It sure has been a minute since we blogged on the website!
Our apologies...we do have a good excuse; two actually.  Between making products and doing shows, we've had little time to get to the computer and post on the blog. Since our last post, we have been in the commercial kitchen making late season preserves, participating in several markets, food shows, tastings and webinars galore! We are thankful for all the opportunities as exhausting as some of them have been. Well, the holiday season is almost upon us and Providence Preserves is cranking it up again!
In cooperation with a few other Black, female-owned food businesses, we will be offering corporate level gifting this season. Stay tuned!!! 

So we've been in the commercial kitchen making Peach Jam, Berry-Peachy Jam, Peach Habanero Jam and Sugar-Free Peach Jam. But this isn't just the season for peaches; we've been making pickled items too: Pickled Okra, Dilly Beans, Squash Pickles and Bread & Butter Pickles.  We're getting our veggies from Aisle 5ive this season since We Over Me Farm only has cukes growing right now. 

So, what do you do when you got lots of peaches and lots of ginger? Do you create a new jam? Peachy Ginger? Or, do you make what has been tried and true like Peach Jam, Berry-Peachy Jam and Peach Habanero Jam?

Its been a minute ... or two since we last posted. There's been a lot going on; from the passing of a beloved relative to saying goodbye to friends & family moving back to the east coast, to meeting sons' significant other to celebrating our 50th high school reunion with our 1972 classmates. Talking about a roller coaster of emotions!!!
But we're back to doing our thing- making preserves.
Its Jalapeno Mint Jelly time. The mint as well as the dill & rosemary are all looking good.

This has been a busy weekend for us. Doing a show 2 days in a row is more than a notion! West Wall Street @Deep Ellum was a VERY high energy market. This first-time market featured minority-owned female businesses. Needless to say, I was in very good company. The area is known to have lots of tourist and this past weekend was no exception. Just about all of our Friday customers were from out-of-state. Our first customers, pictured here, were from Fort Myers Florida. Local ABC affiliated station WFFA, did a short feature about the West Wall Street/Deep Ellum event.
​Keep preserving those memories!

We have been in the commercial kitchen all morning making Strawberry Jam, Tomato pear Chutney and Squash Pickles for the 2 day West Wall Street event in Deep Ellum this wknd. We and 24 other vendors will be in the courtyard area of the Harlowe MXM on Malcolm X and Main from 11 til 4. We are excited and looking forward to seeing our returning customers and meeting new ones. Come on by and get you favorite jams, pickles, chow-chow and southern biscuit mix. See you there!

#strawberryjam
#squashpickles
#tomatopearchutney
#southernbiscuitmix
#westwallstreet
#deepellum
#supportsmallbusinesses
​#smallbatchpreserves
#providencepreserves

Providence Preserves and 24 other vendors will be at the West Wall Street @ Deep Ellum event this Friday & Saturday, April 29 & 30 at The Harlowe MXM on Main St & Malcolm X Blvd, downtown Dallas, from 11am until 4pm.
You won't be disappointed! Look for more posts this week
​
#ProvidencePreserves
#strawberryjam
#berrypeachyjam
#sugarfreepeachjam
#SouthernBiscuitMix
#breadandbutterpickles
#squashpickles
#chowchow
#hotchowchow
​#tomatopearchutney

It has been a minute since we last posted on the website blog. I guess you could say we've been resting up for the upcoming season. We can already tell its going to be a busy one, (hopefully). During the month of March, we have been vendors in a brand new market in Grand Prairie Texas called The Jewels International Holistic Farmers Market. The market is only held twice a month starting out, but the potential to grow is certainly there! We've met some fantastic vendors and since it is Womens History Month, Lets showcase some of the female customers we met at our first market there. Looking forward to seeing these ladies next time.

We are often asked if we make Koolaide Pickles. No, No and No.
No, our pickles are not "flavored" 
No, the pickling process is not the same
No, the taste is not the same
I have nothing against Koolaide Pickles.  I know some lovely people who both make them and eat them. I'm just not one of those persons. We make pickles through a "canning" process in which they are prepped in salt and ice and then cooked in a brine and preserved in sterilized jars. There is a difference...
So, when you see a jar of Bread & Butter Pickles, Cinnamon Cucumber Rings, Squash Pickles or Watermelon Rind Pickles, please appreciate the time and effort that went into making those pickles.

We ship 95% of our orders via US Postal Service Priority Mail because of the set box shipping cost. My customers really save more money when they buy more product because the shipping cost is a set amount. It is very seldom we use other carriers. Those postal workers on the front lines are some amazing people given the volume of packages they handle and deliver, especially during the Christmas holidays. Of the millions they deliver, a small portion of those packages were jams, biscuit mix and pickles from Providence Preserves.
Getting orders ready for shipment actually began as early as March or April when we first start making preserves for the new season. It takes the bees pollinating the flowers/plants, farmers growing and harvesting the crops, the jar companies shipping jars on time and unbroken, correct size lids, the printers making the various labels, scheduling commercial kitchen rental time and hoping all the other ingredients needed are fresh and available. 
Once we make our products when the fruits and vegetables are at their peak, they are packaged and sealed fresh awaiting orders. 
In the final steps, we hand our boxes to our friends at the Cedar Hill Post Office to begin the journey, along with millions if not billions of other packages to their final destination. These ladies at our local post office are always polite and professional when I arrive there with your orders. The boxes are labeled and handled with care from my hands to yours. Thankfully, no one has reported receiving damaged goods.
Thank you for entrusting us to make & mail you a quality product. We hope the jams, pickles and chow-chow you receive gives you not only nourishment but feelings of happiness and contentment.
Thank you.
Stay encouraged.
​Kenny & Debbie