or  somewhere. You donate them to  somebody.  That's what I would do. mean, normally what I would do is

16:34
If I have extra cookies from an event or something, I go on Facebook on, I live at Eden Prairie, so on the local Eden Prairie Facebook groups and I say flash sale.  I couldn't sell these cookies yesterday. They're half price. so  rarely, I don't think I've ever  not sold them when I put them on  Facebook for half price. They go pretty quick. Oh yeah. I also hear that assisted living facilities really like donated cookies.

17:04
Yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely. I didn't even think about that.  I will keep that in mind for sure. That's an amazing idea.  Yep.  They,  it's really funny because a lot of the older folks, I don't want to say old, just older than me,  certain cookies really bring back memories for them.  And shortbread, I would bet would do that. So. Yeah. Oh, I would guess the same thing.

17:33
Food is such an amazing thing. mean,  again, food can be really hard for people who have issues with it. But for people who don't have issues with food, food is one of the best things in life. And it's about the sense, it's about texture, it's about the memories it brings back.  And baked goods for sure are a huge trigger. Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, okay, the cottage foodie thing. It is  only for people that

18:04
do cottage food, is that right? That's correct. Okay, so like canned goods are okay, baked goods are okay. I know in Minnesota we can't use  cream cheese, frosting, and  there's water restrictions in the food, things like that. But basically anything shelf stable, right? Correct. Okay. All right, cool.  And  we still can't ship in Minnesota.

18:34
Still can't do it. You can ship pet treats, but,  and this is funny, I've had numerous conversations with the cottage, Minnesota Cottage Food Association, and we chuckle about this when we think about it.  Pet treats,  and I don't make pet treats, but I  think that they have to be  essentially for human consumption. They've got to be made with ingredients that are for human consumption. Yes. So we can ship.

19:03
these dog treats that we could eat,  but we can't ship cookies that we could eat  because it's not a pet treat. So maybe we just need to label everything dog treats.  Only for doggos. But if  you take a bite to make sure it's okay, that's cool.  I actually had a brain thing, I don't know what you call it, inspiration, talking with someone months ago on one of the podcast episodes.

19:32
And it occurred to me that if we're going to ship, you know, baked goods,  we're going to make the stuff in our kitchen. We're going to package it, package it up in our kitchen.  We're going to hike our cute little butts down the post office and get a tracking number when we ship the treats. And then they end up exactly where they were meant to go to the person that ordered them.  Where is the problem with this? It is tracked.

20:01
all the way through. Yeah.  Yeah. I do not understand. Oh, this is a passion project of mine too, because like I mentioned, I've got a wholesale food manufacturing license and a cottage food registration. So I make these my cookies in the commercial kitchen. Okay. I take them to the post office. I ship them because then from a commercial kitchen, as long as they're made there, I can ship all I want. Yeah.

20:31
I'm taking these cookies to the exact same, the exact same people would be handling these cookies, my boxes,  whether it's coming from my home kitchen  or from a commercial kitchen.  And the reason, from what I understand, the reason that the legislature is not approving us shipping is because they're worried about food safety and us not handing it direct to the consumer.  Well, I mean, that just doesn't make any sense to me. The same people are handling it, whether I make it in my home kitchen.

21:00
or in a commercial kitchen.  And if the box is opened, when it gets to the consumer, they're probably not going to eat it. They're like, they're going to send it back to me they're going to call me and say, Matt, this is damaged. It was opened.  it just,  there's just, I just don't see the, the food safety, quote unquote, scare  of shipping something in the mail.  There, there isn't one. And the only thing I can think of is that the people, the powers that be as it were,

21:30
Don't quite understand this. Yeah, that's that's all I can think of and

21:39
I'm not going to say what company, because I do not want to start a flame war on my podcast, but we, we ordered some tomato seeds from a company,  um, a month ago. Um, there would, we ordered four packages of 125 seeds each and they came in the mail and my husband was planting them. And because he has ADD,  he counted each seed as he planted it.  One pack was like,

22:07
80 seeds, one was 91 seeds, so far short of 125 each. Oh yeah. And I emailed the company and I was like, um, just so you know, there's not 125 seeds in these packages. And the person that wrote me back was super nice. And they were like, um, would you like us to replace the two that you've opened or would you, know, how do you want to make this right? And I said, well, ideally I'd like four new packages because the other two are probably short as well. They were totally cool with that.

22:36
We're going to put former packages in the mail. Should you marry? Here you go. It'll be here. It'll be there in a week or so. What they didn't know is that once those packages got mailed out in the little paper mailer that they sent it in, it got mangled in one of the machines at the post office. We got two packages out of the four. And my husband was like, you've got to be kidding me. And I said, it's not the company's fault. It's the mail.

