Sunday, May 16, 2010

Updated Year-to-Date Best Sellers at Carolina Sauce

The year-to-date top ten best-selling sauces and seasonings in specific product categories (hot sauces, BBQ sauces, snacks, gift sets, etc.) for 2010 have been updated again at the Carolina Sauce Company online store. This time, I'll highlight some of my favorite products that are in each top ten category, and as always I'll include links to each list and each highlighted product for your convenient perusal:

*Best-Selling Hot Sauces: When I'm in more in the mood for rich flavor rather than fiery heat, I reach for Georgia Peach & Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce, currently our 7th best-selling hot sauce. Packed with the summery flavors of ripe, juicy peaches and sweet Vidalia onions and just a touch of hot pepper, this mildly spicy hot sauce is wonderful on seafood and chicken, as well as on pork chops, turkey sandwiches and even hash browns and other breakfast fare.

*Best-Selling Barbecue Sauces: When I'm craving tropical island flavors and Greg is planning on using the grill, there's no better BBQ sauce than Walkerswood Jamaican Jerk BBQ Sauce. This unique and intriguingly delicious barbeque sauce blends naturally sweet bananas with spicy Jamaican jerk seasonings and other Caribbean ingredients for a thick, exotic sauce that beautifully complements everything you grill, from chicken to pork to ribs. Walkerswood Jerk Barbecue Sauce is currently our 10th best-selling BBQ sauce.

*Best-Selling Marinades & Dressings: I discovered Mama T's Olive Oil Vinaigrette a few years back while on vacation at the NC coast, and I fell in love with its delicate flavor and herbal notes. Made by hand in Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks, this wonderful vinaigrette is great as a salad dressing and also works as a marinade for mild fish and shellfish including scallops and shrimp. It's also quite nice drizzled over steamed or grilled vegetables. Mama T's Olive Oil Vinaigrette is currently our 5th best-selling marinade or dressing.

*Best-Selling Rubs & Seasonings: Continuing with the herbal theme is Big Daddy's Superb Herb Seasoning, which is also made in North Carolina. Not a BBQ dry rub but instead an aromatic blend of basil, rosemary, thyme and other herbs and spices with a touch of salt, I enjoy this seasoning in everyday cooking including seafood and poultry, in ground meat recipes, in soups and salads, and even in omelets and scrambled eggs. Big Daddy's Superb Herb Seasoning is currently our 10th best-selling dry rub or seasoning.

*Best-Selling Salsa & Relish: I love salsas and relish and there are many personal favorites on our list of best-sellers. Since I've previously raved about several of them, this time I'll spotlight an unusual and addictively good salsa which is currently in 9th place -- Peppers Chipotle Smoked Corn Blue Crab Salsa. Yes, this chunky, spicy-hot tomato salsa includes real Maryland blue crab among its ingredients, as well as kernels of smoked corn and fiery-smoky chipotle pepper for heat. If you love seafood and enjoy good salsa, you'll rave about this inspired salsa - and I dare you not to eat the whole jar in one sitting!

*Best-Selling Jerks & Curry: I love all sorts of curry, whether Indian, Thai, Caribbean, etc., so it's no surprise that Nando's Curry Coconut Cooking & Grilling Sauce from South Africa is one of my personal favorites. Moderately spicy due to the judicious use of peri-peri peppers, this rich and flavorful cooking sauce is wonderful in the kitchen and on the grill, especially with chicken, seafood, veggies and rice dishes. It's also our 3rd best-selling curry or jerk product.

*Best-Selling Mustards & Ketchups: I know I already described Trolly Stop Hot Mustard Sauce last month when it was 10th on this list, but this savory and flavor-packed mustard from Wilmington NC has moved up to 9th place and I can't help but sing its praises again. If you are a mustard connoisseur or just tired of store-bought mustards, Trolley Stop Hot Mustard Sauce is sure to please your palate when you slather it on hot dogs and sausages, burgers, sandwiches and more.

*Best-Selling Wing Sauces: Made in upstate New York, Burning Asphalt Buffalo Ranch Wing Sauce is one of my favorites, with its traditional tangy-hot Buffalo wing sauce flavor and hint of creamy ranch dressing. There's no need to make a mess dipping your hot wings in ranch dressing when you use this zesty wing sauce, and it's presently 10th on our list of best-selling wing sauce

*Best-Selling Gift Sets: When I need a little gift for a fellow foodie, I send them a Thomas Gourmet Chutney Gift Box with two jars of all-natural, NC-made Thomas Gourmet Chutney. You can currently select from 4 different flavors of chutney, including Apple, Mango, Peach, and Green Tomato, and two new flavors (pineapple and cranberry) are coming soon! The Thomas Gourmet Chutney Gift Box is presently our 2nd best-selling gift set or gift box.

*Best-Selling North Carolina Products: Once again I'm faced with the dilemma of which product to mention because there are so many products on this list that I love. So I'll pick out one of the most versatile ones, Capsicana Zing Gourmet Sauce, which is currently our fifth-best selling NC product. Spicy without burning and subtly sweet, this all-purpose sauce is great for adding zip to anything you serve as well as to anything you cook. I splash it on all sorts of grilled foods & stir-fry dishes, burgers, batter-fried foods, and breakfast fare (scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage). It also comes with free recipes!

*Best-Selling Snacks & Sweets: I love pickles, be they traditional cucumber pickles or other veggies, pickled with dill or other savory spices or with sugar in a "bread & butter" style. I also love garlic, and spicy foods. So it should come as no surprise that when I want a pickle snack I often reach for a jar of our very own Hot Pickled Garlic, our 4th best-selling snack or sweet. Made for us by hand on a family farm in the NC mountains and featuring a few whole pickled hot peppers among the pickled garlic cloves, this treat is great straight from the jar or sliced for sandwiches and wraps, chopped for adding to dressings and marinades and dips, and even in your favorite recipes. For every jar sold, we donate $1 to Operation Sauce Drop, our nonprofit program that sends free gift boxes of sauces to deployed troops.

*Best-Selling Steak Sauces & Pasta Sauces: I love hearty, tomato-sauced Italian dishes and usually prefer a bold, robustly flavored spaghetti sauce -- except during the heat of the summer, or when making delicate marinara dishes like Mussels Marinara. That's when I reach for Mama Thomas Marinara, an all-natural traditional Italian marinara sauce made with fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, Italian seasonings and a splash of white wine. The flavors are bright and light, perfect for simple summer pasta and seafood dishes and even for bruschetta. Mama Thomas Marinara is our second-best selling pasta sauce or steak sauce, and it's currently on sale!

I hope you enjoy these favorites of mine -- and feel free to tell us which are YOUR favorite sauces, seasonings and snacks!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

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