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12/19/2006 Frankfort Times
Rossville Couple Offers Different Kind of Sweet for the Holidays
Kate Meadows
Staff writer
Kids are the best customers for Mark and Wendy Miles. Maybe it's because of the free samples they give out under a hot sun at local farmer's markets or inside a toasty old downtown store where their sweet treat is sold.
But what is certain is that the tasty samples mark for countless kids a favorite sweet. And it's a sweet that moms and dads don't have to worry about. This kind of "sweet" is a healthy one, and it has its own story to tell.
Momma's Old-Fashioned Applesauce, made fresh with Indiana apples, sits on the shelves at local businesses in sparkling jars wrapped with colorful ribbon. The labels bear Momma's legendary story and a bright red barn that resembles the barn on the Miles' country property.
"Momma" is Carol Miles, Mark's mother and a 65-year-old pioneer, who raised her kids to think outside of the food box. She ground her own flour to make bread, canned food for the family herself and used organic grass seed for the yard.
"We didn't get to take Ding Dongs and Twinkies to school," Mark said with a laugh.
Instead, the kids' sweet treat was mom's homemade applesauce.
As the family pioneer, Carol took as much time as she needed to define her recipe, testing it for taste, texture and consistency, until she had it just right. Close attention to the ratio of apples, water and cinnamon was necessary to perfect the consistency, and getting the recipe just right was an endeavor that took several years.
What resulted was a flavor that, now 30 years later, continues to reach more and more taste buds. At 65, Momma decided it was time to pass the recipe on, into her son's hands.
In September, Mark and his mom traveled to Napanee, where the recipe was mass-produced for the first time in a state-certified kitchen to be sold at small businesses in and around Clinton County. The kitchen belongs to an Amish family who cooked the applesauce in a big copper urn. Throughout the process, Mark and Carol continually taste-tested the recipe, until it was just right - to "Momma's" standards. Only then was the batch placed into glass jars and sealed with a hot-seal press.
Following the production, the Miles returned home with about 1100 jars - pints and quarts - of applesauce.
The first jar was sold at Wendy's traditional barn sale in October, which provides a venue for antique dealers in the area. In the stores, which were carefully selected by Mark and Wendy, a pint sells for $5, and a quart sells for $8.
"We want to be able to drive as much traffic as we can to those smaller businesses," Mark said.
What drives their own sales is the free samples, Mark said, and Wendy agreed.
"I'm not going to pay $5 or $8 for anything I haven't tried first," she said.
Many say it's the best applesauce they've ever had.
It's different. The cinnamon combined with natural ingredients makes it different in color. Turbinado sugar, a natural ingredient, makes it different in texture. And of course, Momma's recipe makes it different in taste.
Momma's Old Fashioned Applesauce is sold at Flavors and Shoup's Country Foods in Frankfort, the Country Market in Zionsville, Main Street Cheese and Great Harvest Bread Company in Lafayette, Sunspot Natural Foods in West Lafayette and 2 Cookin' Sisters in Brookston.
| Mark Miles likes to call his mother Carol "a pioneer in healthy foods". As far back as 30 years ago, she was cooking up good-for-you treats for her three children. But unlike many of the not so tasty "health foods" of the 1970s, Carol's kids, friends, and family members thought hers were delicious. Especially her applesauce.
After listening to everyone who ate her applesauce tell her that she should market it, Carol wrote a letter to the Mott's Applesauce Company suggesting a partnership with them to make and market her healthy homemade product. She promptly received a rejection letter and never pursued any other commercial inquiries. That was 15 years ago.
But her son Mark believed in his Momma and her applesauce. In the back of his mind, he knew someday he would get that applesauce to market. When he and his wife, Wendy, moved back to Indiana three years ago, he encouraged his mother to work with him to commercially produce and sell the applesauce he so loved as a child. After some coaxing, she agreed under one condition--that the commercial product had to be as good as the applesauce that came from her home kitchen. After a long search they found an Amish family in Indiana who produced sample batches in their commercial kitchen while Mark and Carol critically sampled batch after batch. Finally, Carol was happy enough with the final product's quality and taste to deem it ready for commercial sale in the fall of 2006.
How good is this applesauce? Well, I make my own applesauce and have been known to be pretty particular about commercial products. My opinion of Momma's Old-Fashioned Applesauce? It's outstanding! It has a pure clean apple flavor and a palate pleasing texture. Following Carol's 30 year old original recipe, the "Original Flavor" is made with apples, water, Turbinado sugar, cinnamon, and cinnamon candies. My favorite, the "No Sugar Added", is made with apples, water, and lemon juice.
Carol has been using the same variety of Indiana grown apples for 30 years and Mark says it's what makes the applesauce so special. Try as I might to find out what variety of apple she used, Mark would not reveal that "trade secret". Word has it that when it comes to that topic, Momma isn't talking either.
Of course, this applesauce is perfect snuggled next to an Indiana pork chop and it makes a healthy snack. Pour it on top of some vanilla ice cream and you have a 30 second dessert. It's fun to cook with too. Momma's site has several great recipes on it including one for a meatloaf made with applesauce.
A few weeks ago, Wendy sent me one of her a favorite recipes, Hoosier's Happy Birthday Cake. It's a special cake that Wendy makes for their Golden Retriever, Hoosier. Being the dog spoiler that I am, I just had to bake this cake for my dog and his lady dog friend. Did I nibble on a piece of it while the two pooches devoured their slices? Of course I did. It was excellent! Hoosier's Happy Birthday Cake will have your dog's tail wagging! I also made a "so simple you won't believe it" fruit leather out of the No Sugar Added Applesauce. You'll find instructions for making the fruit leather along with the cake recipe in the Spring Recipes Section of this site.
You can purchase Momma's Old Fashioned Applesauce at several Indiana farmers markets and specialty food shops. Once you taste it, I think you'll agree that when it comes to making a great applesauce, Momma knows best!
Momma's Old Fashioned Applesauce
Mark & Wendy Miles
P.O. Box 296
Rossville, Indiana 46065
www.mommasapplesauce.com
momma@mommasapplesauce.com
| August 08, 2007 www.hungryhoosier.com Momma's Old-Fashioned Applesauce
My mom is a good cook and there are several things she makes that I love that I've learned to make as well. Her meatloaf is tops on the list. As good as it is, however, I'm not sure I would be confident enough to build a business around it. Fortunately for all of us, Mark and Wendy Miles didn't have the same doubts. Mark is such a fan of his mom's applesauce, he and Wendy decided to bottle the stuff and sell it. I became a customer, and fan, while visiting the Zionsville Farmer's Market. It was my two-year-old son, Oliver, actually, who prompted me to make the purchase. We both took advantage of a free sample and he piped up, "I want some of that." What's a dad to do?
After talking with Mark and Wendy, I learned that this is part of their sales plan - when kid's get to sample, mom and dad buy. Truth be told, I would have bought anyway based on my own taste test. This is really good applesauce - made with Indiana apples and some warm spices. Almost like apple butter but not as thick and sweet. They are also introducing a sugar-free version.
You can find Momma's Old-Fashioned Applesauce at farmer's markets and several Indiana retailers. You can find out exactly where, and get all sorts of other information, at their website. The site also has some great recipes including applesauce popcicles! _______________________________________________________________ Our first fan mail: "Hi my name is Gentry. I am an 8 year old girl child. I am writing to tell you that Momma's Old Fashioned Applesauce is great! I could eat it for a century. It's the best I've ever had. Keep up the good work. Your'e going to have a great business!" We met Gentry at a Farmers' Market...what an amazing young lady! |
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