HOOSIER ARTISANS

Keeping Hoosier products close to home Artisans of Indiana to Know

BY KYLEE WIERKS

Indiana is filled with business owners, inventors and creators of all kinds. In this issue of Edible Indy, we re highlighting eight artisans who have used local ingredients and local resources to make their businesses flourish.

Bread Basket Cafe & Bakery

Photos by Amy Phipps Owner: Judy Sexton Website: BreadBasketCafe.com Location: 46 S. Tennessee St., Danville Phone: 317.718.4800 The Bread Basket Cafe & Bakery was literally the answer to owner Judy Sexton s prayers. Judy had been a stay-at-home mom to two daughters, but as daughter JinAyla was heading off to college, Judy knew she had to find a new direction for her life. And after a lot of prayer, the Bread Basket Cafe & Bakery was born.

The café opened its doors in Coatesville in June 2005. It quickly gained a reputation for decadent desserts and freshbaked bread. And once customers realized that everything was made from scratch—soups, salads, breads and pies—the only problem the café had was keeping enough supply for the increasing amount of visitors.

Three years ago, the Bread Basket Cafe & Bakery outgrew their Coatesville location and moved to their current spot in Danville. Their featured product is pie, which is made daily beginning at 5am. They bake about 20 varieties and always keep a few on hand daily, including their French Silk pie, which is Judy s daughter s favorite. She claims you can t go wrong with rich chocolate, mountains of whipped cream and a buttery, flaky crust.

The Bread Basket Cafe & Bakery also strongly believes in supporting local growers and artists. That s why their coffee, tea, honey, produce and everything in between comes from the Central Indiana area.

For those looking to buy a pie, the retail price is between $18 and $22. Single slices are $5.50. The pies are sold at their Danville location and Saturdays at the local farmers market.

The Bread Basket Cafe & Bakery is open for breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Saturday from 7am to 3pm.

Owners: Tim and Angie Burton Website: BurtonsMaplewoodFarm.com Location: 8121 W. County Rd. 75 S., Medora Phone: 812.966.2168

Tim and Angie Burton moved to Medora 15 years ago with the intention of raising their family on a farm in a small rural community. But after they helped a local family with sap collection one winter, everything changed. Tim loved everything from the art and science of collecting maple syrup to the social aspect of it. So seven years ago, the Burtons began producing maple syrup and Burton s Maplewood Farm was born.

Tim began selling his maple syrup at local farmers markets. His high-quality product got the attention of some chefs in Chicago, and now it s the syrup of choice for many Chicago restaurants.

Burton also created a line of infused syrups that are now his best sellers. He makes rum-, bourbon-, brandy- and whiskey-infused syrups. Th ese rich syrups add a unique fl avor to just about any dish, savory or sweet, which you won t fi nd anywhere else. In fact, Tim has had some customers tell him they love his syrup on foie gras, a food product made from the liver of a duck or goose.

Depending on the size and type of syrup, their products range in price from $8 to $35. And even though the Burtons sell their product nationwide, all of the syrup comes from their 700-tree farm in southern Indiana. You can buy Burton s Maple Syrup online or at farmers markets in the area.

Cutter Boards, Etc.

Owner: Alan Poorman Website: CutterBoardsEtc.com Location: 51 S. Washington St., Danville Phone: 317.371.1206 Alan Poorman, owner of Cutter Boards, Etc., creates one-of-a-kind cutting boards, chopping boards and other items like wine caddies and casserole carriers.

Alan s featured product is end-grain cutter boards made of natural woods and natural colors. He uses a wide assortment of wood types to create unique patterns, which he inlays within each board. Some of the woods are tropical and used for color, but most of the wood is domestic hardwood: cherry, walnut, poplar and maple. Th e specialty woods used in the products at Cutter Boards, Etc., are purchased from Union City near the Indiana / Ohio border. Additionally, he buys his local hardwoods from Crone Lumber Mill in Martinsville.

His boards range in thickness from one to two inches and the surface areas range from 10 by 12 inches to 16 by 20 inches. All the patterns are unique because the grain of the wood dictates the look of each board.

