​Sometimes “growing” may mean taking a step back...realizing what’s important in life, what you can live with and what you can’t live without.

For those of you who have been with me since my days at the farmers market, nearly 11 years ago - thank you and welcome back! For those of you who are visiting for their very first time - thank you and welcome!

I realized something pretty major since last Mother’s Day and wanted to share it. I started SALTOPIA while I was a stay-at-home mom, with a toddler and newborn baby. I wanted chemical free salts and seasonings for my baby food recipes. I simply couldn’t find anything at grocery or specialty stores. So, I started to make my own! While creating chemical free foods for my family to ensure my babies were growing healthy, I found a new baby: SALTOPIA!

My creations quickly turned into a little business. From farmers markets to mail order catalogs...my salt company just sort of grew and grew and grew. Before long, I was running a factory space, managing an enormous storefront, juggling massive wholesale business alongside an online business... loads of staff... loads of problems... enormous responsibilities, including unrealistic shipping deadlines for massive partners with slim margins...

I found myself working nonstop. I was never with my family. I missed my boys playing at their soccer and baseball games. I had no idea if they had homework or if they had missed assignments until I heard from their teachers. I hardly made a good meal anymore. I was over-obligated, over-worked and completely disconnected. Then, one day between last Mother’s Day and this one: I woke up. I realized that I had not only become disconnected from my family but also disconnected from my business even though I was living at work! I lost that critical connection to my customers - which is the entire reason I love what I do! Some of my salts are named by my customers! RICHARD PEABODY PECK III is named after my own dad! I no longer knew who my customers were, what they ordered or if they even were happy with the products. It was really awful. It was a complete parallel to what was happening with my family at home. I had no idea how they were doing, if they were happy and excelling in their young lives, nor was I a part of it. All of my babies were suffering.
 
I guess at some points I kept pushing because I wanted to have more for my family. Make more money. Create stability for our future. Build a foundation in which the boys may be able to continue with one day. However, as the years were flying by, I realized what’s important is “right now.” My boys won’t be little much longer. 

​I’ve missed enough of their young lives. I’m so very grateful for all the amazing business opportunities I have been blessed with. But I want to be able to get back to that customer connection. That family connection. That’s what SALTOPIA is all about. I want to know that what I do each day makes a difference in the lives of others, especially my children.
 
And so I took a giant step back to reconnect. It feels so good to be able to do that again. Placing notes in each customer box and being able tend to each customer request is critical to me. Maybe that won’t ever make me a millionaire - but that’s not why I started the business in the first place! I’ve heard that “business should never be taken personally” – yet, this little business is nothing but personal. I like it that way! Numbers don’t matter if when you add them up, you end up feeling negative.
 
My husband Michael, who coaches my sons little league teams always tells them, “It doesn’t matter if you win, what matters is that you do your best each and every game!” I’m taking his advice (as usual) and putting my best into each pinch.

Happy Mother’s Day - may every day we do our very best in life, no matter what we do! Thank you for all the love and support! - Kimarie Santiago, WIFE/MOM/CEO

Feliz Cinco De Mayo everyone! I wanted to share something I learned about fruit recently. I LOVE fresh fruit - especially when it's in season! There's nothing worse than trying to eat watermelon out of season. It's all mealy and not at all sweet. Ick. I try to live like a good locavore and only eat what's available in season, locally. However, sometimes I crave something such as strawberries covered in sweet cream on top of pancakes!! YUM!!  Here's a little science behind the sweeter fruits:

First: when fruit ripens, the process is controlled by a hormone called auxin. When the ripening process reaches it's peak, it causes the cell walls of the fruit to degrade. This makes the fruit taste sweet and juicy! (Nerd alert!)

