hudson valley presents
Locally sourced gifts and treats
Welcome to our new online shop! Hudson Valley Presents offers gifts made by our Hudson Valley neighbors—wonderful tasty, beautiful treats created with tender loving care. These will be packaged with care along with the stories of the makers, farmers, chefs and artists who created them. Your lucky recipients will receive not only a beautiful gift, but an introduction to a whole community of talented creators.
We will be taking orders only until Tuesday, November 22. Starting on December 8, orders can be shipped or will be available for pickup at the Stick to Local studio at 23 Main Street Accord, just off 209, on Saturdays from 10 to 4 through the 22. Depending on volume, we may add additional pick up days and locations.
Here are the stories of this year’s contributors:
Kelder’s Farm Popcorn: Delicious, 2018 harvest popcorn from one of Ulster County’s oldest farms. The Kelder Family has been farming in the Rondout Valley since before 1836, and now feature the largest Pick-Your-Own grange, offering over 50 fresh crops. Recently, John Kelder, who graduated Cornell in agriculture and spent a few years working for Farm Credit East, has come back to work the farm with his father, Chris. You’ll often run into John’s mom Jackie and grandparents Wayne and Liz at the farm, too. It’s a family place--there’s a gigantic garden gnome out by 209--you can’t miss it!
Tree Juice Maple Syrup is harvested from the maple trees on the beautiful hills of Lazy Crazy Acres farm, nestled in the Catskill Mountains. Tapped, traditional wood fire boiled, and bottled lovingly by hand, we hope you enjoy this sweet stuff as much as we do! The Fairbairn family have been making maple syrup on their farm since the 1930s. Beginning in 1998, Jake’s brother, John, and his friend Jason built a wood shed and sap house, installed thousands of feet of sap line and 460 taps. After a hiatus of 5 years, Jake Fairbairn and his friend Ryan Annetts cleaned up the sap house and created ‘Tree Juice Maple Syrup’ in 2012.
Keith and Jennifer Duarte are Hudson Valley natives who created Damn Good Honey Farm a few years ago in Kerhonkson, NY. Although both have full-time jobs, they’ve slowly grown their operation, with a sweet farmstand on Route 209 selling their own honeys, garden-grown fresh produce and beeswax and honey soap. Keith offers sold-out beekeeping lessons all summer long.
Hudson Valley Cold Pressed Oils are the product of a multi-generational family farm in Poughkeepsie. The farm was founded in 2014 by the amazing Haight family: Carol Cappillino and John Haight, their son Kevin, his wife Traci, a registered dietitian, son Jeffrey, and his wife Allison, both of whom graduated the Culinary Institute of America. What a dream team! They grow the sunflowers and press the oil right on their farm, and the flavor and freshness of this pale gold liquid are beyond compare! It’s great with Kelder’s Popcorn and any place you’d use a good vegetable oil.
Chili Salt: Hand-made by Chef Nicci Cagan, this spicy, fragrant blend features a special mix if fresh chilis, sun dried and blended with delicious Celtic sea salt. It’s amazing on Kelder’s Popcorn made with Hudson Valley Cold Pressed Sunflower Oil, for a completely crave-worthy locavore alternative to crappy bagged fake-food chips!
Bryan Graham, founder of Fruition Chocolate, was raised a locavore, eating almost exculsively organic produce from the family garden, and wild game his mom and dad hunted in the forests surrounding their home in Olivebridge, the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. Brian went on to create the only chocolate in New York State to be made from the bean. In 2016 a Fruition bar was named the “World’s Best Chocolate” by the International Chocolate Awards in London. Their Hudson Valley Bourbon Dark Milk Chocolate Bar is made with Hudson Baby Bourbon and roasted cocoa nibs, it’s 61% chocolate. In 2015 and 2016 this bar took Silver in the International Chocolate Awards. Wicked good!
Wild Hive Mixed Grain Hot Cereal: Don Lewis was Dutchess County beekeeper who became entranced by local grains when he opened a bakery in Clinton Corners. In 2009 he founded the Wild Hive Grain Project. Specializing in whole grains and flours, Wild Hive Farm uses an Amish-style stone-burr mill and pink granite grinding stones. “It’s basically the same machine that was used 100 years ago, with a few more bells and whistles,” Don says. Their grains are organic and sourced locally in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Steiff Piff Mouse: This special mouse is made by the same German company founded over a century ago by the woman who invented the Teddy Bear! The only Steiff museum in the United States is the Den of Marbletown, just off Route 209 between Stone Ridge and Kerhonkson. It’s run by Nan Bress and Chef Steve Ferri and combines a huge collection of Stieff and other toys as well as a popular local cafe. Stieff toys are made of non-toxic materials to exacting standards and last for generations.
The Greenfield Basket Factory in Little Hope, PA, has been a saw mill since 1933. There are twenty employees and the original barn is still the center of their operations, where they cut, kiln-dry, weave and staple over 80 different farm baskets.
Triple-Lemon Herb Tea: Accord-grown lemon grass, lemon balm and lemon verbena are carefully dried and blended to create a citrus-flavored, yet entirely locally grown, delightful drink. Damn Good with a drizzle of Damn Good Honey!
Porcini Salt: Thanks to a great hunting season in Sullivan County, this mixture of dried wild porcini mushrooms (Boletus Edulis) and Celtic Sea Salt will add a savory umami layer to any soup, omelet, stuffing, vegetable dish or roasted meat. It’s especially great on Kelder’s Popcorn made with Hudson Valley Cold Pressed Sunflower Oil!
Stick to Local Farms Cookbook: Eating locally grown fruit and vegetables can delight your taste buds, help keep you healthy and support the beautiful local farms that feed us. Inside the Stick to Local Farms Cookbook you will find over 100 delectable, easy-to-make, field-tested recipes for local produce the year round. It is paperback, full color, 74 pages and includes a handy picture calendar of Hudson Valley produce.
Lavender Shortbread Cookie Bites: Chef Nicci Cagan has a favorite recipe to bake these delicious lavender shortbread bites. Try them with Triple Lemon Tea on a grey day for a sunny pick-me-up!
Nicci Cagan, chef, educator and local food activist has been a locavore since before the word was invented! She’s the founder of From the Ground Up and Farm to School advocacy effort and a member of Chef’s Consortium.
Deliciously eccentric dynamo Maria Reidelbach is an author, a maker and a local food adventurer. Innovative projects she has created include the Stick to Local Farms campaign and Homegrown Mini-Golf, landscaped with edible plants, a Guinness World Record-setting garden gnome. She has authored the books Miniature Golf, an illustrated history, and Completely MAD: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Rondout Valley Growers, a grass-roots group of farmers and neighbors.