Summer approaches - Where will Becca's Be? - Farmer's Market Schedule

This summer Becca's Gourmet Goodies will be returning to the markets we love and adding new venues! We have started the Fort Collins Markets and will be starting the Estes Park Market this Thursday. We'll be in Wyoming by the end of the month! The market addresses and times will also be listed on our website shortly! We will be under our black tents at all the markets. 

Colorado Markets:
Estes Park 

Bond Park - MacGregor Ave, Estes Park, CO 80517

Thursday 8-12

June 5 - September 25

Larimer County Farmer's Market

200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, CO 80521

Saturday  8-12

May 31 to October 25

Drake Road

802 W Drake Rd, Fort Collins, CO 80526

Saturday 10-1

May 31 to July 26

CAMC Fort Collins Farmer's Market 

1001 E Harmony Rd, Fort Collins, CO 

Sunday 10-3

June 1 - November 16

Wyoming Markets:

Laramie Loco Market

Undine Park, Laramie, WY 82070

Thursday 3-7

June 19 - September 3

Downtown Laramie Business Association

Grand Ave between 1st  and 2nd St and 2nd St. between Grand and Garfield. Market

Friday, 3-7

July 4 - September 26

Cheyenne Tuesday

Frontier Mall, Parking lot west of Sears

Tuesdays 3-6

June 17 - October 7

Cheyenne Saturday

121 W 15th St, Cheyenne, WY 82001

Saturday 7-1

August 2 - October 4

Developing news - Our Kitchen is moving forward

What started out as a wish is becoming a reality. After working with the Larimer County Health Department last fall for preliminary approval on our new kitchen site, we have been able to start construction on a kitchen space of our own. Within the last week we have been installing the largest piece in the kitchen, the hood, and now see the end of construction in sight. We hope to finalize all of the paperwork by the end of the month and be able to start working in the new kitchen in the first part of April.

So what does this mean for Becca's Gourmet Goodies? The new kitchen will expand our options for catering and recipe development. More refrigeration and freezer space will let us debut several new products. We will also have more storage space to be able to provide additional variety on our website and the markets. Gluten free cooking classes are in the offing, too.

Overall, we are very excited about the future of Becca's Gourmet Goodies!

Dairy Free Treats - Development week and introduction to our new favorites

Over the last couple of weeks we have taken on a fun project at Becca's Gourmet Goodies. We truly believe that living with a dietary restriction shouldn't mean living without. We have some great customers and some amazing friends who are living life without dairy. This week was about 

In Louisiana, this time of year means something special. Mardi Gras is a celebration of life that lasts three weeks culminating in a day of feasting among friends so it is only fitting that on Mardi Gras day we debut a trio of gluten free and dairy free treats.

Seasonal Cake with a Twist: Glazed Blood Orange Cake

While on a trip to Santa Fe I found some beautiful blood oranges. With a tart rich flavor, blood oranges are one of my favorites for dressings, sauces and savory dishes. I brought them home and played with them. The result is a sweet and tart Glazed Blood Orange Cake. The cake is sweet but not too sweet with blood orange juice and zest as key ingredients. The cake is finished off with a glaze of blood orange juice and powdered sugar. 

Play on a Favorite: Decadent Chocolate Cherry Loaf Cake

We started with a rich dark chocolate cake made from scratch. We poured it into a loaf pan and created a rich dense chocolate cake. Once it was cooled, the cake is sliced lengthwise and the bottom half got a layer of Nanking Cherry Jam and then topped with our Dark Chocolate Better Than Buttercream. The top have of the cake gets put back in place and then it is sliced for sale. While it echoes the flavors in a Black Forest Cake, this one is contains rich chocolate frosting and tart cherry jelly in place of the whipped cream and cherries in the classic. 

