By Jennifer Nice
Sisters Belinda Fay and Carla McDowell give a whole fresh meaning to the old expression , “ A woman ’s spot is in the kitchen . ”
They do n’t bear in mind the cliché . In fact , they ’ll tell you there ’s no post they would rather be .
Belinda and Carla produce up in their kitchen , help their mother , Doris , with her never - terminate canning .
Then , when Doris pall , the kitchen was the place they gather to grieve and , eventually , to heal . From that aggrieve mental process germinate a unique chance that metamorphose their kitchen yet again — into the home infrastructure of their company , McDowell Farms Salsa .
The sisters produce a business line of salsas and gelatin , and the popularity of their product has go around like wildfire across Kentucky .
In this article …
With assist from their sept , friends and even Uncle Sam , they make approximately 17,000 jars of their products each year ; they ’ve earn the Kentucky Entrepreneurs of the Year award ( 2004 ) , the Innovations in Agriculture Award ( 2005 ) , and have been have on numerous local television receiver and radio show , and in area newspaper publisher .
Although already very successful in the eyes of many , for Belinda and Carla , the true measure of their success can only come one way .
“ Our end is to get onto ‘ Oprah , ’ ” read Carla . “ We need to be one of Oprah ’s favourite foods . One of these days , we ’ll make it really big and Oprah will require us to add up on her show . ”
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From Mother ’s Help to Uncle Sam ’s HelpBelinda , of Maysville , Ky. , and Carla , of nearby Germantown , give thanks their mother for just about everything , and Doris continues to get recognition for the adept things that happen to the sisters even though she give out six twelvemonth ago .
If it were n’t for her dedication to her family , there would be no McDowell Farms Salsa company . Doris knew how important it was for a family to be self - sufficient and she was determined to verify her family always had enough intellectual nourishment on the table .
“ My female parent grew up during the depressive disorder , ” says Carla . “ She was always give the axe . We had a garden and she dismiss everything . Ever since we were little , Belinda and I helped her . ”
They accredit their mother for their canning skills .
“ We go over to Dad ’s now and he still has jars of jelly she made , ” says Carla . “ I keep telling him that we demand to throw some of it away , but Dad says , ‘ Oh , no , it was your mother ’s , it ’s still good . ”
When their female parent croak , the sisters were scourge . They accept their grief into the kitchen and started making salsa from Doris ’s formula to give to friends . One day , their local lengthiness agent tried the salsa and suggested that they make it for resale . The sisters dismissed the mind .
“ Mentally , we were n’t ready , ” says Belinda . “ We were still grieving . ”
One year later , the extension agent came back and say , “ It ’s time . ”
Desperately search SalsaBelinda Faye and Carla McDowell started with their mother ’s salsa recipe , grew all the element themselves , and then canned them .
The sister presently make four salsas :
Belinda and Carla expanded their product line to admit a variety of pepper jelly , also made from their female parent ’s recipes .
They make the jellies seasonally , depending on when the fresh - yield ingredient are available .
Carla and Belinda make the jellies once a year and once they ’re go , they ’re pass away until next time of year .
They also make gift baskets for any affair , which include a selection of salsas , jelly and other goodies , as well as recipe carte du jour for dishes made with their products .
The salsas can be ordered online or purchased at retailer across Kentucky and at several locations in Ohio .
Visit the McDowell Farms Salsa internet site for a lean of retailers .
For more information about the Salsa Sisters and McDowell Farms Salsa , to order their production online or to find a store near you that carries their salsas and gelatin , contact :
Salsa SistersCarla McDowell and Belinda Fay2261 Bridgeville RoadGermantown , KY 41044(606 ) 728-2433www.mcdowellfarmssalsa.com
What made it “ clip ” was Kentucky House Bill 391 .
“ domicile - establish microprocessing issue forth out of House Bill 391 , which was put into event so that farmers could takesomething they grew on their farm , make a product from it and sell it , ” Belinda explains . “ So that ’s how we got protrude . ”
The sisters enrolled in a home - processing course that was offered by the University of Kentucky ; they became the first agricultural business in Kentucky to be certified and to get their home - base microprocessing business up and running . The McDowell Farms Salsa company was born .
The party gets its namesake from the McDowell family farm , which is have by Carla and her hubby , David .
“ The farm has been in David ’s family for years , ” says Belinda . “ Carla and David live on the farm . ” Belinda live in Maysville , about 18 mo from the farm , as does the sisters ’ father , Carl . The salsa and jellies are made at the farm .
Although House Bill 391 give them their showtime , they quickly outgrew its argument .
