Edible Stories

edible stories

Behold the fruits of our labor – CORDIAL holiday gifts.  Edible stories.

Ruby Red Marmalade
A bushel of Texan grapefruits arrived unexpectedly one day and were turned into marmalade as part of a sharecropping experiment.   We’ve enjoyed this with almost anything – from slow-braised pork to grilled salmon and everything in between – but nothing can touch it with toast and a cup of tea.

CORDIAL Cordials
The essence of the season: mint, lemon verbena and pomegranate picked and foraged from our gardens.  Add some life to sparkling wine, water or a martini.  Better yet – experiment and send your suggestions our way.  CORDIAL in a glass.

Apple Chutney
The final fruits of the season – foraged by us and transformed into uber tastiness by our friends at our local community kitchen – Community Action Marin.  A failsafe method of enriching any sandwich but excellent with some great cheddar.  Simple pleasures.

Chocolate
This CORDIAL selection of Coco Delice favorites represents the end results of extensive (but not at all exhaustive) tasting.  Incredible chocolates from our favorite bay area chocolatier.

Green fig preserve (groenvy heelkonfyt)

figs

The English name is easier to grasp than the South African, but regardless of pronunciation, this is my new favorite way to eat figs. When I visited Stellenbosch and the little Karoo earlier this year to look at School Garden Projects, I quickly became obsessed with the jars of preserved figs that appeared on tables as an accompaniment to a diverse range of dishes. I managed to pry the recipe out of an African Granny and scurried home to try it out. It takes time to prepare but delivers something unique that puts early season unripe figs to great use. Groenvy Heelkonfyt trumps any fig dish I’ve eaten. Ever. I’m sworn to secrecy on my ill-gotten recipe but you can find something similar here.

We won! 2010 British Airways Face of Opportunity

New York, January 2, 2011 – CORDIAL Rx, today announced that it has been selected by British Airways as a 2010 Face-of-Opportunity winner. This award is part of the British Airways Face-to-Face program, which provides small business owners and entrepreneurs the critical tools for building business relationships abroad and stimulating growth through the power of face- to-face interaction. The winning concept is a hush-hush in-house venture incubated by CORDIAL Rx, slated to launch in the fall of 2011.

“We are thrilled to be part of the prestigious group of entrepreneurs chosen by British Airways,” said Emily Collins Kell, Founder, CORDIAL Rx. “This summit will give us the chance to meet potential partners in New York and London, providing a platform for building meaningful relationships in the wine and artisan spheres, cutting edge media strategies, and radical thinking in 2011.”

Before taking off for London, Collins Kell will attend the British Airways Face-of-Opportunity conference in New York City on Feb. 2, 2011 where the company will receive free counsel from top influential international business experts while networking with venture capitalists, renowned entrepreneurs, media and other small business owners.

“We are very excited for this phase of the program and for the 250 small business owners who, beyond the educational resources already provided through the Face-to-Face program, now have the opportunity to fly British Airways overseas to conduct vital face-to-face meetings for their business,” said Simon Talling-Smith.  “Each of the winner’s stories is uniquely inspiring and our hope is that the program is a powerful catalyst in ensuring lasting and fruitful businesses for them.”

On The VERGE…

VERGE Wine Cellars is a boutique wine producer dedicated to making expressive Syrah from organic and biodynamic vineyards throughout the North Coast. VERGE hunts down—and spotlights—dynamic vineyard blocks, and like-minded growers doing great things. Winemaker Mike Brunson, a Sonoma County leader in advocating organic viticulture, uses native, wild yeast and minimal handling to produce brooding, madly aromatic Syrah.

Ongoing brand development is a highly collaborative process between us, our partners, and a lineup of wickedly-talented artists. And yes, there is an album in the works…

Label design by Sheryl Chapman, Album Cover design by Will Collins.