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.
Food Notes: Celebrate spring with green veggies and white wine
Updated 7:00 AM;
Not so long ago, in a time before supermarkets carried a huge variety of produce regardless of the season, our ancestors had to wait for their veggies each spring.
Deprived of vitamin C through the winter months, they foraged for wild nettles, ramps, dandelions, lamb’s quarters and fiddleheads, to name a few. These would tide them over until their spring vegetables could be harvested.
Today we can buy what we want from the grocery store, or head for our favorite farm stand where our local farmers have become highly educated on what can be overwintered and what grows best in high tunnels, allowing for earlier harvest. This brings the fortunate consumer the freshest possible vegetables including spinach, head lettuces, bok choy, arugula, pea shoots and kale.