Typically, his boards range in price from $50 to $150, but if a board is really unique, he ll charge up to $300. Th e larger boards can take up to three weeks to fi nish.You can buy the boards directly from Alan on his website or at the Gallery On Th e Square at 51 S. Washington St., Danville. He also sells his boards at craft shows in Bloomington during the year and on occasion in local juried craft shows.

20 edible INDY winter 2014 Photo by Jennifer Rubenstein

Owner: Arron Wever Website: WeversBbq.com Phone: 812.876.7742

Arron Wever wears many hats—paramedic, fi refi ghter and, of course, barbecue sauce maker and creator of Wever s Smoke Eater BBQ Sauce.

Arron s grandfather made his own barbecue sauce for years and after his grandfather passed away, Arron decided to carry on the barbecue sauce-making tradition. He took his grandfather s recipe and adapted it to his own tasting, making it a bit thicker. And two years ago, after a lot of thought, hard work and sampling by the Ellettsville Fire Department, he turned his homemade barbecue sauce into a business.

Arron is involved in every part of Wever s Smoke Eaters BBQ Sauce. Th e sauce is made in Bloomington s Pizza X kitchen and Arron oversees the entire process to ensure high quality. And his mission has always been to produce a barbecue sauce much healthier than typical store-bought sauce, so he orders special ketchup for his sauce that doesn t have artifi cial fl avoring or high-fructose corn syrup. Th is is one reason why Wever s Smoke Eaters BBQ Sauce is the offi cial barbecue sauce provider for IU Health.

Wever s Smoke Eaters BBQ Sauce sells four diff erent sauces appropriately named after the various levels of fi res—False Alarm, First Alarm, Second Alarm and Th ird Alarm, with False alarm being sweet and not spicy at all and Th ird Alarm being the spiciest. He uses Worcestershire sauce to give his sauce a bit of tanginess, and the peppers he uses determines the level of heat for each sauce. His First Alarm sauce is his best seller because it has just a little bit of heat, but overall it s still pretty sweet.

Photo courtesy of Arron Wever You can purchase Wever s Smoke Eaters BBQ Sauce online and at these select stores in Monroe County: IGA in Ellettsville, Marsh and all Bloomingfoods locations. Each 21-ounce glass bottle of barbecue sauce is $6.

Herbal Art

Owner: Brian Paff en Website: HerbalArtOnline.com Location: 9783 E. 116th St., Fishers Phone: 317.418.8227

Herbal Art owner Brian Paff en began making homemade soaps as a hobby in his very small laundry room about 10 years ago. He was passionate about health and wellness and using all-natural ingredients. He knew he could improve on the soaps already in stores, so after a lot of research and development, he turned his hobby into a booming business.

Th roughout the past decade, Brian has expanded his business from solely handcrafted soaps to skincare products, candles, hair care, fragrances, pet care and, most recently, sunless tanning. His Sunless Self Tanning Silk kit has quickly become his most popular product. Brian attributes it to the fact that it s the only organic sunless tanner on the market, and it doesn t leave any streaking.

Herbal Art is through and through an Indiana business; 90% of the raw materials Brian uses to make his products come from local Indiana farmers and gardeners. Additionally, everything is made by hand in Herbal Art s Fishers facility—a big step up from the days of cutting his soap on two small boards in his laundry room. As to advertising, Brian says his favorite form is giving his product out as gifts to family and friends.

Brian always thought it was ridiculous how much retailers mark up their “organic” or “naturally made” products, which is why he has made sure to keep the price of his products as low as possible.

You can buy Herbal Art online or at the Bronze Tanning Salon in Fishers. Most of his products are priced around $10 and the Sunless Self Tanning Silk kit is $16.95.

Inga‘s Popcorn

Photo by Jenny Mae Hinkle

Owner: Inga Smith Website: IngasPopcorn.com Locations: 140 S. Main St., Zionsville and 1503 E. Atwater Ave., Bloomington Phone: 317.344.2000 and 812.334.7707

For Inga Smith, a trip to Chicago in 2011 would change the course of her life. A friend introduced her to Garrett Popcorn, a very popular popcorn shop with a line wrapped around the building. She realized her hometown of Zionsville didn t anything quite like Garrett s, and that s when the idea popped into her head.

