Months of work, then a click of the mouse, and that was that. The online shop was open, right after 11pm on a long day of making final changes to the website. We both spun our office chairs, and stared at each other for a moment in silence, trying to read each other’s faces.
“Do you think anyone is going to buy anything?” I asked Mark.
He looked exhausted, but broke into a smile. “We can call my mom and wake her up.”
The next day, we jumped out of bed and checked our email. We were so relieved and thankful to see our first order. It was from a woman in Morgantown, West Virginia - someone we had never met or even corresponded with.
That overwhelming feeling of appreciation – to a person who took a chance with a tiny business like ours, sending her money, and waiting for her spices to be delivered – has never once lessened during the past three years as our shop has grown and we have written thousands of thank you notes to you all.
We wish we could thank all of you personally and meet the amazing range of customers that we have – from so many of you in rural California & Washington to the busiest neighborhoods in New York City & San Francisco, to the cinnamon lovers in Florida and the matcha enthusiasts in Hawaii, to the Norwegians and Swedes who must have a shortage of spice shops, and to the most mysterious of all – our frequent customers in Sugarland, Texas. We must have someone there really spreading the word about us (and advocating for a city name change to Spiceland, TX).
And a special thank you to all the Deb, Debbie, Debra, Debera, Deborah, and all spellings in between. There's something about that name and a love for spices & cooking!
To thank you on this holiday weekend, we are giving away a medium jar of your choice with just a minimum $15 purchase (which also includes our Premium Japanese Matcha Powder - limited to the first 5 customers who add it to their cart). Hurry, this promotion ends Monday at 11pm EST (November 30, 2015).
And to really get you cooking, everyone who makes a purchase from now until the promotion end will automatically be entered into a drawing for this special Asian cooking set:
1. Bluegrass Soy Sauce - a premium, microbrewed soy sauce, aged for one year in repurposed bourbon barrels in Kentucky. It's too good for stir-frying, so we love to use it in dressings & dips (try it with our Spicy Japanese Seven Spice for sushi).
2. Red Boat Fish Sauce - a top-grade, all natural Vietnamese fish sauce. It's the fish sauce we frequently use in combination with our Thai BBQ Seasoning, Malaysian Satay Seasoning, or Vietnamese BBQ Seasoning.
3. Kadoya Toasted Sesame Oil - a must-have for making salad and noodle dishes, as well as a finishing oil for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian dishes. You'll find it included in so many of my recipes from Soy Glazed Kabocha Squash with Japanese Sesame Seasoning to Stir-Fried Chicken with Chinese Garlic Sauce.
4. Kadoya Hot Sesame Oil - drizzle it into stir-fries, or make the perfect spicy dipping sauce for spring rolls by pairing it with one of our Japanese or Korean blends.
5 & 6. Ramen & Cha Soba (Green Tea Noodles) - my go-to noodles for whipping up quick, healthy meals. You'll find me using these noodles often in recipes like Green Tea Soba Noodle Salad and Ramen Noodles with Spicy Korean Chili Dressing.
