CELEBRATING WOMEN OWNED LOCAL BUSINESSES

I honestly don’t know where to begin. Living in Minneapolis/St. Paul we are fortunate to have many women owned businesses that are thriving. I am a member of WWRC or Women Who Really Cook started by our very own Sue Zellickson. It is a “professional networking organization for women in the food and hospitality industry.”

They recently hosted a pop-up event at Cafe Latte in St. Paul. I went as an excuse for a chocolate tart from Cafe Latte (Ha!  Just teasing…sort of) and I ended up walking away with new friends, a new chef coat and chocolate! I met women from several locally owned businesses such as Kyle of Daddy Sam’s All -Natural Sawces, Michelle from Luvafoodie, Tonja from Tonja’s Table, Sunrise Flour Mill, Mostly Made, Superior Switchel, Tasya from Isadore Nut Co. who I have a special place in my heart for when I saw and sampled the peppermint chocolate nut mix and Melinda, Founder and Confectioner at Burnt Sugar Confectionary. I was thoroughly impressed by Melinda’s charisma, passion and excitement for what she does. She is bringing back some oldies that brought me back to childhood. One of my fondest memories during the holidays was to go to Fleet Farm and pick out a bag of candy to put on the table at grandma and grandpa’s. Without hesitation, I chose chocolate coated angel food. Now, some of you may not know of this delicacy, but I know someone who does, Melinda at Burnt Sugar. As a former pastry chef, she whips up oldies and goodies such as, meringue, peanut rolls, torrone, seafoam candy (angel food candy), caramel and much more to make your mouth water. She was a darling to chat with and I look forward to tasting more of the sweets. Quality control of course. (oh and I did indeed say Fleet Farm)

I am ever grateful for these types of opportunities and I look forward to meeting and working alongside so many of these women in the future.  Let us all continue to shine, be of inspiration to others and work hard at what we love to do in the name of food and hospitality. “Whatever it is you are searching for, I hope you can eat it.”  -Jessica Tijerina

Recipe for, you guessed it:  Angel Food Candy aka Sponge Candy