Happy Balls
Louisville, Kentucky
Bourbon balls have always been a popular party treat in Kentucky, but no one makes them quite like Ron and Jane Harris, who run a handmade-candy operation from their century-old Victorian home in Louisville, Kentucky. The name and recipe for the candy are derived from Ron’s Aunt Gladys, nicknamed Happy, who used to make her special bourbon balls every Christmas.
“My wife and I were actors in New York for 30 years,” said Ron. “Occasionally, we would make Aunt Happy’s bourbon balls to give to casting directors as gifts.”
After retiring in 2004, the couple moved to Louisville and began selling the candy to help maintain their historic house, which required substantial repairs.
“We wanted to make sure we had the best product,” said Harris, “so we made six different batches and had our friends come over to taste them.”
In addition to developing three aging processes, one of the main tweaks that Ron made to his aunt’s recipe was exchanging cheap ingredients for Guittard dipping chocolate from San Francisco and Knob Creek 100-proof, 9-year-old single barrel bourbon.
While Jane handles the packaging and marketing, Ron prepares the candy, mixing bourbon butter cream with “drunken nuts,” which are chopped pecans that have soaked in bourbon for 24 hours. After the balls have been chilled in the refrigerator, he adds a coat of chocolate “just the way old Kentucky ladies always made them,” hand-dipping each ball with a toothpick. As the chocolate shell hardens, the butter cream sets into a moist, rich texture. A pecan is added on top as well.
According to Jane, many people who do not normally like bourbon balls enjoy Happy Balls because the unique aging process removes the edge of the alcohol, giving the candy more vanilla and caramel tones.
Valley Green Naturals
Sperryville, Virginia
After the upheaval of 9/11, Art and Cindy Lawson DeVore decided to move from Washington, D.C., to the northern Virginia countryside for a change of pace. They bought a 1743 farmhouse and started raising chickens and growing their own vegetables. When Art brought home an old soap-making kit one day, the couple began experimenting with homemade beauty products using ingredients from their farm. Cindy started giving out her natural soaps as gifts and later sold them on the website Etsy.
“It started out as a fun thing, and before I knew, it we were really, really busy,” said Cindy with a laugh.
Eventually, a Chicago-based company picked up the brand, and today, Valley Green Naturals sells 28 products in stores from Hawaii to Maine. Though all the ingredients in Valley Green Naturals products are natural and locally sourced, one of the most consistent characteristics is raw honey, which comes from the DeVores’ own beehives. One percent of sales revenue is donated to organizations that protect bees.
“We’re not certified organic because I believe that can be a misleading label,” Cindy said. “Our goal is to keep our products affordable while all natural, and we only use the best suppliers.”
The company’s No. 1-selling product is the charcoal-activated cleanser, a third of which is raw honey.
“The honey is antioxidizing and antibacterial, going after the free radicals that affect the aging process, while the charcoal helps draw out toxins,” Cindy said.
Valley Green Naturals also partners with a nearby distillery called Copper Fox Distillery to produce liquor-scented products like gin soap.
Groups passing through Virginia can find Valley Green Naturals products at various locations, including Ellwood Thompson’s in Richmond, Eden’s Natural Market in Gainesville, Rebecca’s Natural Food in Charlottesville, For Goodness Sake in Leesburg and Finley’s General Store in Smithfield.
Sweetgrass Baskets
Charleston, South Carolina
As visitors wander through Charleston’s bustling City Market, they will inevitably stumble across the city’s most distinctive product: handwoven sweetgrass baskets.
“Sweetgrass baskets are the oldest living African art form in America,” said Darryl Stoneworth, who manages DNA Sweetgrass Baskets with his wife, Angela.
In West Africa, the sturdy baskets were used to carry rice. Many people were captured from this region and forced into slavery because of their expertise in rice production. When these slaves eventually arrived in South Carolina, they found bulrush and sweetgrass to continue making the baskets, which were such a quality work tool that they became standard at all the plantations.
“What makes it special for me is that this is something that was passed down from generation to generation,” said Angela, who was taught the craft by her grandmother at the age of 5. “I believe if we keep teaching our children, it keeps our ancestors alive.”
She recalls trekking into the wooded area behind her grandmother’s home to collect the grass, though modern development has wiped out most wild sweetgrass that once thrived in the region.
Once a year, Darryl pays a visit to a property where the grass still grows and often spends an entire day filling two bags. After the grass dries out, it can take a whole afternoon to weave small to medium-size baskets; more elaborate pieces can take several months.
“What started as a simple work tool has been transformed into an art form,” said Darryl. “People are often surprised by the artistry and weight of each basket. They can last 100 years.”
