1) Where does your passion for food come from?
Our passion for preserving comes from the history of this place (Orcas Island) and the desire to preserve both its story and the heirloom fruit grown here, from trees which have been feeding the community for over a hundred years. We think there is nothing more beautiful than gathering simple ingredients and sharing them with friends over a table.
2) Tell us about your culinary journey.
It’s no secret I’m a junkie for sugar. I’m a fan of confections high brow and low. And I’ve always admired and respected traditional domestic arts, those perfected over generations. My foray into preserving came a bit out of necessity, when my husband and I moved to Orcas Island from Manhattan and bought a piece of property with some prolific fruit trees. In addition to what was falling on my head in my own garden, I was beginning to learn more and more about the fruit-producing history of the island, and I was smitten.
3) Where is your favorite place to eat?
Around our big table in the yard with my family.
4) Where do you source your ingredients?
Our fruit is sourced almost exclusively from the San Juan Islands. We use Fair Trade, organic, unrefined sugar, and organic lemons. The occasional herb or spice comes from our kitchen garden or our neighbors.
5) Tell us about a new product you are working on.
We have just introduced a line of bitters. We try to use as much of the whole fruit as possible, and the pits were the last frontier. We soaked them in some fiery booze from our pal at Orcas Distillery to extract their flavor and aged our Peach Bitters in rye barrels from Woodinville Whiskey. We are pretty excited to dust some rye on a rock with these.
