The Burns’ Family Blog & The Confection Chronicles

It’s no secret that I love to cook, but I often just do not have time and my kitchen is usually full of food being prepared for the rest of the world.  During the Christmas craft shows of last year, Jonathan and I decided we wanted to carry a line of dips, spices, rubs, etc.  We wanted something that could be quickly and easily prepared and didn’t require a lot of thought or extra ingredients.  With Jonathan growing up in Bud’s BBQ, he has a passion for grilling and BBQ.  He also wanted more home-cooked meals in the midst of the Confection Company growing like crazy! 

It has taken us this long to do it, but finally, we have Mr. Amy’s Gourmet Dips and Spices!  We brainstormed names from the day we came up with the concept and we finally settle on this one just a few weeks ago.  Why “Mr. Amy?”  When I do dessert caterings or go to set up a cake or even just when we work together at the shop, everyone always says to Jonathan, “Oh, you must be Mr. Amy.”  Of course, each person thinks they are the first one who has ever said and they get a kick out of it.  Jonathan being the great man he is has always taken it in stride and loves to tell people he is Mr. Amy.  Many of our customers do now know what his name really is.  So, it made perfect sense to us to call them Mr. Amy’s. 

I don’t often write about what I am selling at the Shops of Steele Street, but I just love these mixes, so I wanted to share the info with everyone else!

By far, my favorite one is J.B.’s Best Garlic Butter (Jonathan finally got to use his real name in there somewhere!).  It is excellent with olive oil as a bread dip or…and best of all…it makes awesome scampi!  We are not big shrimp fans, so I just cut up a couple of chicken breasts into bite-size cubes.  I then put the spice/oil mixture in a saute pan and brown the chicken.  I then add the sauce to a pot of cooked pasta and mix it all together.  Add a salad and some italian bread and it is an amazing dinner!  You could use it for a delicious shrimp scampi instead of the chicken.

Jonathan also used it on ribeye a few nights ago on the grill and it was the best steak I have ever had!  I want to try the Tuscany Blend on chicken on the grill this weekend. 

Our other current favorites are the Key Lime Pie and Royal Hawaiian dessert mixes.  I put them in the mini graham cracker crusts (in the Jello section of the grocery store) and we each have our own personal dessert.  The Hawaiian is great with a can of crushed pineapple added. 

As we find new uses for each of the dip mixes I will post the recipes!  I hope you enjoy!

UPDATE:  There will be samples of many of the new dips available for tasting at Shops of Steele Street tomorrow from 10 to 5:30!

UPDATE II:  Probably no dip samples today!  I couldn’t find anything I loved to put them in and keep them cold.  I’m making it my mission today to find something and next Saturday will be “Sampling Saturday!”

During the Downtown Sanford Bike Criterium last weekend, another merchant and I had a chance to chat about what we would like to see happen downtown.  She and I both do several craft shows a year across North Carolina and really enjoy every one of them.  We both also have friends who frequent the Pittsboro First Sunday festival and Siler City Third Fridays.  Both are great events that seem to bring a lot of folks into each downtown. 

I love our downtown and I feel honored to be able to have my little shop there.  When we travel, we always try to spend a day in the downtown district of whereever we may be.  We look at the distinct arcitecture and see what we unique spots we can find. 

I try to look at our downtown through those same “touristy” glasses every once and a while…like a few weeks ago when I once again noticed the georgeous tiles around Carolina Sporting Goods or the beautiful stonework above DWA Photography or even the little Coke bottles on the old Coca-Cola building (my favorite! — I’m try to get Beverly Brookshire to do a painting of this one!).  

In a recent editorial by Billy Liggett, he asked “Why Can’t Sanford Do That?”  I have asked myself this same thing my entire life.  This time, however, instead of just asking, I want to actually do something.  Why can’t we have a monthly festival to bring folks downtown?  It wouldn’t require the amount of work that a huge annual festival would and could easily be maintained.   I would love to do it possibly on a Friday evening with all of the businesses staying open later and hopefully drawing in crafters from around the area.  There is a lot of talent in Sanford.  Lots of people make lots of different things.  I realize this every time I do a show and meet a Sanfordian crafter I didn’t know about.  This would be a great time to show off these talents.  I know in Pittsboro, for example, for many crafters it is sort of their regular “shop” in that their customers know they will find them there each month. 

I would love to have some feedback on this topic and see what the rest of you in the blogosphere think!!!