Cajeta Again

So, after reading all the comments and cautions from readers AND after getting feedback about the samples I gave to various friends, neighbors and store owners, there has been a slight change in plans.
First, I will be selling the cajeta in smaller jars. I'll save the big jars for my home canning.
I'll can the cajeta in half-pint jars instead.
Cajeta is rather intense in flavor, so most folks only use it as a *special* treat. A smaller jar just makes more sense.
I looked over the laws/restrictions/rules/etc. for selling homemade goods in Texas and in El Paso and I think there is a lot more there than I want to deal with!
Now, I can sell at Farmers Markets without going through all that red tape, I can also sell online with relatively little hassle.
So, I will do online and local (but limited) sales.
Now that I have settled all those issues...

Cajeta bubbling away on my stove, heading for yummy goodness! Still a few hours to go, but the house already smells delicious!
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I love my dog, as I have mentioned before.
She is allowed ANYWHERE in the house, except one spot. She cannot get on our bed.
Guess where her favorite spot is?
Guess where I found her when I came in from milking?

I hadn't made the bed yet, and left the door open, so there she was!
And she really doesn't look like she is feeling guilty, either, lol!
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Wang, our buck, wandering around the back patio while we were cleaning the pens!

Starting a Home Grown Business

I have reached the point where I want to start a small home grown business.
Since I learned to make cajeta, I have found that this is an item in short supply in my area.
This is surprising, as it is a traditional Mexican food item and I live in an area that is approximately 80% Hispanic...and of those, 90%+ are of Mexican ancestry!
I checked local grocers, even the small Mexican stores. I had to take along a friend to translate, as in some of them, no one spoke English! I found one store that sells traditional cajeta--made from goats milk and cane sugar---and they charge 12 dollars for a 10 oz. jar!
From what I gathered, the Nestle product in a few stores is imported from Mexico, is made from cows milk and uses high fructose corn syrup in it's manufacture.The Mexican grocers bemoaned the fact that import regulations limit their options and they cannot provide their customers with the *true* cajeta they so desperately crave.
I dropped off a few samples here and there and with some friends.
Consensus is that I have will have no problem selling it. I will be the only person in the area making it in the traditional manner!
The fella is bankrolling my efforts. He bought me the canning jars I will be using.
I sat down this weekend and figured out my costs. I hate math! But, I struggled through (with help from the fella, a calculator and the Boy and the Girl) and figured out my cost at $4.00 per 16 oz. jar.
More or less...heh-heh. Math is NOT my best subject.
It's actually a little less, but we rounded up.
Cajeta is traditionally made in 3 flavors.
Regular (which I have been making)
Chocolate (tried last week, need to tweak the recipe)
Spicy (made with the addition of salt, jalapeno peppers and habenero peppers---trying that flavor this week)

I figured I will offer all three flavors once I have my recipes tweaked to the way I want them.
Since the traditional cajeta imported from Mexico sells for $12.00 a jar (10 oz.), I figured I would sell my 16 oz jars for $8 to $10 each. I just have to see what the market will bear around here.I guess it will depend on how the shop/grocer wants to do it...buy wholesale from me and then price it themselves (8 bucks a jar wholesale?), or let me put it n their shop on consignment (10 bucks a jar retail?)
Eventually, I will also sell online.
I also want to produce some more products, especially for my online store.
I make aprons and shoulder bags. Within the last month, I have been complimented by strangers on my shoulder bags and all asked where I bought them. I think they would sell. I make them out of scrap fabric and they only take 20 to 30 minutes to stitch up.
Since I am still recovering from the cajeta math torture, I'll put off figuring the costs for the bags!
Right now, the cajeta is simmering away on a back burner and I am about to do a test batch of chocolate cajeta in the crockpot.
The house smells so yummy it is unbelievable!

Keep checking back for the progress of this endeavor, as in around 3 or 4 weeks, I plan to do a cajeta give-away for my readers when I launch my online store!