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GOURMET NEWS FEBRUARY 2020 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 2 Seasonings and Garden Kits for Enjoying the Outdoors ters, but we have gift shops, any kind of tourist attraction – a lot of gift shops around the country," said Clyde, who is the company's Vice President. "We're in quite a few upscale grocery stores and corner mar- kets as well." Small-batch blended, all natural and gluten free, Backyard Safari's Dinner Tonight! meal starters allow the home cook to turn out a family meal for up to eight people in about 30 minutes. Two of the va- rieties have won gold sofi Awards from the Specialty Food Association. White Bean Chili Seasoning won a gold sofi Award in 2014, while Black Bean Tortilla Chili won the gold sofi Award in 2016. Other varieties include Southwestern Chipotle & Lime Fa- jita Seasoning, Salmon with Angel Hair Pasta Seasoning and Burger Seasoning. Packaging includes the whole shopping list for the meal on the back, so that a shop- per can pick up the meal starter package and then collect everything else that's needed for the recipe on the same shopping trip. For the ingredients to make the chili from the sofi Award-winning Dinner Tonight! Black Bean Tortilla Chili season- ing mix, for instance, the package lists a pound of chopped, cooked chicken breast and suggests a ro- tisserie chicken as an option; but- ter or oil; an onion; a quart of chicken broth or stock; a can of whole kernel corn; a can of black beans; salsa and heavy cream along with the seasoning mix and optional toppings that might in- clude sour cream, shredded cheese and cilantro. Each of the meal starters retails for $3.95 to $4.95. The com- pany's garden- ing kits are adorably pack- aged in egg car- tons that contain seeds and planting medium as well as instructions. "It's got everything that you need – you only have to add water and love," Clyde said. They retail for $11.99. The gardens are offered as two product lines: Sunny Side UP Gardens, which are intended for children, and GROW. Gardens, which offer the opportunity to "grow happiness in small spaces" and include a Tranquility Garden, Chili Pepper Garden, Cocktail Garden; Colors Flower Garden, Herb Garden, Honey Bee Habi- tat, Pizza Garden, Salsa Garden and Sunflower Garden. The Pizza Garden, for instance, in- cludes six packages of heirloom seeds for sweet basil, Heirloom Rutgers Tomatoes, green bell peppers, Greek Oregano, parsley and scallions along with everything else needed to start the gar- den plus growing instructions and even the recipes to make the pizza. The Tranquility kit comes with seeds for chamomile, holy basil, lavender, peppermint, wild bergamot and sage and includes recipes to make oil infusions, teas and a smudge stick. The egg carton planters are made from 100 percent recycled fiber, and the seed envelopes are made from FCS certified paper that contains 30 percent post con- sumer waste and was produced in a plant powered by wind. The Sunny Side UP garden kits for children come in a range of seven products: Kaleidoscope Flower Garden, Little Bunny Garden, Little Fresh Veggie Gar- den, Little Good Night Garden, Little Pizza Garden, Little Sum- mer Fun Garden and Little North Pole Garden, which includes six packages of non-GMO heirloom seeds for a spruce Christmas tree and five cool weather blooming flowers along with the planting medium, wooden plant identification stakes, growing instructions, growing journal, pencil and 100 percent recycled fiber egg carton planter. For more infor- mation, visit Backyard Safari Company at www.backyardsafarico.com. GN BY LORRIE BAUMANN Retirement was getting old for husband and wife Clyde and Sherri Hutchison in 2010, so the couple decided that, recession or no, it was time to start a new company. "There's never a good time to start a com- pany – you just have to do it," Clyde said. They called it Backyard Safari Company, and its initial mission was to make and sell grilling rubs that reflected Clyde's love of entertaining around his backyard grill. "I've always had an interest in grilling and fla- vors for meat and such," he said. "The Backyard Safari is adventure and fun in your back yard." Since then, they've expanded their product range to reflect Sherri's love of gardening and their shared love of hanging out with family and friends around the dining table. The Grill. spice rubs from Backyard Safari Company are of- fered in four flavors packed in tin metal tins. Grill. Grilled Corn Rub is a sweet chipotle spice blend; Grill. Steak & Burger is a peppered garlic rub; Grill. Chicken & Veg- gies is made with lemon zest and garlic; and the fourth is Grill. Seafood, a blend of rosemary, lemon and dill that can be added to melted butter to make a dipping sauce for shrimp, crab or lobster in addition to its use as a grilling rub. All four spice blends are all natural and gluten free. In addition, Backyard Safari Company offers a Dinner Tonight! line of meal starters, three seasoning mixes for nuts, and two lines of garden starter kits. "We're in a variety of stores – we are in meat coun- Southern Style from Mississippi Sisters product developer and the one who had the idea to start a gourmet food business eight years ago after she retired from teaching. "Claire just has always liked to cook," Alli- son said. "When we first started, I was just going to make labels and help Claire." Easley had a collection of recipes passed down from her mother, father and grand- mother that included family favorites as well as experience working in a local gour- met food shop that had given her insight into retailing. In Kay, she also had a sister who'd been doing photography for 30 years and was willing to shoot pictures and de- sign labels for her. Since she also had expe- rience making websites, she could be drafted to that too. The two of them decided to form a partner- ship in which each would con- tribute their own skills. "You do your thing, and I'll do mine. I don't step on her toes, and she doesn't do my computer work," Al- lison said. "My sister's the product devel- oper; I'm the computer lady, and we have figured out that if I can make something, anybody can – and that's true!" Newer products include Cherry Vanilla Bagel Spread and Waffle Topper, White Chocolate Bread Pudding Mix, Cheesy Cheddar Potato Soup and Cheddar Broc- coli Soup, while best-sellers include a Southern Chicken Salad mix; BLT Dip mix, which can also be used as the seasoning for a cheese ball; and the seasoning for a Gour- met Gumbo. The products are made in small batches and shipped from Coldwater, Mississippi. For more information, visit www.southern sistersgourmet.com. GN BY LORRIE BAUMANN Two former elementary school teachers have made a tiny town in northern Mississippi their headquarters for making Southern-style hospitality a convenient option for home cooks across the country. Their Southern Sis- ters Gourmet offers starter kits for Southern- style entrees, jams and jellies, mixes for dips and cheeseballs and mixes for treats like Mis- sissippi Mud Cake, Chocolate Cobbler and Chocolate Gravy – everything that a home cook would need to put a dinner party on the table in a flash, according to Kay Allison, the sister who handles the marketing and tech- nology duties for the company. Her sister, Claire Easley, is the company's

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