“ The downside of Kentucky House Bill 391 is that it bound how much you could trade and how much money you could take in each twelvemonth from cut-rate sale , ” say Belinda . “ We cursorily agnize that we need to go commercial . ”
Kentucky House Bill 391 capped gross at $ 35,000 annually . It also limited where the sisters could sell their salsa . If they want to build a sweeping statistical distribution connection , they needed to go commercial-grade .
Their conclusion to expand could not have make out at a better time . For a second time , a government opportunity fall into their laps . They were able to secure a $ 56,000 grant from Kentucky ’s Agricultural Development Board .
The Ulysses S. Grant program was one way the political science was trying to serve tobacco granger through diversification and bargain - outs . McDowell farm ’ elemental craw is tobacco , but acreage for this crop has been lessen steady every year . Since 1996 , their farm ’s federal tobacco plant quota has been write out in half .
With funding secured through bank loans and the grant , the babe commence build a commercial kitchen on the McDowell farm . They also enroll in Ohio State University ’s four - day commercial credentials course .
“ When we came home , we had a roof on our kitchen , ” recalls Belinda . “ I call up root for into the drive , seeing the roof and thinking , ‘ Oh , my God ! This is really happening ! ’ ”
The sister celebrated the completion of the commercial-grade kitchen with a ribbon - press cutting ceremony in June 2004 .
Kentucky Proud ProductsCarla and Belinda ’s original bloodline of McDowell Farms Salsa product included mild , medium , hot and very raging tomato - based salsa , all from their female parent ’s recipes . Next they added a product called chowchow .
“ It ’s a very Southern relish that contains green tomato plant , cabbage , onions and carrots , ” Belinda explains . “ A caboodle of hoi polloi eat it on smokies and live dogs . We make chowchow in regular and spicy , with jalapeños . ”
Then they added a melody of jellies , also from their mother ’s recipe . They make orange- , green- and carmine - peppercorn jelly , and peach - jalapeño , strawberry - jalapeño and blackberry - jalapeño jelly .
“ The newfangled jelly business line has just take off like crazy , ” says Belinda . “ We make the red- and green - peppercorn jelly for the holidays . We make the orange for Thanksgiving , ” she sum up , admitting that she made the orange jelly circumstantially .
“ I thought Carla was go to kill me , so I suggested we sell it for Thanksgiving . She said no one would corrupt it , but we sell out . ” The sisters ’ late endeavor is recipe cards for dishes made using their products .
When McDowell Farms Salsa started under House Bill 391 , Carla and Belinda grew all the garden truck for their salsa .
Once they convert to a commercial operation , they could n’t grow enough green goods to assemble the need for their salsa .
Recipes
Strawberry - jalapeño AppetizerIngredients
Strawberry - jalapeño Appetizer
ingredient
PreparationPlace flash-frozen block of emollient high mallow on a denture . Melt hemangioma simplex - jalapeño jelly in microwave oven , excite every 20 seconds until semi - voiced . pelt easy over blockage of frozen cream cheeseflower . Let cool . Sprinkle with mini umber chips and pecans . Garnish rim of plate with bracing strawberry and Cool Whip . wait on with Club crackers .
McDowell Farms Bean Soup
PreparationPut all ingredients in a crockpot . manipulate on dispirited for 10 hours . Make some cornbread and enjoy !
One of the requirements of the Ulysses S. Grant , which in pith was a forgivable loan , was that they buy 90 per centum of their produce from Kentucky James Leonard Farmer . The money they drop on that green goods is considered a partial requital on the loanword .
“ What worked out even well is that the Governor ’s Office on Agricultural Policy build a new produce auction just 20 minutes from our farm , ” say Belinda . “ All of our area Fannie Farmer know what we want . Many of them are tobacco plant granger who have diversified and now spring up crop other than tobacco plant to make money .
“ During the summertime time of year , they take their produce to the auction , usually reserve twice a hebdomad . It ’s not strange for us to exit with two slews of tomatoes — that ’s the amount we will need to behave us through a week of making salsa . ”
kinsfolk around Maysville know that if they grow good produce , the sis will grease one’s palms it .
“ We ’re on a first - name basis with a lot of the farmers , ” say Belinda . “ It ’s a win - winnings situation . ”
The only drawback to this computer program is that it dictates when the sisters can make their products . Because they buy only fresh , locally grown produce , they can only make their products when that produce is in season .
Therefore , just as there are peach , strawberry , blackberry bush , tomato and black pepper time of year , there are certain times of the year when the babe can make their gelatin and salsas with these ingredients .
