Couscous & Garbanzo Salad

Here is my variation on a flavor-packed salad recipe by Pam Anderson that I found in the paper a little while back. You can serve it as a side salad for 6, or as a main course for 3 to 4 people. You'll want to make this ahead of time because the salad needs to chill in the fridge until cooled through -- plus, the flavors will meld better if it chills for several hours or overnight.

Ingredients
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup boiling water
2 Tbs olive oil
1 red bell pepper (or yellow or orange), diced (but not too small)
1 red onion, sliced into very thin rings
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 16oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained & rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro OR fresh parsley
3 Tbs slivered almonds
3 Tbs apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs olive oil (extra virgin if available)
3 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Place the couscous and cranberries in a large bowl (preferably glass or metal), add the boiling water and then immediately cover the bowl with plastic wrap to seal. Let this sit until the water is completely absorbed, about 5 minutes. In the meantime, in a large skillet heat 2 Tbs olive oil at medium-high, then add the peppers & onions, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, salt & pepper. Saute until the peppers & onions are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes, careful not to overcook. When done, add this mix to the couscous bowl, then add the garbanzos, almonds and cilantro (or parsley). Set aside. To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the 3 Tbs olive oil, vinegar and orange juice. Pour over the salad and stir to mix well. Cover and refrigerate until cooled through and ready to serve.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company

Sauce For A Cause: Eat Good Food while Doing Good

Now you can enjoy mouthwatering BBQ sauces, zesty condiments, the best apple sauce in the world, and other delicious foods, all while helping to support worthy charitable causes, thanks to Sauce For A Cause from the Carolina Sauce Company. Whenever you purchase any of the zesty products listed under "Sauce for a Cause" at the Carolina Sauce Company online store, the manufacturers donate a portion of the proceeds to various charities and nonprofit efforts including breast cancer research, protection of endangered species, children's charities, and more. Among the manufacturers participating are Carolina Sauce Company (offering BBQ sauces and chow chow relishes to help support Operation Sauce Drop, a nonprofit program that sends free sauces to deployed troops), Santo & Josie gourmet Sicilian sauces (supporting children's charities), J.T. Pappy's Gator Sauces (supporting breast cancer research), Mullen's Apple Sauce (supporting families of fallen Chicago police officers), and more.

Especially these days when money is tight for many folks, Sauce For A Cause helps you treat yourself to some really good food without feeling guilty, because you know you're helping out a good cause in the process!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Support Our Troops When You Buy These Sauces & Seasonings

If you love zesty foods and if you want to support our troops serving abroad, you can treat yourself to these zesty products while also helping to send free gift boxes of sauce to our deployed troops. For each bottle or jar sold of the following Carolina Sauce Company brand products, the Carolina Sauce Company will contribute a dollar to Operation Sauce Drop, its nonprofit program that sends free sauce to US troops stationed abroad. Here are the products that qualify:

*Carolina Sauce Company Eastern NC BBQ Sauce, an authentic vinegar-based barbecue sauce that's available in Mild and Hot

*Carolina Sauce Company Chow Chow Relish, old-fashioned cabbage chow chows made in the rural NC Piedmont, and available in Mild and Hot

*Carolina Sauce Company Vidalia Onion BBQ Sauce, a western NC barbecue sauce (vinegar and tomatoes) that features sweet Vidalia(R) onions, and is available in Mild and Hot

For every bottle or jar sold of the above products, the Carolina Sauce Company will contribute $1 to Operation Sauce Drop, so the more you buy, the more money that's raised for Operation Sauce Drop.

You can also purchase Pepper Dog Salsa (in Mild, Medium or Hot), Pepper Dog Salsa Verde, or the spicy Pepper Dog Dry Rub, and the entire purchase price is contributed to Operation Sauce Drop, thanks to the generosity of the good folks who make these delicious all-natural salsas and seasonings.