Next: out of season fruits can easily be "tricked" into the above-mentioned process by sprinkling a touch of seas salt. Although this may seem counter-intuitive, sea salt actually enhances the flavor of fruits overall. Just don't go overboard, otherwise your fruit will be far too salty. 
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​When I came home from our trip, I was desperate for more dragon fruit. I went to a small specialty fruit and veggie store run by a lovely Korean family near my home. They always have the best selection of produce at great prices! Two beautiful bright pink dragon fruits made their way into my market bag, along with a bunch of other deliciousness. Dragon fruits are ripe when they softer to the touch - much like an avocado. If it's mushy - then it's overripe. I sliced open the fruit and sampled a small piece. NOPE. Not sweet. I reached for my jar of SALTOPIA SWEET LIFE infused raw sugar cane, DATE NIGHT and sprinkled away. I used enough sugar so that it added the needed pop of sweet, but not too much - you will want the sugar to dissolve right into the fruit so you don't see it. So now, if you crave a fruit that may not be in season just yet, reach for some raw sugar!

Hotel information and friends tip: This magical fruit bowl was enjoyed at Baha Bay Beach Club at the Baha Mar Hotel in the Bahamas. You can book your lounger in advance for your entire stay at Club, so you don't have to be a maniac waking up at 6am to run down to the pool and throw towels, flip flops and books on a chair. Plus the fee to reserve your chair goes towards your food and beverage orders that day. It's brilliant! My chair! My fruit bowl! My view! My kinda vacation! My kids spent the day in the hotel's brand new waterpark, which is next to the Beach Club, while hubby and I slept in the sun (and ate a bunch of fruit, of course). 

I'm a huge fan of hosting! I love to throw dinner parties, wine tastings, costume parties and soirées of any sort! Over the years I've learned that keeping things simple enables me to enjoy the event along with my guests. I also believe that many folks don't host because they think it's too stressful, too much planning, too much money, too much clean up, the backyard garden beds still have not been mulched, it might rain...  so many people have excuses as to why they don't want to host. Excuses will only allow time to pass, which is depressing and sad. So, this post is to hopefully encourage more folks to host out there! Follow these steps for a happier, healthier hosting lifestyle with wonderful memories together!

#1: KEEP IT SIMPLE
Your worthy guests don't really care about what is being served or how it's being served! Ditch the stressful menu's and trying to over plan the party! Do whatever is easiest. I find that a great "grazing board" loaded with cheese, crackers, fruit, nuts, dips, bread and chips is a great way to host a larger group. I love placing little bowls of olive oil with a heavy sprinkle of different SALTOPIA Infused Sea Salts in each - then sliced artisan bread is a huge hit. It's easy, inexpensive and your guests will love it. If all else fails, order pizza. It's all about the time you spend together and not how you actually host that time. 

#2: GUEST CONTRIBUTIONS
I've always been taught that I should never knock on the door of my host, with my fist. I should always be carrying something to share with my host and therefore, knocking on the door with my foot, instead.  I don't think I've ever invited someone to my home, and they showed up empty handed (otherwise, I probably wouldn't invite them a second time for certain). It's common courtesy to bring something to share such as a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates. I hosted a fairly large wine tasting a few years back and asked each guest to bring 2 blocks of their favorite cheeses to share. It was perfect! I layered the table with fresh fruit and crackers. As my guests arrived, I simply opened their cheese selections and placed them onto the table amongst the fruit and crackers. We had some of the most amazing cheeses that night, paired with incredible wines! Purchasing 18-20 blocks of different quality cheese is costly!  Asking your guests to buy 2 blocks is NOT a major investment on their part. So don't be afraid to ask for your guests to contribute something to the evening. You'd be amazed at how much your guests appreciate it as well. Everyone would like to help and share in the evening. Your request will make their lives that much easier!

#3: CUT OUT THE CLEAN UP
I hate cleaning up and doing the dishes at the end of the night! Whenever I can avoid washing dishes, I try to! If you noticed in the above images, I simply toss fresh foods directly onto the table or a large platter. This avoids dishware and silverware altogether.  I typically line the table with a tablecloth and then add parchment paper to prevent the foods from sticking or staining the fabric tablecloth. It's easy and saves me a ton of work! 

