Author & "gastronomically adventuresome" gourmand, Linda Rose Thomsett, is known by many names--AuntieQuaint, “The Marmalade Lady", or simply LuLu. She has been inventing processed foods for more than 25 years.  She was proprietor of Quintessential Catering in San Francisco, pleasing an eclectic clientele of culinary pioneers before moving to Northern CA to raise emus, ostriches & exotic chickens.  In 1998, she and her husband, nationally acclaimed business and investment author, Michael C. Thomsett (originally from Brighton England), headed for Port Townsend, "A Victorian Seaport" on Washington State's beautiful Olympic Peninsula.  Discovering that the region had a thriving lavender growing industry, LuLu immediately decided to convert her unique recipes to include lavender—what a delightful addition it was! Food chemistry had always fascinated her, and she was definitely up to the challenge. The first lavender-based recipes were English-Style Marmalades made the “English way” to exacting traditional standards. At first, they were produced in two flavors, Lemon Lavender and “Port Townsend” Marmalade (made with an infusion of Certified Organic Valencia Oranges, Earl Grey Tea and Culinary Lavender). They were an instant hit when they made their debut at the Sequim Lavender Festival in 2000. LuLu had two cases of 12 jars each case—a case of each flavor—and a patio chair in the middle of a meadow at one of Sequim Valley’s most famous lavender farms. She sold out by early afternoon with enthusiastic requests for more, and more… it was a good thing that she had decided to bring a notepad and pen, and a few hastily made calling cards.

That year, for the first time, a Lavender Growers Convention was held in Sequim immediately following the Festival. Sequim was being heralded as an “agri-tourism” destination due to the lavender farms popping up everywhere in the Provence-like microclimate of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley.  The Sequim Lavender Growers Association, small but building up steam, invited a number of growers from all over the world to speak and to teach lavender-growing techniques and marketing strategies. LuLu was invited to attend, resulting in many new contacts and potential customers—thus, a new adventure had begun!

Those first two Marmalade flavors were followed by the development of more seasonal Marmalades in several eclectic combinations of fruit, herbs, spices, and of course, Lavender. Then came the Jams, Jellies, Chutneys, several unique Tea Blends, two Chai Blends, Spice Medleys, an acclaimed Lavender Cocoa Mix called CocAuLait Lavande, and more...AuntieQuaint Lavender Pantry had become a thriving cottage business! There were nights when she would wake up from a “new flavor” dream, and quickly get up to scribble the idea down to try the next day. The creative juices flowed easily, and neither time nor resources could keep up with the ideas.

The following summer (2001), LuLu joined other local entrepreneurs and artists in that same meadow she had presided in alone the previous year.  By this time, she had a real booth with umbrellas and tablecloths…and lots of new products waiting to be sold to eager customers who had remembered her from the year before. Others knew her from the Farmers Market in Port Townsend, where she had become a regular vendor.  She joined and served on the Boards of Sequim Lavender Growers Association (SLGA) and the Jefferson County Farmers Market Association (JCFMA) and did so until the end of 2003.

Today she has amassed a small and loyal clientele, and has been selling the majority of her products to The Espresso Garden Lavender Pantry on Highway 101 in Gardiner WA…aptly named “The Gateway to the Lavender Capitol of the US”.  The Espresso Garden has single-handedly put CocAuLait Lavande on the map with their famous Lavender Cocoa Mochas served hot or blended on ice! Recently, a local television program, Gardening with Ciscoe, visited proprietors Marc and Christie Lassen, and enjoyed hot Lavender Mochas during the show, raving as they sipped.  LuLu has also provided her products to several Lavender Farms, the local Food Co-op and retail stores in the area as well as individuals worldwide. In late 2003, www.auntiequaint.com was built and continues to be maintained by a local web mistress who specializes in small local businesses.

Once a ‘hippie Farmers Market’ vendor, who had always made everything from scratch in her home kitchen with nary a worry, suddenly had new responsibilities and obligations—business licenses, taxes, liability insurance, the need for commercial kitchen privileges, Food Lab testing, and not enough TIME, equipment or staff… Gone were the Mason Jars with scribbled labels.  To replace them were trendy little jars in all sizes and capacities. Printer ink, used to design all the labels for each new product, disappeared quickly and with great regularity. It was necessary to find paper products and container companies that would sell in small increments. The little company even had an account with the UCC Council, but none of the bar-coding software worked with the ancient printer and label program that she had used for the last ten years.  The “Product Development Department” remained in the breakfast nook along with “Research and Accounting”; equipment, packaging and dry goods continued to remain in the brand new garage—where no automobile has ever been to this day!  And, with the generous and enthusiastic help of the English Husband, and two new “employees”, the Kitchen Aid and Cuisinart, the business continued to hum along admirably with each new obstacle handled one at a time.  A new motto, ”Don’t forget to breathe!” was guaranteed to save the day….  It all seemed very overwhelming—miraculously, the little business that could, did!

