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A third generation Southern Californian, Susan McRae grew up surrounded by gifted gardeners and superb cooks, "a wild mix of heritages," as she describes it. "At that time much of Southern California was still agricultural. In Anaheim, my grandmother's house was surrounded by orange groves. The fresh corn and the berries..," she says wistfully. "Wonderful fresh produce was growing all around us."
Her family grew many of the ingredients of their food themselves. "What is called pesto now, we called 'stinky spaghetti' when I was a kid," she recalls. "We made it with our home grown basil and garlic, our home pressed olive oil, and with it we drank our homemade wine. That just seemed perfectly natural to me."
Susan and her husband moved to Ojai so that their children could grow up in an atmosphere like she had. "We wanted room to garden and good schools halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles," she laughs. "Getting into agriculture myself was a bonus."
Susan researched lavender, with the idea of making bath products. "But then it dawned on me that I had a row of herb infused vinegars in my kitchen. So I decided to make culinary lavender products."
Susan had been making Lavender Jelly and floral/herbal vinegar blends for years, but the idea of eating flowers was then just beginning to achieve mainstream status. In San Francisco Joyce Goldstein was using them at her famous Square One Restaurant. "When The New York Times ran an article on cooking with lavender in 1999, I felt the time was right for a food label dedicated to preserving the flavors of lavender and other flowers and herbs."
In 2000 Susan entered her Lavender Jelly in the Ventura County Fair. She won a blue ribbon and was nominated for Best of Fair. So she was off and running.
The organic ingredients for her seasonal specialty jellies, which she makes in very limited quantities, come from her own garden. "When I was growing up I thought Meyerlemon was one word. Everyone we knew had a Meyer lemon tree in the back yard, as we do now. I also use my homegrown grapes, rose petals, plums and herbs."
The lavender Susan uses is California grown and organic. "I can tell you exactly where it comes from. I know the grower," she says proudly.
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