A Little Sweet, A Little Spicy: Spice Cake Cupcakes with Cinnamon Better Than Buttercream

With a blend of sweet and savory spices Becca's Gourmet Goodies makes their own version with a blend of spices that includes Garam Masala and Ginger. We make a light moist cake and the top it with our Cinnamon Better Than Butter cream. We use a beautiful organic Cinnamon that adds a deeper and sweet Cinnamon flavor to both the cake and the icing.

Sunday Morning Treat - Bacon Biscuits and Gravy

On Sunday mornings we like to indulge in a good breakfast. Weekday and Saturday mornings are usually crazy throughout the year but when the summer markets aren't running we take the time to have a lazy morning and that always includes breakfast. Kirk is the breakfast cook in the house and one of his favorite breakfasts is biscuits and gravy.

When we developed the Becca's Bacon Biscuit mix  the first question he asked was when are we doing biscuits and gravy. So here is our Bacon Biscuit and Gravy recipe:

For the Gravy:
1 pound breakfast sausage
1 T Becca's Bacon Biscuit mix
2 cups milk (Can substitute soy or unsweetened almond milk)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown sausage in a skillet. Leave 1 T fat in the pan adding more vegetable oil or draining fat if necessary. Sprinkle biscuit mix over sausage and mix in. Add 1 1/2 cups of milk to the pan and bring to boil. Add additional milk if necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste. We typically add just the pepper because the sausage usually has enough salt.

For the Biscuits
1 bag Becca's Bacon Biscuit mix
1/4 c butter or non-dairy spread
2/3 cups milk (Can substitute soy or unsweetened almond milk)
3 Eggs or equivalent prepared egg replacer

Prepare as directed. Scoop into large biscuits and bake 9-10 minutes

Pan of biscuits hot out of the oven. We use parchment paper for easy cleanup.

 

Close up of our biscuit.

Kirk's plate of biscuits and gravy. A little parsley over the top adds some freshness.

Add some scrambled eggs and breakfast is complete!

Even the cats want some this morning!

Have a great day!

We Have a Launch Date

In the last post we talked about the website re-launch project we have been working on. After connecting with our web pro today we have decided on a re-launch date. The new BeccasGourmetGoodies.com will be live on February 15th. Check out our Facebook page for special discounts, give aways and gift certificate options throughout the next week!

Sneak Peak - Our new website

We thought we would give everyone a sneak peak at the new design of our website. We will announce a launch date soon!

We've been quiet here but we've been busy!

So our blog has been quiet but we have been VERY busy.  We have been working on some great new projects that we will be telling you about in the coming weeks. Before we get to those we want to recap what we have been doing over the last couple of months.

 - Becca's Gourmet Goodies had a great holiday season this year. We loved the Cottage Nest Holiday Gift Mart and the Gulley Winter Festival along with our great indoor markets (Fort Collins Indoor Market, Cheyenne Winter Market and the Laramie Local Winter Market). We look forward to being back at these great events in 2014.

- We added more than 20 new products over the last couple of months with many new options in the works. We are continuing to develop more options based on customer requests.

- We took a big plunge and started the process to move into our own kitchen. We have been working with the Larimer County Health Department and the City of Wellington to finalize all of our plans and hope to open the new kitchen by the middle of March. While this will not be a retail location, we will be able to do more extensive catering and events.

- Speaking of retail partners.... We joined with some fantastic retail partners. We are currently at The Cupboard and The Fort Collins Food Co-op in Fort Collins. We also have some items at Big Hollow up in Laramie, Wyoming.

So what are we working on now?

The biggest project we currently have in the works is a complete redesign of www.BeccasGourmetGoodies.com. We believe that the most important thing about our website is that it be functional and interactive for our customers. This project meant new photography, an expansion of what our website offers and a cleaner shopping experience. We are currently in the beta testing phase and hope to announce a relaunch date within the next couple of days. We will announce a reward for the feedback when we announce the launch date.

We are still doing the Fort Collins Indoor Markets and we will be at the Cheyenne Winter Market in March. 

COTTAGE NEST HOLIDAY MARKET: