Such A Gift

Seems a lot of you, like me, love sharing a slice of our beautiful Central Coast with friends and fam. That's what inspires me to create my handmade peanut butter Joycups: local coastal fruits, local raw honey, locally purchased sea salts and organic peanuts, for starters.

I then follow the all-natural, environmentally friendly philosophy of our lovely place by packaging in recycled boxes or biodegradable bags. No chemicals were used to create the kraft boxes' natural appearance. And their fiber comes from lumber that was collected and reforested following eco-friendly practices. Top with the oh-so-pretty cocoa butter designs (coastal themes in-stock year-round), and you've got your perfect little gift of local flavor.

I create different sizes and four flavors, so figured the decision might be a little tough for some. Enter the new Joycups gift certificate.

I asked Lynn Bates at www.lynnbatesdesigns.etsy.com to custom create a gift certificate to match The Joycup Co.'s look and appeal. She came up with this gorgeously primitive French-inspired motif that says "Enjoy". Perfect. It was also Lynn's idea to make the Joycup gift certificates hang tags, just like the handmade gift tags available for each box from select etsy artisans who favor vintage and recycled materials. Double perf.

Lynn's gift certificate tags are now available at www.thejoycupco.com. I'm so grateful for them and my Joycups' customers, I'll add a free JoyBox 2 with any gift certificate ordered, along with your message handprinted on the tag.

Thank you Lynn. And thank you again Joyfuls for sharing the Joy. Enjoy!

Precisely Pithy

A visitor to Pithy Little Wine Co.'s mission-style tasting room is certain to find something that pleases. That's how husband and wife team Jeff Munsey and Felicia Alvarez envisioned their quality offerings before opening about a year ago.

They cater to all engaged in the local wine tasting group experience, even those who can't or don't drink, like the designated driver or a pregnant spouse. "There's always someone in a group sitting their bored with their water," says Felicia, who majored in crops science at Cal Poly. "So we thought, 'What if we make our own sodas for tasting?'" Pithy Little Soda Works debuted this year with Root Beer, Black Cherry, Orange Cream and now Cola. They're made the old-fashioned way using cane sugar and all-natural ingredients, not high-fructose corn syrup or carbonated water. The sodas are served complimentary in the same Riedel glasses for tasting the rich Pithy merlots, zinfandel and chardonnays. The pairing experience within the historic downtown San Luis Obispo ambiance features locally made cheeses, brown butter cookies and gourmet peanut butter cups.

Local support is important to the owners, who sell the packaged treats in a gorgeous storefront display, along with locally handmade linens and their own line of luxurious soaps and lotions made of grape seeds and organic ingredients. Over the holidays Pithy Wine threw a one-stop shopping party with great wine discounts and gifts, such as their Fortuity aromatic long-burning soy candles, books, wine accessories and our favorite, the delicious mulling spices. The little bag of spices warmed in wine, cider and cinnamon sticks taken from a Pithy Wine Co. recipe creates a velvety blend that "tastes like Christmas," as Felicia so aptly put it. Oh, do we agree!

Chances are, visitors found Pithy Little Wine Co. via social networking venues like Facebook or Twitter. Felicia actively engages with her current and prospective customers, rather than spends on large ad campaigns. "It's more about trying to get to know your customer," says Felicia. "Give them a quality product, and let them know you are listening."

Wipeout Season 3 Photos ABC Television | Wipeout Photos

Meet Heidi: Wiped-Out Winner of Joycups Giveaway | Wipeout Photos

Heidi's fabulous North Coast ocean images brought us together. Our shared passion for chocolate peanut butter cups sealed the deal.

This crazy-fun girl from Oakhurst favors Cayucos in February when visiting with her hubs for their anniversary getaway. She photographs for a hobby, but one particular shadowy post of the Cayucos Pier had me sayin': "Go Heidi, Go!"

Bet she heard a lot of that while racing through the obstacle course of giant balls, slippery slopes and slimy mud before millions of television viewers.

Heidi was happy learning she'd won a box of Joycups in the first blogged-about giveaway. Loves peanut butter cups. Recalled getting Reese's shaped like Christmas Trees during the holidays as a best peanut butter cup experience. Nah, nothing tops the whole chocolate-peanut-butter combo thing. Perfect end to a day of bruisin' by bouncing balls, face-whacking planks and such.

Heidi just happened to mention: "Watch me tonight on 'Wipeout'!" You know. That ABC-TV game show where contestants compete for $50,000 by racing through an obstacle course of craziness. Those able to finish in top times are given nicknames by the show's hosts based on some random trait, like "Headband Guy" for the guy wearing a headband.