#4: THEMES HELP
In order to keep your efforts to a minimum and set expectations for your guests, themes are wonderfully helpful! For example, if you planned a backyard movie night, then your guests can expect popcorn. You can set up a popcorn bar. I love putting out SALTOPIA's POPPING WITH FLAVOR set with fresh popcorn! It's easy and fun for all. My husband hangs a big sheet up with some clothes pins to project the movie. We ask everyone to bring a blanket to snuggle with and drinks to share. I've hosted TAIL GATING parties and served chicken wings as well as nacho platters. I've also hosted TEA PARTIES and served finger sandwiches with mimosas. Having a theme really helps reduce the stress and keeps things simple overall. 

#5: NO SEATING? NO PROBLEM!
The best part of themed hosting is being able to tackle common hosting problems such as seating! If you're struggling to find space or tables or chairs - then turn your problem into the theme! An outdoor picnic is a great way to avoid the furniture problem. You can even create a themed picnic such as "Moroccan Inspired" and serve all sorts of fun dips, spreads and appetizers! Check out ROCK MY WORLD infused sea salts for great flavor profiles!

Above all, just remember that less is more! You should always enjoy your event with your guests! 
Share your ideas, problems or questions below. I'd love to hear what you're thinking about. OR what your hosting horrors are! Perhaps I can help? 

I promised myself I would post at least once weekly on my "Chit Chat" column. Unfortunately, I failed already with that goal. However, it’s only because we’ve had a family member pass away. My husband’s mom lost her two year battle with cancer last week. It’s so very sad and painful losing someone, especially a parent. As many of you may know, I lost my dad to cancer a few years back as well. It’s just awful. I hate the saying, “Time will make everything better.” That’s absolutely not true. Time only teaches us to live without the loved one. It teaches us to live differently. The pain in our hearts never goes away.

I’m a person who always tries to be helpful and find solutions to problems. It’s the way I’m made. However, during times like these, I can’t fix anything. I can’t make things better. I can be helpful by being supportive and a consoling listener when needed. When difficult things like this happen in life, I like to cook or create in my kitchen. However, many folks don’t have an appetite when they feel sad. So my "cooking up a storm" during difficult times isn’t always helpful - even though it makes me feel like I have a purpose. 

So what’s a girl to do? I needed to be present and available to my husband at all times. Yet, it was impossible for me to focus on work - I needed a mindless project to refocus and settle my own nerves. And so this week, I took on a new project that’s been picking at me for a while now. I have been desperately wanting to paint over a “pop wall” in my family room. It was painted a few years back in a bright, royal blue. I liked it for a while but I didn’t care for the shine of the paint. It was time for the change!

First, you should know, I’m extremely frugal. My husband and I are both small business owners. We work very hard for every penny and nothing has been a gift to us. I also appreciate things far more when I tackle them myself! Now, this project was only meant to be a 2 day maximum overhaul… it ended up taking me 6 days and a lot more work than I anticipated. I’ll explain the details within the images below:

Here’s a before image of the blue wall before my project:

​Here’s the color I choose to cover the blue: CARBON BLACK in eggshell finish (sorta of “soot” color and not really straight black). I went darker because we have this old black leather couch we bought 19 years ago from Huffman Koos “going out of business sale.” It’s still in excellent condition - so I hate to just get rid of things that are perfectly good. I just figure out ways to rework them!

If you've never attempted crown molding before - the corners are a killer! My walls happen to be extremely uneven (so I found out with this project, which is why it took much longer) and therefore, the corners turned out fairly AWFUL. I used those pretty ornate single "feather-looking" pieces to hide the corners above the fireplace. See finished idea here in this photo...no one has to know how bad my corners really are...

My home is a center hall colonial - typical of our area in NJ. The bedrooms are upstairs and the kitchen & family room is downstairs. We have a mish-mosh of 1930s Art Deco furniture, which is all hand-me-downs from my grandma, combined with newer pieces we have collected over time. We make it work. I always feel like I should love a room and it’s decor so much, that I want to spend as much time as I can in that room. I wasn’t feeling this way with the blue shiny wall! What do you think about this room now? I guess since I superglued the styrofoam molding to the walls and ceilings, I am sorta stuck with it for a long while! I like it and this little project gave me my sanity for when I couldn't feed people over the last two weeks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Well, it's the "week of" St. Patrick's Day. As I was driving through our small town this weekend, the streets were closed for our annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. I was thrilled to see folks lining up, dressed in green and SMILES ear to ear! It's so nice to see everyone smiling again. With the mask mandate - I missed seeing others smiling. Smiles are contagious, don't you think?

