Regional Makers: It’s not just a company it’s a movement! Summer BBQ Gift Basket~Review and Giveaway

Summer BBQ Box

Pete and Anna Fargo, owners of the Colorado based company, Regional Makers, are offering a Summer Father’s Day BBQ gift basket, filled with a culinary extravaganza of Colorado-made products; each hand selected for quality and flavor. This summertime basket (in a box) is specially designed to maximize grilled food flavor with minimum effort!  

Everyone’s a winner in this awesome giveaway.  Regional Makers is giving away FREE SHIPPING to ALL participants in this event.  Just sign up using your email address, LIKE US (on Facebook) and FOLLOW US (on Twitter) both Regional Makers and At Home with Rebecka, and it’s as easy as that!  Regional Makers will automatically enter you into their At Home with Rebecka preferred customer list, making you eligible for free shipping on your next order (emails are used only for giveaway purpose and will not be sold or given to advertisers).    

I’m always eager to review artisan products from local companies, and to support my neighbors, and fellow Coloradans by sharing their home-grown products with my readers.  Thanks, to Pete and Anna for giving me the opportunity to taste test Regional Makers Summer BBQ Basket!  

I started my taste test by preparing BBQ pork ribs, dry rubbed with the BBQ Seasoning Pack, by Colorado Spice, finished with Thought-U-Knew, port-chipotle-bacon-bbq sauce, by J. Dogg Phair, to go with the ribs, a cold pitcher of Organic Black Tea, with a sprig of fresh mint, by Teatulia, and roasted corn, buttered with Zesty Chili Lime seasoning, by Colorado Spice. 

The rest of the goodies, I ate straight from the box!  Sounds great, doesn’t it?

To wet his appetite, dad can munch on a few prepared snacks while grilling up a special BBQ meal for the family. The Summer BBQ box offers dad; hickory-smoked beef jerky, cracked pepper natural crispbread, raspberry-whiskey-chipotle jam (my personal favorite), cinnamon cayenne almonds, berry spinach chewy snack, and carrot ginger chewy snack.

REVIEW:

While my ribs were cooking, I spooned some of the Raspberry Whiskey Chipotle Jam, by Puff’s Preserves, over a chunk of sharp white cheddar, pairing the tasty bite with cracked pepper natural crispbread, and wow!

The flavors of the jam were like a whiff of Summer in a jar, absolutely, the best jam I’ve ever tasted!  Spread on the pepper crackers with a slight kick of heat to finish; simply delicious on a slice of bread or used as a marinade over salmon, better yet, just eat it from the spoon, it’s that good!  

REVIEW:

A simple side dish of roasted corn is masterfully transformed using the Zesty Chili Lime Seasoning, by Colorado Spice.  I generally add a touch of fresh ingredients to powdered mixes, as it enhances the flavor of the dish without interrupting the flavors of the mix.  

The mix was well-balanced, not too salty or fake tasting, and not too spicy with just a slight burn at the end.  I would definitely use this product again.  

RECIPE: 

• Mix the zest and juice of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon Chili Lime Seasoning and 1 cup room temperature butter.  Blend ingredients together until smooth, spoon 1/2 the mixture into the middle of a piece of waxed paper, reserving the remainder at room temperature, using one end of the paper, form mixture into a tube shape, tightly secure each end by twisting, refrigerate until hard.  

• To roast corn, tear back a few top husks to remove silk, after silk is removed, pull several husks from one side 1/2 way down the cob to reveal kernels, smear a teaspoon of the mixture onto the exposed corn, pull husk back to cover corn, place corn on a 350 degree grill, cook for 10-15 minutes, turning often, then reduce heat to low and cook additional 10-15 minutes, turning corn every 3-5 minutes, don’t be alarmed, the husks will burn.  

• Remove corn from grill, pull all the husks back to reveal cooked corn but don’t remove the husk, place corn back on grill for 5-8 minutes, turning frequently.  The kernels will caramelize when chard, adding a sweet richness to the corn. To keep the husks from burning up entirely, lay the corn in a manner that allows the husks to hang out the front of the grill. Allow guests to add more compound butter before eating.  Seriously Delicious!
  


REVIEW:

BBQ purists will tell you that it’s a sin to cook ribs in the oven, but I’m here to tell you that the result of oven cooked ribs is pretty darn tasty; with the addition of Thought-U-Knew BBQ sauce, with smoky bacon, chipotle chilies and the richness of tawny port wine, they are down right delicious!  

