The Spice Sisters' Twisty Twisty Road Chapter 2
The Spice Sisters Twisty, Twisty Road Chapter 2
Yasmeen and Margaret spend from March 2020 until May of 2021 trying to find a farmer’s market interested in accepting a new value-added vendor as well as finding a commercial kitchen with the specific equipment they need to create an inventory of chutney large enough to meet the demand that will make Spice Sisters a proper business. After riding a roller coaster of shenanigans and tom foolery they finally end up at the Yardley and Wrightstown Farmer’s Markets where they are embraced and supported by some of the loveliest foodies on the planet. Through divine providence, they meet Italo the Magnificent who rules over a community kitchen in Trenton, NJ and finally start cooking in earnest.
The decision is made to cook the Twisted Tomato Chutney and Awesome Apple Salsa not just locally but seasonally. Since tomatoes are ripest from the end of July until mid-September, The Great Tomato Rush of 2021 begins. Italo introduces a wonderful woman farmer from south Jersey and over 2,000 pounds of super fresh, super ripe tomatoes later, the girls thank their kitchen hero helpers and take a deep breath.
Thank God those fresh apples keep a bit so they only make a few hundred pounds of Awesome Apple to keep them ahead. Now they are ready to head for the stores.
Finishing the farmers market season is bitter sweet. The future beckons but the lack of personal interaction with customers and fellow food lovers will be a challenge. The fact that jarred goods (never mind the Spice Team), cannot withstand temperatures below 50 degrees is the deciding factor in their decision to exit the farmers markets for the winter. Yasmeen prints up the sales sheets, Margaret puts on some lipstick and hits the marketing trail. Is it a blessing to have wonderful success straight out of the box? The first store Margaret enters (our friends at Colonial Farms in Washington Crossing, PA), orders 4 cases of condiments that day. The next week the lovely folkx at Olive n Grape in New Hope and Smithville, NJ take another 4 cases. Since then, it’s been a bit more challenging. The holidays were upon us, stores weren’t ready to take on new products and we haven’t had any new partners…YET.
BTW, please keep on asking for us at Organnons, McCaffrey’s and Shop Rite friends, and we’ll keep doing our best to get them to try our delicious-ness. Of course, we’re all ears if you have any suggestions for locations to try.
That pretty much brings us up to date. Stand by for the next chapter of Spice Sisters twisty, twisty road friends. You can also keep up us with us subscribing to this website and at SpiceSistersCafe on Facebook and Instagram.
Be well and keep it spicy!