Botanical Sweets and Treats

Life has been crazy hectic lately, but in a good way.
Remember in April when we went to Idaho and we visited Skott's dear Aunt Hazel one afternoon?

A conversation we had with her about favorite candies sparked something life-changing.  On our quest to find her some sea salt caramels with no chocolate, we discovered that NO ONE along the Oregon Coast carried un-chocolated sea salt caramels.
So we made her some.

During our walks on the beach in the days following, we talked about other crazy caramel combinations we could send her. And then a plan hatched -to start our own caramel company.
We have always known that the casino was temporary, a means to an end.  We've always wanted to do Farmers Markets but hadn't found the right niche yet.....

We started experimenting and making all kinds of caramels.  The first few batches really flopped.  We had troubles with crystallization and the flavors were too strong or too weak.

Started reading and researching and trying to find out as much as we could about caramel making.  Discovered the best way to get a consistent flavor was to make our own extracts.  Started brewing extracts from hibiscus, earl grey, chai, rose, lavender, basil, etc.

Took TONS of samples to work for opinions.

Decided to take the plunge and Botanical Sweets and Treats was born.

We are starting out with caramels, but would eventually like to add caramel sauce, flavor coated nuts, truffles, etc.  Our plan is to build an online presence while also getting product carried locally. Then, we have a couple different avenues we could take -whether it be Farmers Markets, Whole Foods, etc.

If you're looking for a great Christmas gift, check out our etsy shop here or our work-in-progress website www.botanicalsweetsandtreats.com

I've been asked a lot what my favorite flavor is and I can honestly say, it's easier to say what isn't my favorite!  This new venture is going to be disastrous to my waistline if I'm not careful :)

38?

Am I really that old?
Wow.
I truly believe it is just a number.
Last week, I felt 21 again.
This week, after the craziness at work, I feel 90.

I love my husband and I always look forward to holidays, as he has a knack for surprising me with the perfect, most thoughtful gifts.  I never have to worry about getting a vacuum cleaner haha

custom wrapping paper

My kindle in it's cork case,
plus the beautiful necklace I received

Fucie likes my kindle too

This year we went camping for my birthday.  Actually, it was "yurting" with heat and electricity, but we were in a campsite AND we had a campfire.  That counts, right?

It was cold at night but gorgeous during the day!

 The beach had a lot of fossils:

 And these interesting layers of rock formations:

Jen made guiness stew- SO GOOD

My brother Barry surprised me with a visit.  It was awesome to see him and visit for a few days.