Not your ordinary BBQ sauce, this guy packs layers of flavor, accentuating the pork and leaving you with a nice heat.  Next time I’ll try slathering this rich sauce over salmon, chicken, or for those non meat eaters, roasted portabella mushrooms. Yum!

RECIPE:

• Season 2 large racks of pork ribs with the entire package of BBQ Seasoning Mix, by Colorado Spice, mix the packet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, brush mixture over ribs, coating every inch, cover ribs in foil and place in a large roasting pan, bake in a preheated oven set at 320 degrees, for 3 hours or until the bone pulls away from the meat, remove from oven and remove foil, place ribs on a oiled, preheated, 350 degree grill, for 8 minutes, turn at 4 minutes to grill the other side, right before serving brush a few tablespoons of BBQ sauce over the ribs, serve with a tall glass of Organic black (iced) tea by Teatulia, which I sweetened to taste.  

REVIEWS:
Each basket also includes:

• Hickory-Smoked Beef Jerky by Colorado’s Best Beef. The Elliott and Ferris families raise their Charolais cattle the old fashioned way: no growth hormones, no steroids, and especially no feed antibiotics.  Each piece is thick cut, reminding me of South African Biltong dried meat, the flavors are robust, not overly seasoned, the texture is soft but chewy.  Varieties: Regular, Black Pepper, Spicy, Cajun, Mesquite, Jalapeno, Hot, Extra Hot and Teriyaki

• Veggie-Go’s by Naked Edge Snacks,  are similar to fruit leathers but made from whole organic fruits and veggies, and no added sugar. I preferred the Berry Spinach bar over the Carrot Ginger bar, it was sweeter and made me feel like I was cheating, not eating something that was ‘good for me”.   

• Cinnamon Cayenne Almonds By Olomomo Nut Company, are spicy, crunchy and really yummy!  Sugared almonds are one of my favorite snacks, nice to know these are made right here in Colorado.

• Natural Crispbread – Cracked Pepper by 34 Degrees, “home of lighter, crispier, all-natural crackers that are simply good to eat. We created 34° Crisps as the perfect companion to the world’s favorite cheeses. But the truth is, we love them straight from the box too.” My confidential source tells me, the pepper flavored crisp was handpick especially for the Summer BBQ basket, as it’s known to be favorite among the male crowd!  I’m betting women like it too! The wafer thin crisp, is lightly speckled with pepper, a tasty cracker served with cheese, jam, and charcuterie.  34 Degrees, also offer five different varieties of crisps: Natural • Sesame • Cracked Pepper • Rosemary • Whole Grain, my favorite…sesame!
  

• Finally, in your own words, send along appreciation to the  “grill master” in your life,  with a personalized Colorado postcard. Tell him  how much you appreciate him this Father’s Day.

Pete & Anna Fargo started Regional Makers to help people “give the gift of place. Regional Makers is not just a gift company. It’s a movement. They invest in the local economy by supporting local makers, and give back by funding conservation projects everywhere they do business.” Ten percent of all profits are donated to support Colorado conservation.  

Critical to the preservation of life, and health of the Rocky Mountains, Pete and Anna’s donations help prevent forest fires by removing dead trees left by the pine beetle epidemic. To close the loop, they use beetle-kill wood to create the hand-made wooden carvings in their Big Colorado Box. 

Regional Makers believe…

People matter. So they deserve thoughtful and memorable gifts.

Places matter. So our gifts should be from places that people love.

Planet matters. So our work should leave every place better than we found it.

All products are 100% guaranteed !

Do you need great gifts for your clients, employees, or events? Regional Makers offers Corporate Gifts that can be personalized, complete with organizational branding. Call their Corporate Gift Concierge at 720-378-8903.

The contest winner will be contacted via email. Email addresses will be used solely for the purpose of contacting the winner.  This contest is open to individuals over the age of 18 only. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook in any way. No purchase necessary to enter. USA residents only.

Compensation was made by Regional Makers in form of product.  All content on this blog are the author’s personal views and opinions. The information provided is solely for entertainment and does not constitute any legal, medical, or other professional advice. It is not to be taken as fact nor absolute truth and it is not the author’s intention to do harm or to injure others. The author will not be held responsible for advice, tips, techniques, and recommendations used. Readers of this blog are to use it at their own free will and at their own risk.  All photos provided by At Home with Rebecka and Regional Makers.