23:04
And I said, I am not emailing them and being like,  so this time this is what happened.  he says, yeah, he said, we're going to save seeds from our tomatoes this year and that way we'll just have them for next spring. said, that's a great plan. Let's do that.  so yeah, there's no accounting for what happens when it goes into the mail system. And  if you ship a box of cookies and they get, the box gets ruined in the mail, that is not your fault. It's the mail's fault.

23:35
Yeah. So, yeah, yeah. Unless that, you know, unless they open up the box and they see that I didn't like package it at all.  Just like  random cookies laying around in a box that then it's, yeah, then it would 100 % be my fault. But the way that it, when I'm shipping from the commercial kitchen, the way that I, the way that I package those, it's like, unless the post office is using my boxes for a football or a basketball,

24:03
There should be no reason why the cookies don't get to where they need to go unharmed. And knock on wood, had one person say that the cookies didn't arrive in perfect shape, but they also in the same breath, were like, yeah, but the box was not, it was intact, but they could see that it was mishandled. was not, they could tell that it wasn't my fault. So they didn't ask for a refund. They're just like,

24:33
Just want to let you know that this is what happened.  So if you hear anything else, you might want to check with the post office to see what's going on. Yeah, for sure.  Back  to the powers that be that won't let us ship our goods.  The other thing that I wonder about is if maybe our people in our local government have bigger fish to fry.

24:57
Yeah, yeah, it,  who knows, I just,  I do, agree with you that I think it's just a lack of knowledge.  And,  you know, that's, that's a big thing. And so they don't,  if they don't really know a lot about it, yes, they're going to move on to like you put it, the bigger fish to fry, we have other things to worry about. I don't really know exactly what this is. So let's just

25:24
you know, let's just move on from that because I don't know exactly what that is. So let's just move on to, yeah, as you put it, you know, bigger fish to fry with budgets and things like that. So yeah, I would agree. Yeah. And the other thing that I laugh about is most cookies have so much sugar in them, their half life is forever. Like they wouldn't be rotten even 150 years from now. They'd be hard as a rock, but they wouldn't poison you. Yep. Yeah.

25:54
Yeah, like my shortbread cookies. I will,  I've like  date tested them or I don't know what the actual term is, but you know, I just,  I'll have them sit  and they'll actually be sitting out on my counter. I won't even have them in anything.  And even sitting like that, I'll come back to it. You know, I'll keep  testing them and like two weeks after they have  been made and they're still good. They're still good. They're

26:21
They're  drier, of course.  You can taste the difference. They're not fresh. But yeah, they're still good. Nothing in a shortbread cookie or any other cookie, a chocolate chip cookie or sugar cookie, nothing in those cookies is going to be harmful to you if you ate a cookie six months from now that you found in your freezer or  on a shelf somewhere. In the cabinet because you put them there thinking you'd get to them and didn't. Yeah.  Yeah.

26:50
Because truth be told, you can forget about cookies in the cabinet and  not remember them for a year. Oh, it  is definitely possible. I had some in my freezer, some frozen cookie dough,  and  kind of forgot about it. It just kind of gets pushed to the back.  yeah, was in there for, gosh, it was in there for,  I hate to say it, but almost two years.  Pulled it out, made it, baked it. It was delicious.

27:18
Yeah, it's still just fine. Yeah. And if you live at my parents' house in Maine,  they have a border collie who will not let them forget that they have snickerdoodles for her.  My mom  makes snickerdoodle cookies. She does them as a bar. So she just spreads the batter in a pan and bakes it.  And they give it to their dog as a treat.  I keep trying to tell them that giving dogs sugar and cinnamon probably isn't the best plan.

27:48
Every time I tell them my dad says well Mary Evelyn and I hear that and I'm like, uh-huh This dog  runs like ten miles a day on the property. She's just burning that sugar. So it's okay. I'm like, all right  Okay  So that dog gets the best treats on the planet as far as I'm concerned. Oh, yeah

28:12
I would agree 100 % with that.  Yeah. Our Australian shepherd does not get snickerdoodles because I want the snickerdoodles.  Well, that's the other thing.  And  I don't know how many people really know what a snickerdoodle cookie is supposed to be because there are stores in Minnesota that sell them and they're weird.  they don't  even compare to a homemade snickerdoodle.

28:42
Oh yeah. Yeah, I don't make snickerdoodles, but  I should make that into a shortbread now that you mention that. I should see if I can get that flavor into a shortbread cookie somehow.  It's just butter and cinnamon and sugar. I'm guessing you probably could do it super easy. Yeah, yeah. But  yeah, I don't, so I don't know exactly what goes into a snickerdoodle, but yeah, I mean, a homemade is

29:12
is always, it's not even gonna compare to,  or a store bought cookie is not even gonna compare to a homemade cookie. There's just no way. Yeah,  I found the recipe for those cookies you get. I don't even know what they're called. They're like a sour cream cookie that all of Minnesota stores sell. And they're the ones that are just a white cookie  that have like a buttercream frosting on top with sprinkles.  Oh yeah.