The average cost to purchase and ship a free gift box of sauce for a deployed serviceperson is around $20. We currently have a waiting list of over 200 troops who have signed up for a free gift box of sauce. When you shop to support Operation Sauce Drop, or when you make a donation using a credit card or PayPal (Carolina Sauce matches 100% of ALL donations), you're sending a free taste of home to a soldier far away and letting him or her know that they're remembered back home. The troops really appreciate the sauces, as you can see from the photos and thank you notes that they've sent.

So the next time you're looking for some zesty BBQ sauce or flavorful salsa and seasonings, please shop to support Operation Sauce Drop. We hope to be able to add more products in the future that you can purchase to support our troops, so make sure to bookmark the page and check it frequently!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Mid-Year Best-Selling Sauces & Zesty Products

The numbers are in as of July 1 for each product category (BBQ sauce, hot sauce, etc.), and all Top Ten Best Sellers lists have been updated at the Carolina Sauce Company online store. Check out the most popular sauces and seasonings for 2009 as of the midyear point - you'll find some old favorites, and some new rising stars! For your convenience, here are quick links to each category-specific top ten list, together with the top seller for each and some other interesting highlights:

*Best-Selling Hot Sauces: As usual, the ubiquitous Busha Browne's Pukka Sauce from Jamaica is our best-selling hot sauce so far for 2009 -- and, in fact, it's also our all-time best-selling hot sauce!

*Best-Selling BBQ Sauces: No surprise here either, as our all-time best-selling barbecue sauce, Wells Hog Heaven Barbecue Sauce, is in first place for the year. But it's getting stiff competition from our very own Carolina Sauce Co. Eastern NC BBQ Sauce, especially the Mild version!

*Best-Selling Steak Sauce & Pasta Sauce: A local favorite for generations and also our all-time best-selling product across ALL categories, the classic steak sauce called Castle Sauce is at the top of this list -- and rounding out the list is Santo & Josie's Tomato Eggplant Pasta Sauce, a thick and hearty old-world Sicilian style spaghetti sauce that is fabulous in all Italian dishes (and it's on sale!)

*Best-Selling Marinades & Dressings: Made in North Carolina and with a rapidly growing fanbase around the country, the versatile and flavorful Big Daddy's Marinade is presently our best selling marinade - and it comes with recipes!

*Best-Selling Dry Rubs & Seasonings: The best-seller so far has been Calhoun's Charcoal Grill Seasoning, which is made with real charcoal and adds great "char-grilled" flavor to steaks cooked on a gas grill -- and making the best-seller list for the first time is the feisty and tasty Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub from the famous Dinosaur Bar in upstate NY, currently in 9th place for 2009

*Best-Selling Gift Sets: The ever popular mild version of our NC BBQ Sauce Gift Set is our most popular gift set so far this year, and rounding out this list is our amazingly delicious Kosher Sauces Gift Set featuring 5 all-natural gourmet sauces created by an Israeli chef

*Best-Selling North Carolina Products: No surprise here - the number one best-selling NC product continues to be Castle Sauce, an old-fashioned steak sauce inspired by the original from the old Boar & Castle Restaurant in Greensboro, NC

*Best-Selling Wing Sauces: The mother of all wing sauces (literally!), Anchor Bar Original Buffalo Wing Sauce is the best-selling wing sauce so far for 2009

*Best-Selling Jerk & Curry Products: Regularly featured as our best-selling Jamaican jerk product, Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Jerk Seasoning continues to hold the top spot on this list - and all 3 of Pluto's Certified Organic Jamaican Sauces are also among the top ten best-selling jerk & curry products this year!

*Best-Selling Snacks & Sweets: An Australian original that's made with real ginger and is my favorite candy, Buderim Ginger Bears are our best-selling snack/sweet - and making the list for the first time is the exotic and delicious Thomas Gourmet Peach Chutney, currently in 9th place for the year (and it's on sale!)

*Best-Selling Mustards: Our top-selling mustard is the sweet & spicy Bone Suckin' Mustard from NC - and for folks who prefer a mild but rich flavor, there's the elegantly delicious and versatile Burning Asphalt White Wine Dijon Dipping Mustard rounding out the list

*Best-Selling Salsa & Relish: The unique Pepper's Original Blue Crab Salsa (made with real Maryland crab!) is currently the best-selling salsa this year - and making the top ten for the first time is the velvety-rich and zesty Thomas Gourmet Crab Cake Sauce, the perfect accompaniment for crab cakes and all other sorts of fish and seafood (and it's on sale!)

