By Pauline Benetti
Are you looking for a special breakfast treat for Christmas morning… or a unique piece of jewelry for that special someone? Then take a look at a new venue, PagosaFarmersMarket.net
You will find that and much more conveniently offered online by local Producers and Makers.
In addition to convenience and finding the perfect solution to your needs, there is another good reason for shopping locally. The money you spend here stays local, benefits our community and adds to economic vitality; that means we all thrive, and to the degree that we can depend on our local production engines, we are increasingly resilient and sustainable, and our tread on the planet is just that much lighter.
This venue also offers a unique opportunity to those of you who are Producers or Makers. Perhaps, as a Producer you already preserve food products at the end of the summer or have laying chickens or make honey or raise beef that could be processed at a USDA approved facility… and could use some extra income. Perhaps you are an artist, artisan or crafter, one of our locally talented Maker…and could use some extra income. In both cases, the Pagosa Farmers Market Online offers a rare opportunity to put your products out there at almost no cost – only the credit card fees. Go online; take a look – Pagosa Farmers Market.net.
Our first featured vendors today is Pine Mountain Toffee. If you were at the Market this summer you met Brittany Cone selling the best toffee you have ever tasted and it comes ready to put under the Christmas tree in a neat package.
It’s always interesting to inquire into the background of our vendors and Brittany does have an interesting background. Here’s what she says:
“Pine Mountain Toffee Company started as a hobby/back-up business while I was a bench scientist at CU. As with all grant-funded academic positions, there is some job uncertainty if grants don’t get funded. Ultimately, the lab did receive more funding so I was able to stay, working on nanoparticle technology very similar to the COVID-19 vaccine technology (I have a patent pending…)”
In 2020 she and husband moved to Pagosa Springs which meant giving up her science career (too few laboratories in our neat little corner of Colorado) and transitioning to another type of job… but she kept the toffee company as her side gig.
This is how she explains starting the gig:
“When we first started the business, I had never really made candy before. And I certainly am not the first person to make flavored toffee, I just took an idea and tried it. I started with just a plain toffee to see if I could actually make candy, and that was a good initial success. Next, we had a brainstorming session to come up with a list of flavor ideas. I would pick one on the list that sounded reasonably simple and think about how to incorporate the flavor into the toffee.
“That was about the time where the learning experiences began. The type of flavor being added, the timing of flavor addition, whether the flavor is a spice or an extract, and temperatures are all variables in this kitchen experiment that’s going on. Having a science background has definitely helped with the troubleshooting process.”
It was a natural transition then from nanoparticles in the lab to toffee in the kitchen, a good lesson for those who are searching for a new career! And a great potential idea for those searching for Holiday gifts available right here in Our Town.
Our second vendor is Susie Jones and her relatively new business, Simply Sweets, LLC. Again if you were at the Pagosa Farmers Market this summer you would have seen her under her umbrella with mouthwatering displays of fruit turnovers, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and fruit pies. If you were really lucky you were there when Palisade peaches were ripe and able to snag one of her fruit- filled delights — the very essence of summer!
Susie sees a connection between her major in journalism with years of interviewing and writing for newspapers and magazines and her new baking career and puts it this way, “Baking pastries, especially pies, turnovers and cinnamon rolls, like writing articles, lets me be creative but also accurate and precise and put out a high-quality product.”
Susie embarked on her commercial baking career In the decade prior to starting Simply Sweets baking at a couple of local businesses, now out of business, the Chimney Rock Farm Market west of town and the Old Town Market in town.
About the Pagosa Farmers Market Susie says, “The Market, both live and online, has given me a venue for advertising and marketing, allowing me to do more of what I love – the hands-on baking!” For this Christmas and New Year’s season Simply Sweets will feature two Holiday specials, cranberry-apple and winter peach pies in two forms, whole and pie-for-two.
In addition to this week’s featured vendors, the Market presents a fine selection of other vendors with holiday and winter appropriate products: Artemisia Botanicals with extracts and elixers to keep you healthy this winter; Nancy Green Jewelry and Ta’s Tangle Art with unique gifts found only in Pagosa; Lucy’s Tamales for that special meal; the Dyna Bakery with more baked goods and coming soon Alpacalypse Ranch and Oak Hill Farm with alpaca fiber yarn and socks.
Please note the following special Holiday hours: for Christmas ordering the Market is open from midnight Sunday 12/19 to noon Wednesday 12/22 with delivery on Friday 12/24; for New Years ordering the Market is open from midnight Sunday December 26 to noon Wednesday December 29 with delivery on Friday December 31.
Do take a look — pagosafarmersmarket.net