In early 2003, LuLu decided to publish a whimsical Lavender Cookbook "Inside the Lavender Pantry...Secret delicious concoctions from AuntieQuaint's Kitchen".  Beautifully illustrated, it took more than four years to develop with the original recipes LuLu had developed, all to be published for the first time.  Michael and LuLu created Thomsett Publishing in order to make the book happen quickly, and anticipated future joint endeavors as well.  Then, just as the book was getting ready to be proofread, illustrated and published, LuLu had a dreadful accident.  During a business/pleasure trip to meet with some new business connections in order to develop new products, LuLu had a very bad fall and severely broke her right wrist (of course).  Production of all the processed foods and baked goods came to a grinding halt just after the Lavender Season and just before the Holiday rush.  There were still two more months of Farmers Market and orders had just come in from several long-time customers, as well as new friends just recently met at the Festival only three weeks prior.  Marmalade, Chutney, Jams and Jellies were no longer available—the wrist injuries made it impossible to lift heavy pots or even screw on the lids properly.  Hiring employees was not an option.  Producers that she had been in contact with were not able to offer cost-effective QUALITY products that her customers were accustomed to. The “one-woman hurricane” had been stopped. It seemed that a giant door had slammed shut—but, only just around the corner, there were several windows wide open. LuLu persevered, and met with the vendors she had appointments with, in spite of the big bandage on her arm and a cloudy mind from all the painkillers…it was worth the discomfort because of the results! Finally, the book was finished and published in October 2003, albeit without an ISBN Number—but soon…LuLu had discovered that there were indeed still new doors to open, and great new adventures to explore. Who knew?

Today, interesting new products have been developed. In collaboration with Haus Barhyte of Pendleton OR, Sweet & Spicy Lavender Mustard became a reality; and it made its debut at Celebrate Lavender 2004. The Granita Guru of Lansdale PA succeeded in turning the Lavender Hibiscus Cooler—dryherbal tisane ingredients to be blended with frozen lemonade concentrate—into a Granita or “just-add-water” beverage.  Folklore Foods in Toppenish WA developed Lavender Bliss Gourmet Syrup—and more flavors are always being considered.  A recent trip to the Seattle Gift Show netted more new contacts—only the beginning of plans for producing Dadi Baciato (Lavender-Kissed Nuts);  Lavender Cookies, and the biggest dream of all…to produce the Lavender Cocoa Mix (CocAuLait Lavande) into a prepared liquid/sauce. In our “instant-hurry up” times, sales are often lost when potential customers learn that they have to prepare the Cocoa and the Chai Blends from scratch. Original LuLuCHAI was often a sellout at the Port Townsend Farmers Market on those cold blustery Saturday mornings early in the season. How nice it would be to bottle it already brewed and steeped…so LuLu presses on. The Seattle Coffee Fest convenes for one weekend mid-Autumn  each year.  New contacts and resources are always abundant throughout the four days at the Convention Center. In addition to a dizzying array of vendors and product reps, there are many useful workshops and demonstrations offered—many more questions answered each year!

In the past five years AuntieQuaint has traveled far and wide entertaining Red Hat Society Ladies with Tea and Hat-Decorating Parties that included her book and product promotions.  After all, it was due to the Lavender Festival of 1999 that she was first introduced to these fun-loving Red Hatted gals frolicking and laughing in the fields at the lavender farms...what a perfect combination it was! So since they all couldn't come to the Festival, she decided to take the Lavender Festival to them... Even with ongoing discomfort and significant loss of range-of-motion in her right wrist and hand since the accident in 2003, the possibilities continue to be endless…lemons? Why, Lemonade, of course!  That is exactly how LuLu’s Fanny Kickin’ Relish happened a couple years ago—(Too much fresh Salsa? Just throw it in the kettle with Oranges, Muscovado Sugar and Lavender Blossoms—relish!). The new recipes are kicking up a new storm…LuLu has come a long way from a patio chair and two cases of marmalade in an empty meadow. Who knows what new adventures are in store?