Heidi was simply called Heidi. No funny nickname. No time to report--she didn't finish the course. But co-host John Anderson declared she was "awesome" during her final strech. And now there are You-Tube clips worldwide to prove it!

Of Peanuts & Gifts That Keep On Giving

So, made my first peanut butter cups 25 years ago from a recipe printed on a grocer's chocolate brick called Candi-Quik. Being a single mom working through college, there wasn't a lot of cash for Christmas giving.

Candi-Quik is good enough, but tastes pretty waxy. I used generic peanut butter for the filling and was surprised when the cups actually came out okay. Had fun packing them up in Dollar Store tins, totally unaware that in the minds of my friends and fam, Danna-Joy's peanut butter cups were not a one-time taste tease. They were the new tradition.

Some practically revolted if peanut butter cups were not under the tree or on the desk at the holiday break. A clotheshorse bro-in-law could have cared less one year about the two stylin' dress shirts that were just his size. "Did you bring me any peanut butter cups?" he demanded. "If I didn't get any peanut butter cups this year, get out of my house."

HA! Such a kidder. Kinda like my old partner in crime. I returned from our last Christmas working together at probation to find most people in our unit didn't get the peanut butter cups I'd left in containers on their desks. By then I was creating from my own recipe using premium dark Guittard chocolate and sea salts blended with ground organic peanuts from Sunshine Health Foods in Morro Bay.

Love that Sunshine grinding machine. So does my granddaughter, Sarah-Joy. Love those nutty ground Sunshine peanuts blended with creamy, dark-roasted Santa Cruz organic peanut butter for the perfect texture and taste. (At the time of the missing cup caper, experimenting with local berries was just a what-if?, but the chocolate peanut butter cups were definitely getting tastier).

Didn't take but a minute to figure out my partner had helped himself to everyone else's stash. He had a habit of doing that. He's in New Mexico now doing super-duper top secret federal work. He still got a special gift of Joycups this year. Might get another box for Christmas, too. If he behaves himself.

Be Lovin' that Good Green Grub

With its heaping offerings of tasty raw pies, handmade soups, fresh salads and fabulous vegan dishes, Be Love Cafe serves to showcase the best of the local farmers' bounty.

Lovelies Brandie Michelle and Rachel Axtell opened their busy Baywood Park biz this May at the 3rd Street corner where Farmer's Market runs Mondays.

Be Love grew from a farmers' market booth serving popular fresh-squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. The red and green Liquid Love is still a Be Love staple, along with after-hour deliveries to about 75 daily customers. Everything about Be Love is about giving back--to the community, to farmers, to the environment--so no surprise the juices are either filled in recycled mason jars or poured into the jars customers then recycle for their favorite fuel.

No surprise, either, that this green business's goal of zero waste ties in to the love of feeding others.

Be Love's organic waste feeds the Red Wigglers out back, too.

Calling the Worm Whisperer.

Brandie chatted up Mark Sowell while booth buddies at the Morro Bay Farmer's Market. His calling card: GrumProductions. In webspeak,that's http://www.quickcompost.org/. Worms, castings, bins, natural pesticides. They spoke the same love language. "They call him the worm whisperer," explains Brandie. "He has a way with them."

She brought in Sowell for his vermicomposting expertise right after opening her cafe. Vermicomposting is the consumption of organic material by earthworms. Yum. Thriving worms in cool wood bins of soil eat the scraps, poop and die to form a highly nutrient fertilized soil. The compost soil is mixed with top soil to grow herbs and garden delectables, which the Be Love partners are growing now for flavoring future dishes.

Sowell's company installed and closely monitors the system to prevent odor and collect the castings. Brandie says the new worm farm behind the cafe was a community project.

Labor of Love. The weeds were cleared and the Be Love family helped Sowell's company build the big heart-shaped mounds of composted soil for future herb gardens. Brandie's son Taylor is among those who water and tend to the waste kept in covered Miner's Hardware buckets.

"It's important to do this," Brandie says. "We fill so many buckets of pure organic waste. It needs to go back to the earth, to show respect to the farmers, to show respect to the earth."

I jumped when Brandie called to say she wanted the organic peanut butter Joycups in her cafe. No surprise there, either.

GIVEAWAYS!!

Hey Hey Joyfuls!.....Got a little giveaway goin' on to introduce you to The Joycup Co.'s new blog. Enter for a chance to win a box of assorted dark chocolate organic peanut butter Joycups~traditional with espresso sea salt, olallieberry/raspberry/merlot sea salt blend & blueberry/lemon/lemon sea salt blend~just by joining this blog.

Watch for the winner's name to be posted here and on twitter.com @dannajoy and facebook.com / The Joycup Co. And do check back. Sharin' the Joy is what this blog's all about.

Happy 4th!!