“The luck of the Irish" is probably a saying you've heard time and time again, most likely around St. Patrick's Day! I always thought the meaning had something to do with the extreme good fortune of the people of Ireland, but originally the Irish phrase had a different connotation. During the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, a number of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish and Irish American birth. . . .Over time this association of the Irish with mining fortunes led to the expression “luck of the Irish.” Fun fact!

Meantime, being an American, I find we are all extremely lucky! I love that we can celebrate all of these wonderful holidays, simply as our right of passage, being Americans together! On St. Patrick’s Day – we all are Irish! Throw on your green sweaters and soak up some green sudsy beer! At least this is my opinion on how being an American has some really great, not-so-obvious privileges. This incredible melting pot of unique cultures and heritages offers us the ability to be “all in” whenever there’s anything to celebrate! Isn’t that wonderful?

However, my grandma from Florence, Italy would roll over in her grave right now if I didn’t mention this important fact: although many assume that St. Patrick is of Irish descent, he was actually not born in Ireland! No one really knows where St. Patrick was actually born, but historians believe he was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland. St. Patrick’s parents where Calpurnius and Conchessa who were Italians living in Scotland. So technically, he’s an Italian! 

A fun Irish Recipe in honor of St. Patty’s Day:
Ingredients:
-1 1/3 oz (2 parts) Irish whiskey,
-whipped cream
-1 tsp. PERKS FOR PASTRIES
-2 2/3 oz (4 parts) Hot coffee
Preparation:
Heat the coffee, whiskey and sugar; do not boil.
Pour into glass and top with whipped cream; serve hot.

Other ideas:
Try this with HOT COCOA, no alcohol or coffee
and finish with chocolate syrup for a kid-friendly
non-alcoholic  treat!

 I've been feeling the need to connect with others these last few months. I'm sure it has everything to do with COVID-19 and all of us being cooped up for such an awful, long time! I also noticed how much I am NOT wanting to be on social media. I try my best to post regularly on SALTOPIA's Instagram and Facebook pages - mostly because I feel like "I have to." Yet, when I log into those apps, I notice I never see any of the people, chefs and small businesses that I choose to follow. All I see are advertisements: MORE AND MORE AND MORE!! I actually had to search for one of my favorite chefs that I follow on Instagram. I realized I had not seen a post from him in a very long time... I wanted to make sure he was still there. Imagine?! Fortunately, he's doing great, and he's been posting away! I just never see it because unless I interact with his posts by "liking" and "commenting" then I suddenly stop seeing his posts altogether. I found out the same thing is happening with my followers for SALTOPIA's Instagram and Facebook accounts. Ugh. What a drag, right?! I reached out to Facebook to complain that my followers should be able to see my posts regardless of "liking" or "commenting" - let's face it, some of us just aren't big commentors. However, that should never mean we don't want to see anything, anymore. Facebook's response was that they wanted me to pay to advertise to those very people who already follow my page. Imagine that?! You wanted to follow me and receive content from me. However, now I'll have to pay the platform to actually make sure you get to see the content you choose to follow. Boo!

Opening up a blog will be opening up some flood gates to loads of "things" online. However, I feel like SALTOPIA's community is truly our very own "UTOPIA" - which is why I named the business SALTOPIA in the first place! So let's do this together, right here. Let's chit chat and share ideas, recipes, stories and more! I welcome ideas, feedback and I'm always open to all suggestions, as well as comments. I'm not open to talking about politics or religion or any topics that are sensitive in which we all reserve our own right to opinions. Let's keep this area of the internet happy and well fed! See you in the thread...