29:40
And I don't love those. They're super dry and I won't buy them because I'm not going to eat them.  I found a recipe for them. I'm going to try making them and see if they're better than the ones you can buy.  I will be shocked if they're not.  And I swear to you, my husband made huge, God, they must've been five inches across, maybe six inches across  chocolate cookies a couple of weeks ago.

30:09
He just wanted to make them. I was like, okay.  And they came out really flat and they were crispy on the outside and really like gooey, chewy on the inside. It's the recipe that his mom used to make. And I bit into one of these cookies and I was like, you didn't really use the recipe that I have. You made them the way your mom made them. And he said, I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, these are exactly like my mom's. And I was like, I'll TV proud.

30:37
And he passed away like five years ago.  And I'm telling you, I bit into that cookie and all I could see was his mom handing me one of these cookies. It was crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Well, like you mentioned earlier, that's what food does.  You know,  it brings you back. It  reminds you of something,  especially baked goods, you know, like a cookie or a loaf of bread or, you know, anything like that.

31:07
It takes us back to  memories of growing up nine times out of ten. Yeah, my kids are always going to be reminded of me when they get a really good brownie, because I make a killer brownie.  And they would ask for them for their birthday instead of birthday cake.  Yeah.  So I can just imagine when I'm gone, my kids are going to be like, oh my God, this is just like the brownies mom used to make, you know?  Yeah.  So.

31:37
Anyway,  the cottage foodie thing,  what's in the works? Is there anything happening with that or just keep growing it?  Yeah, just keep growing.  Ideally, we get to all 50 states because,  well, take that back. I wonder.

31:59
Don't have to spot check me on my facts here, but we might only have cottage food laws in 48 out of the 50 states. But yeah, just keep growing. That's my ultimate goal is just to keep growing and keep helping cottage food producers quote unquote, get their name out there. So, and we'll see where it takes us. You know what I think would be super fun? I mean, you don't have to do it, but I was just thinking about it.

32:29
You need merch, you need like baseball caps and t-shirts and stuff.  Oh,  again, I go back to my wife is not going to appreciate that we had  this call right now.  So I think that's a great idea. Like, I'm  and for me, the very first thing I would do,  and it's probably more for me than an apron.  No,  no quarter zips.  I'm like pull over.

32:58
quarter zip.  Not really a switcher, but yeah,  I'm addicted to quarter zips. I've got a closet.  My closet is half full of just different quarter zip.  So if I could throw some logos on there, I'd be in seventh heaven. But I think an apron would be great.  That would be cool. That would be cool. And  I'm forgetting, do you have an actual logo for the cottage foodie? You do, right? I do. Yeah. Yep. It's

33:29
It's basically like the shape of a house and then almost like a stamp of approval in the middle and it has the word homemade and then there's a check mark in the middle of the stamp of approval. Yeah, I want an apron with that logo on it right now. Well, I mean, now that you've mentioned it, I'm thinking that, you know, the logo right smack dab in the middle of the apron. Yeah, that would be pretty cool. Yeah, it'd be really fun. But your wife said no more businesses, so you got to figure out a way to loop it underneath the cottage foodie business.

33:58
Yeah, see, well, yeah, this is I'm not starting a new business. I'm just expanding the current one.  It's just promotion, honey. That's all. Yes, exactly.  This podcast is actually under our A Tiny Homestead LLC business. And I got paid for something the other day and my husband was like, I'm going to need that number.  And I said, what number? And he said, the number of dollars that you received. And I was like, for what? And he's like,

34:27
taxes. And I went, ah crap.  Yep, okay fine, I will get you that number.  And I was so excited when this happened because I was like, I made money finally off the podcast. And then I was like, I gotta pay Uncle Sam some of that money.  Yeah, that's definitely the downside to making money.  Yep, it's There's always a handout.

34:51
It's not much but it's just kind of sad when you have a number in your head and then you're like Oh, I only get to keep this much of it. Yeah But still very excited because I really was working on this for a while and I'm like I just needed to make some money to show that it's worth it. That's Yeah,  well, that's awesome.  So  anyway

35:12
I can't think of any more questions. I'm really glad you took the time to catch up with me today and very excited about the Cottage Foodie Directory. I think it's brilliant. Oh, well, thank you. And thank you so much for having me back on again. was  thrilled that you messaged me a couple of days ago and say, hey, want to come back on? Well, yes. When do you want to talk? I'm ready.  So  thank you so much for having me back on. It's just blast  to be able to chit chat with you. So I had a lot of fun. Well, you're welcome.

35:42
And I wanted to wait a while before I had you back so that we could talk about what was happening with it. Yeah, perfect timing. Good. All right. So you have a great weekend. It's Friday. Who knew? And enjoy it. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow and then kind of not nice Sunday, I think. So enjoy tomorrow. That's what I hear. That's what I hear. So, yep, you have a great weekend, too. All right. Thank you so much, Matt.

36:11
Thanks, Mary. Bye. Bye.