Kissed by the Sun – Local family spices things up with organic seasonings.

When you think about organic foods, you might think about milk, eggs, and strawberries. But, lets not forget about what we use to give our foods flavor – yep, spices. We’re here to tell you about a local, family-owned business, making and selling organic spices.

I know. It’s cool.

Kissed by the Sun was started 25-years ago when the owners – Liz and Rick Fickhesen went on their honeymoon. The gorgeous beaches and blue water of the Caribbean served as an inspiration to the couple who started off with their Seasoned Sea Salt blend. After that, it was assortment of spices after another.  All made using organic, gluten free and kosher spices. They do not contain any MSG or artificial flavoring.

Rick Fickhesen III says this company really is a family affair, “Working with family is always fun (most the time!) – and after so many years we have the formula down pretty well. My mom Liz does all the blending and comes up with the recipes, myself, dad and siblings go out to the shows to do sales. We love going to shows and already have over 70 shows booked for 2017!”

Shameless plus here – they’ll be at the Totally Buffalo Festival, too! (May 27th at Riverworks)

Back to the spices.

Rick says the idea is promoting healthy eating that tastes great, “Our reason for organic really had to do with the flavor of the spices. Most stuff you get from the grocery store clumps up after just a few months but we noticed with the organic ingredients they stayed fresh for SOOO much longer. One time we even found a old jar in the back of the cupboard from when we started with hand written labels – we’re talking plus 7 years ago. It was still fresh and we cooked with it that night!”

They have some cool blends – like Rajin’ Cajun, Sweet and Hot Pepper, Garlic and Herbs, and Sizzlin’ Steak.  Most sell for around $5.99 a bottle. They have special packs, discounts and specials, too.

Their best seller is their Seasoned Sea Salt – that very first spice discovered on that Caribbean honeymoon. They loved it then and they love it now.  And apparently, so do their customers, “It was the first blend we created and remains our top seller year after year – we have lots of customers who are on low sodium diets so the Sea Salt is a great way to add flavor to anything all while cutting your sodium intake in half.”

Find out more about this family business on their website