I was practically raised in the kitchen. Some of my earliest - and fondest - memories are of standing on a stool, helping my mother - an excellent cook in her own right - baking, canning or preparing meals. When she had to take a fulltime job, I was the one, at age 10, who happily made dinner, creating my own concoctions with the raw ingredients. And I never stopped loving it!

Shift to the present... Now, living in the High Desert in California, it is enough to give a thirsty plant or tree a drink to be rewarded with a bumper crop. I started making marmalades and preserves from the trees in my small orchard and gifting them to friends.

LIMITED EDITION: MARMALADES AND PRESERVES

I began selling locally and enjoying the positive feedback of strangers for my recipes, still using my own fruit, local fruit from friends and herbs and spices from my garden. The objective was always to showcase the primary ingredients and their tree-ripened outstanding flavor, cook and prepare without cutting any corners.

I found that by cooking with NO PECTIN the flavors of the fruit and spices could truly shine. Commercial preserves typically use pectin and have a maximum of 25% fruit or vegetables. Mine have close to 75% fruit.

REAL ITALIAN BISCOTTI

Living in Italy for 12 years as an adult, I fell in love with the Tuscan specialty hard cookies, called "biscotti" they dip in Vin Santo after a meal. "Biscotti" literally means "twice cooked", as these cookies are baked, then sliced, then baked again. They also contain no fats/butter or oil of any kind. Indulging my passion I learned how to make these authentic Italian biscotti and, infusing them with my own flavor interpretations, added them to my product line.

Our product offerings are always changing with the seasonal fruits, vegetables and spices available locally. And I am always creating new recipes for you to enjoy! Quantities are prepared with care and are very limited. Please email us to see what we have for you!

HOMEMADE JERKY FOR PEOPLE

To me, beef jerky has always been a favorite snack. It is low in fat (97 percent fat free), high in concentrated protein, perfect for my life on the go. In my quest for healthy and delicious treats, it was a natural evolution to use my homemade lime glazes and citrus preserves in tangy and richly flavored jerky.

Using top quality USDA Choice leanest beef and adding only natural soy sauce and fresh and dried chilis, I was able to develop outstanding varieties to appeal to all tastes - non-spicy, medium spicy and.. SPICY!

PURE CHICKEN JERKY FOR CATS

At the same time, I came up with the idea of making pure chicken jerky for my cats. I already feed a raw diet (fresh chicken mostly), and am always looking for healthy treats for my crew.

However, I was astounded at the enthusiastic reception of the chicken jerky! Normally sweet little pussycats turned into lions protecting their prey! Very funny. It is hard to find treats that are good for cats and that they really care about. But stumbling on to this one, was a nice surprise.

The chicken jerky for cats is made in small bites that cats can easily chew - unlike the big, honking strips of jerky treats that are made for dogs!