She began making her popcorn in the kitchen of a downtown Zionsville coff ee shop and selling her treats at the Zionsville Farmers Market. Her popcorn became popular enough for her to open a store in Bloomington. Shortly afterwards, she gained notable clients such as Oliver Winery, the West Baden Springs Hotel and Indiana University. With business steadily growing, she was able to open a second store on Main Street in Zionsville in April 2013.

Between Inga s two stores, she pops 60 pounds of popcorn daily. She only uses high-quality ingredients and even uses Certifi ed Organic Popcorn grown in Indiana.

Inga s currently sells 11 fl avors of popcorn. Her Hoosier Mix, which consists of cheddar popcorn and caramel popcorn, is her most popular fl avor year-round. But during the holidays, Inga s Snow Storm takes the top spot. Th is treat features caramel popcorn with dark and white chocolate drizzled on top.

Inga is always open to popcorn fl avor suggestions. In fact, one of their most popular fl avors was created after a customer suggested that she combine white cheddar popcorn with snickerdoodle popcorn. Inga thought it was a strange-sounding combination until she tried it. Now it s one of her favorite fl avors.

Newfangled Confections

Owner: Carrie Abbott Website: NewFangledConfections.com Location: 613 E. North St., Indianapolis Phone: 317.721.5525

Carrie Abbott s love for nostalgic candies developed at an early age. When she was a young girl, her grandfather would take her to Hook s Drugstore in Indianapolis where she could see and sample diff erent kinds of old fashioned candies. Th ese memories eventually led Carrie to try her hand at candy making.

As a caterer, Carrie realized candy would make a great party favor, so she began experimenting. Th e fi nal product was a candy that was a bit harder than fudge, but softer and a little saltier than brittle. Th e combination led to a mixture of sweet and salty candies, like fudge and brittle mixed together. And then the name was easy: Fudge + Brittle = Frittle and Carrie s Frittle Candy was born and launched in Indianapolis in 2012.

Frittle is, of course, Newfangled Confections featured product, but the business has expanded throughout the past couple of years and now her treats range to include peanut butter, mint, nuts, cinnamon, lemon and any other interesting combinations of new-candy-meets-Old-World fl avors.

Carrie still keeps the old-fashioned candy store theme in mind as her candy line continues to grow. All production for Newfangled Confections takes place in the historic Chatham Arch neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis and all candies are made by hand. She also hand-stamps and packages the candies for an old-fashioned look.

You can buy Newfangled Confections online, at their store or at select local retailers. Prices start at $6.50.

Coe’s Noodles

Owner: Judy Coe Website: CoesNoodles.com Location: 507 W. Church St., Lynn Phone: 765.874.1079

Judy Coe and her family have a long history of making noodles. When Judy was little, she would watch her grandmother make, cut and spread noodles out on their dining room table to dry.

Years later, Judy Coe carried on the tradition of making homemade noodles for family and friends. But it wasn t until she took a trip to the Richmond Farmers Market in 1983 that she had the idea of trying to sell them.

With Judy as the head chef, she enlisted her husband, three daughters and one son to help with the production. And to this day, her staff hasn t changed much. Th e only additions are the three full-time staff members she hired to help with her expanding noodle empire.

Even though her business has grown throughout the years, Judy says her recipe hasn t changed and they re still “Noodles like Grandma used to make.”

Th ey sell two types of noodles: wide and thin. Th eir best seller is their wide noodle, which Judy says has a similar texture and feel to that of a dumpling. She thinks it s their best seller because it provides stability in your mouth and easily absorbs whatever broth it s cooked in.

Judy has cooked up a wide variety of noodle recipes in her lifetime, but she says her kids favorite way to eat them is plain with just a little butter and salt.

Coe s Noodles retail for about $3.58 per package, and they can be purchased on their website or at a wide variety of stores throughout Indiana listed on their website.

Kylee Wierks is an intern assistant managing editor for Edible Indy. She currently works at Indianapolis news station Fox59, and she runs a cooking blog called Kylee’s Kitchen.

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