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Carolina Sauce Closed for Vacation July 3 thru July 13

Beginning tomorrow, Friday July 3rd, through Monday, July 13th, the Carolina Sauce Company will be closed to give its hardworking employees some vacation time with their families -- and also for some offsite creative planning on new features for our site, plus evaluating potential new products for the Carolina Sauce Company online store, and additional fundraising for Operation Sauce Drop, our non-profit program that sends free hot sauce and BBQ sauce to US troops stationed abroad. You can still place orders online while we are closed, but those orders will be shipped after we re-open on Tuesday July 14th. Although no one will be available to answer the phone while we are closed, you can leave us voicemail or send us email (I will have sporadic access to email while away), and we will reply after we reopen on the 14th. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements next week while we're on the road....

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Top 10 Best-Selling Zesty Sauces & Seasonings for June 2009

Here are June's Top 10 best-selling sauces and seasonings across all product categories at the Carolina Sauce Company. Although the top 3 finishers stayed the same from May, there are some surprises in the rest of the list, so keep reading!

1. Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Jerk Seasoning: This authentic Jamaican jerk paste can be hard to find, but we've been able to keep it in stock pretty consistently, to the joy of jerk fans around the country

2. Castle Sauce is an old-fashioned mustard & tomato based steak sauce from Greensboro, NC, and it's delicious with burgers, fries, onion rings & more

3. Wells Hog Heaven BBQ Sauce is an authentic eastern NC vinegar-based barbecue sauce from Burgaw, NC that's perfect for pulled pork BBQ

4. Matouk's West Indian Hot Sauce comes from Trinidad & Tobago in the West Indies and features fiery scotch bonnet peppers and sweet tropical papayas in a thick, Caribbean mustard base

5. Southern Twang Dry Rub: Making its debut on our overall top 10 best seller list, this sweet and savory North Carolina dry rub features tomatoes, paprika, bell peppers and other zesty ingredients for a feisty flavor with a citrusy twist

6. Scorned Woman Hot Sauce is a classic vinegar-based hot sauce that gets its fire from a blend of hot chile peppers plus red and black pepper

7. Carolina Sauce Co. Eastern NC BBQ Sauce, Mild: Made on an eastern NC farm, this authentic vinegar based barbecue sauce features a hint of apples and just a smidge of tomatoes for a tangy yet smooth flavor that's ideal for pulled pork barbecue -- and it comes with a free recipe flyer for making real NC BBQ!

8. Matouk's Calypso Sauce: Similar to the Matouk's West Indian Sauce but without the papaya, this rich and savory mustard-based hot sauce features aged pickled scotch bonnet peppers in all their fiery glory

9. Buderim Ginger Bears are grown-up gummy bear candies from Australia that are made with real ginger and deliver a not-too-sweet gingery bite

10. Walkerswood Jonkanoo Pepper Sauce is named after a Jamaican street festival and its spirited blend of fiery hot peppers and tropical spices lives up to its sunny name

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: Stay tuned, as we'll soon update our category-specific lists of best-selling sauces & products to reflect the 2009 standings as of the middle of the year

Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning is Back in Stock!

The 10oz jars of Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Jerk Seasoning are once again back in stock at the Carolina Sauce Company, after another relatively brief interruption in supply. We're doing all we can to keep this product on our shelves, but as anyone familiar with the Jamaican side of things, production back on the island isn't always up to demand (and this hot and spicy authentic jerk paste is always in high demand). We received our first shipment today and are in the process of filling back-orders from patient customers. The good news is that we have a second shipment due to arrive later this week before we close for vacation. So go ahead and order it now if you want to make sure you have some Walkerswood jerk seasoning on hand for your enjoyment in the near future, as who knows what its availability will be like once we re-open in mid-July....

Zestfully yours,
Gloria