Cherry Hill Courier-Post
Amanda Rodriguez has a garden in the front of her Cherry Hill home, and she has ducks in the back.
Both play a role in the homemade, handcrafted goods she produces for the family business, The Rod Homestead.
Rodriguez began by infusing her own vanilla extracts, offering them as gifts. Then she began to harvest herbs from her garden, which led to her create more things, such as basil salt for her pastas.
Eventually, she began creating simple cocktails for herself. The rest is, well, history.
“I have a friend who’s a beekeeper, so I used her honey for the honey syrup,” said Rodriguez. “And starting with homemade grenadine instead of store-bought was such a difference in the taste. It’s nice to know what’s going in your body, and It’s nice to know that it’s not just corn syrup and sugar.