“ Our output season for salsa is from the last hebdomad of July to the 2d week of October , ” says Belinda . “ During that time we process approximately 14,000 jarful of salsa . ”
The upside is that they produce a salsa that tastes wonderfully fresh , even though it ’s a canned intersection .
A Family VentureSurprisingly , both Carla and Belinda employment elsewhere . Carla has been a schoolteacher for 25 years and currently teaches first grade in Mason County . Belinda is a register nanny .
Because the babe function full - time , their evenings and weekends are devoted to prepare their products . Fortunately , they have a enceinte fellowship uncoerced to facilitate .
“ My daughters , our daughter - in - law and Belinda ’s girl all aid , ” says Carla . “ And when you have that many women in the kitchen , it usually leads to some in force male - bashing ! ”
The sisters , who are five years apart — Carla is older — but have always been close , enjoy their time together in the kitchen .
“ We help each other get through the frustrations of what happened during the 24-hour interval , ” says Carla . “ If we were n’t doing this together , we would be doing something else together . ”
Belinda agrees . “ The kitchen is very much a venting shoes , ” she says , “ but it really gives us an opportunity to look ahead . Because we ’re there together and working , we lead off talking about Modern ideas .
The piece in the family help out , too , including the sisters ’ 82 - year - old Father of the Church , who , with the help of his married woman , drive the company van and cause deliveries to local retail stores . Other members of the household , as well as friend , rake in , too .
“ Our families serve out in every way , ” say Belinda . “ For example , Sunday is pronounce mean solar day . We go to church , then we go out to use up with our dad and stepmother , Edna , and then everyone goes to the farm to mark , including my two granddaughter . ”
“ Every jar is hand - poured ; every love apple is trim down by hand , ” says Carla . “ We want to check that our quality stays high so citizenry will amount back and buy again . ”
Spreading Their RootsSince starting their business , Kentucky festival have been their main avenue for sales .
They hit the road every month to sell their products at such shows as Kentucky Crafted , the Maysville Craft and Antique Expo , the Kentucky Derby Governor ’s Breakfast and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival , to name just a few .
“ I make out run low to the shows , but I ’ll admit there are times that I do n’t , ” says Belinda . “ We went to an outdoor show one Mother ’s Day weekend . The weather sprain cold , no one was there , and we were freeze frigid and miserable . It was horrible and so were our gross revenue .
“ We should have been home with our children and grandchild , ” she continues . “ After that , we got ourpriorities in order . No more display on Mother ’s Day . I do n’t want to recede my kinfolk because we hit a weekend . ”
From October through December , the Salsa Sisters ( a moniker originally coin by a reporter from the Cincinnati Inquirer ) will sometimes attend two shows in a undivided weekend .
When the sisters cleave up to do show , it commonly becomes competitive . One weekend , for example , Belinda went to the Bourbon Festival in Bardstown and Carla and her husband run short to the Gaslight Festival in Louisville . The sister called each other frequently to check their sales agreement .
At the end of the day , Belinda had sold $ 100 more .
“ It was only because a bozo walked up at the last minute and bought two cases , ” says Belinda . “ I could ’ve kissed him ! ”
The sister have also built a solid wholesale dispersion ; McDowell Farms Salsa can currently be found in 53 stores in Kentucky and two in Ohio .
“ We start out distributing in just a pocket-sized circle around us and lento we ’ve been pushing out further , ” say Belinda . “ We ’re working on make it a regional , tri - county product . Then we ’ll push a little bigger ; we just need to verify we can fit the demand . ”
Salsa SunsetBoth Carla and Belinda programme on retiring before long , but not from making salsa .
“ Carla has two more age before she can retire with benefit from school day , so we ’re locomote to break her out first , ” state Belinda . Hopefully , Belinda will be capable to retire presently afterward so they can dedicate themselves full - meter to their salsa company .
“ It ’s unmanageable for us to manage the business when we both work full - time , ” articulate Belinda . The biggest challenge they have is contacting their retail customer , as most have left their businesses for the day by the meter Carla and Belinda get home from piece of work .
In the interim , the Salsa Sisters have lead babe steps to produce their very successful job and willcontinue to do so ; they do n’t want to outgrow or predict more than they can bring about .
“ It amazes me just how much we ’ve grown in these few twelvemonth , ” says Belinda . “ The chance for the salsa company just seem to happen before our very eyes — we practically turn on over them sometimes ! ”
“ We always call back that our mother is the one who taught us to can , ” add Carla . “ We really believe Mom is looking over us and we think she would be pleased with what we ’ve execute with her recipes and our hard work . ”
