Amazing clients, and help us help you!

We have amazingly dedicated clients. They have been SEEKING OUT our products:

Steven,
My good friend had us to dinner the other evening and made a wonderful salad with your Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar as the dressing. She said she had only seen your product in New York and her cousin brings her a bottle every time she comes, so I decided to look you up on the internet and was so pleased to find I could purchase the vinegar through you.
Thank you.

Which reminds me - where do you want to see this product? How do you want to buy this? We've been working on our distrubution - this store, that retail outlet - what is best for YOU?

Let us know - comment here or on the site

Strawberries, BBQ Sauce and Butter

We're trying out new stuff - and mind you, none of it was my idea, so I immediately figured it was stupid. You'd think by this time in my life, I'd learn. I'm reminded of the friend who did his MBA dissertation on why Fedex was going to fail.

For the record, Strawberry BBQ sauce is phenomenal. The taste of strawberries just comes through as sweetness - not fruit. In commercial products, this sweetness is usually supplied by high fructose corn syrup. But in this one, the sweetness isn't based on a sugar product, so the sauce doesn't burn as readily as grocery store BBQ sauce. Ron added more of a kick to it than I thought necessary - wrong again I am. My chicken has never tasted so good.

Guess we're not reinventing the wheel, here, either - there are quite a few recipes for this online. (Sweet Hot Strawberry BBQ Sauce, Spicy and Sweet Strawberry Barbecue Sauce, Jalapeno-Strawberry BBQ Sauce) We should have some selling it ready-made...

The butter is the strawberry variety - not strawberries mixed into butter (my first thought) but just strawberries cooked down with spices until they are soft and spreadable. Think apple butter, but with strawberries.

As I was critiquing it ("Too much this, not enough that"), I went through the whole jar with a spoon. Then said - "well, maybe it's just right."

I'll keep you posted on when these are available.

Online Feedback and Vinegar Cures

We are always amazed and humbled when someone takes the time to contact us to let us know their thoughts about a product. We have had a few online , and 5 or 6 emailed to us in the past few weeks. Our favorite is from a woman in Rhinebeck:

"I bought a couple bottles of the strawberry vinegar at the garlic festival in Saugerties back in September. Now it's mostly what I use in salad. My favorite salad I make with it is greens, feta cheese, crushed walnuts, cut up strawberries and the strawberry vinegar. I also put a shot of strawberry vinegar in hot water and drink it like a tea. I'ts good stuff I can't find anywhere else! "

We thought it was only the wise ones in our family (ie: older generation) who knew about drinking vinegar in water! My Grandmother's doctor prescribed hot Vinegar tea for almost every ailment that ever hit our family.

Curious, I poked around online to see if there is any true health benefit - seems like there is. I won't go into a discussion here regarding some of the more disgusting topics, but I'm thrilled to find some basis for the general pick-me-up properties of this family treasure.

Take a look at the Healthboard, and this Uses for Vinegar group site where vinegar tea is mentioned more than a few times. They use mainly Apple Cider Vinegar, but we weren't aware there was such a thing until we left for college, and the Strawberry vinegar seemed to do the same for us. And taste better, too.

I'm going to email this blog and see if she'll contribute her salad recipe - that sounds like it would keep body and soul happy, as well...

Strawberry Vinegar and the Magic Kingdom

Well, we admit that a trip to Disney World has never been our style - camping in Canada, maybe, but, well, that's a rant for another post.

However, we have to admit that a few recent inquiries by customers has us intrigued. It seems that The Liberty Tree Tavern in the (at the???) Magic Kingdom is using a very popular Strawberry Vinegarette recipe. Our customers are fans of our Strawberry Vinegar, and wanted to get the recipe for this vinegarette.

We've passed it on, made it ourselves, and done enough poking into the Magic Kingdom to maybe, just maybe, think about it at some point....

Lifestyle, Cooking and Menu's, Oh, My!!

We've had quite an increase in business after the Festivals we attended this fall, and happily, many of you have asked for more ways to use our products. We're turning to a friend of ours, beautiful and talented Mikaela, and her equally beautiful and talented chef boyfriend, to maintain an informative blog with Lifestyle, Cooking, and Menus, especially Occasion menus.

Take a look at the first pass, and comment as you like!

http://kaelaskitchen.blogspot.com/

Trader Joe's? We're old enough to remember Trader Vic!

The nearest Trader Joe's ("your neighborhood grocery store") to us is closer to the City (NYC), so while we're familiar with them, we didn't expect to hear about them again, and again, and again at the festivals, and more recently, via phone and email.

It seems that customers that like Trader Joe's like us, too. We had one woman who swore she has purchased our Strawberry Marinade in a Trader Joe's on Long Island. (That's our cue to smile and nod.)

If you've been to a Trader Joe's, you understand the connection. These are GREAT stores. We have a tendency to buy too much when we do find one. Interesting products, good prices, and an all-around fun atmosphere to shop. (Balloons for everyone!!) We feel very hip and with it when we come home. And then we use the handled brown bags to tote things around, so that others will know we're hip and with it, too.

For the record, Trader Vic (a real person) invented the Mai Tai in the 30's. No, we weren't there. Yes, we know our way around a Mai Tai.

It's called Harvest time for a reason

Because it's busy!! And busy we have been, with buttoning up the farm for the season, attending these fairs, and increasing production of the vinegar products.


First, the fairs - They were FABULOUS. Not only were we busy non stop selling our products through the 14 hour days, but the customers were wonderful, the weather was sunny and bright, and the other vendors at the events were fantastic. Amazing.

There were over 50,000 attendees at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival. And I think we spoke to 3/4 of them. The Remsen Barnfest was slightly slightly smaller, but with room to breathe, our customers spent a bit more time with us. Remson is a beautiful village, by the way, if you ever get to upstate NY


Strawberry Vinegar still seems to be the favorite. We were so thrilled to have customers that were not only familiar with the products, but were telling US about how they use them. Take a look at our recipe section.

We'll be there next year again, let us know if you want some info...