Sunday, June 19 is Father's Day

Father's day is the day we celebrate our fathers, father-figures, and fatherhood!. It was invented by a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd who was raised by her father and thought that they should be celebrated just as much as mothers. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who reared his six children in Spokane, Washington. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.Her dad was born in June so she chose to hold the first father's day on June 19th of 1910. It was President Calvin Coolidge who decided to hold father's day on the third Sunday of June 14 years later In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.

Dad's love Virginia Peanuts. Father's Day is one of two holidays when Virginia Peanuts sell best. Dads also love tasty BBQ sauces such as Bone Doctor’s Original Tomato Based and Vinegar based Carolina BBQ sauces, James River Barbecue Sauce and Virginia Gentlemen sauces flavored with Virginia Gentleman 90® Small Batch Bourbon. How about some ribs......

May is National Barbecue Month

National Barbecue Month is the time to talk about our barbecue sauces.

Montebello Kitchens Virginia Barbecue Sauce is made with seasoned tomatoes, onions, red chilies, house spices and apple butter. Regionally grown apples are used to create their apple butter that sweetens this delightful sauce. It is made with all natural and organic ingredients by hand in small batches. Can be found in many of our gift baskets.

New to our gift baskets is Pork Barrel BBQ Sweet BBQ Sauce, an award winning sauce developed by two Senate staffers working late into the night. Pork Barrel BBQ is a national award winning BBQ sauce and rub company who competes on the professional barbecue circuit and has a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. Sweet Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce is an exceptional way to give your food tasty, sweet flavor with a perfect smokin' kick! All natural ingredients and contain no preservatives or MSG.

We also have BBQ sauces from Virginia Gentlemen and from Smithfield, James River Barbecue Sauce and Bone Doctor’s. Virginia Gentlemen’s award-winning sauces with the traditional hunt scene labels are anything-but-traditional when it comes to the taste sensation you'll experience. They are flavored with Virginia Gentleman 90® Small Batch Bourbon, the perfect complement to all your favorite pork recipes. They come in a three bottle variety pack: Bourbon Maple, Bourbon Teriyaki and Bourbon Chipotle.

Bone Doctor’s barbecue sauces are handcrafted by orthopedic surgeons! They are from family recipes, created with surgical precision by two Bone Doctors over years of weekend barbecues. Try both the Original tomato based and Carolina Bold zesty vinegar based sauces.

Smithfield’s ever-favorite original James River Barbeque Sauce is unchanged since the 1950s. Smithfield, VA., is one of America's oldest and largest meat processing centers. What better place to find perfect BBQ sauces developed by the meat experts. This is a wonderful all-purpose sauce but especially as a condiment for pork.

In addition to Barbecue Sauces for National Barbecue Month try some North Carolina Style Pork Barbecue. Hickory smoked and cooked with plenty of zesty vinegar and seasonings. Nothing to hide the smoky flavor of this tender pulled pork barbecue, made locally Carolina style. 5 lb. tub.

Another option is Smithfield’s new improved BBQ Pork Ribs, unsurpassed for pure tenderness and flavor. Fully cooked in their special sauce. 

April is National Pecan Month

Celebrate National Pecan Month with The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg’s Sweet Georgia Pecans -handcooked in copper kettles with fresh creamy butter and brown sugar according
to our old-fashioned Southern recipe or Praline Glazed Pecans – mammoth Georgia pecans are hand cooked and generously coated with a sweet praline glaze. Or try their Southern Pecan Trio sweet and salty - enjoy these mammoth pecan halves any way you like 'em. Roasted & Salted, Praline Coated, or Sugar & Spice.


Other celebrations in April Include:

April 2 National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (See our blog on Peanut Butter)

April 17 National Cheese Ball Day
Entertain the easy way with Blue Crab Bay's Crab Cheese Ball Kit. The kit includes a tin of premium crabmeat (product of Thailand), crab seasoning and a packet of crushed Crab House Nuts® (Extra-large gourmet Virginia peanuts cooked in peanut oil and seasoned with spicy Chesapeake Bay Seasoning. Available in some of our gourmet Virginia Gift Baskets



April 21 is National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day
Try some of The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg’splump firm Cashews double-dipped in rich creamy milk chocolate. There’s nothing better!!

The Grand Reopening of The Williamsburg Pottery

Jimmy Maloney began what was once Virginia's biggest tourism draw by selling a few nicked pots on the side of Route 60. That dirt-hill-turned-retail-Mecca will roar to life again Thursday, April 5 but in a modern way.

After an estimated $30 million rejuvenation, the Williamsburg Pottery will reopen to the shopping public — on what would have been Jimmy's 100th birthday — with remarks from special guests Governor and Mrs. Robert F. McDonnell as well as the attendance of Lieutenant Governor and Mrs. William T. Bolling and other local and state officials and the hopes of its backers that the busloads will return.

The goal isn’t to merely be another shopping center, but a shopping and tourist destination. The new building facades by the architecture firm Guernsey-Tingle reflect that, with a Dutch Colonial theme rather than the traditional Colonial Williamsburg theme.

Dramatic outdoor lighting reinforces that sense of place as a tourist destination. The Pottery will now open until 9 p.m. instead of closing at sundown.

The Grand Opening of the new and improved renovation will be a joyous day in the many chapters of the Williamsburg Pottery's 74-year history. Come them for shopping, music, food, fun and so much more! Vendor demonstrations will also be a part of the event!

10:00 a.m. Gov. McDonnell will join President and CEO of the Pottery Ms. Kimberly Maloney for the unveiling of the statue of Jimmy Maloney..., the Pottery's founder. This will take place in the outdoor courtyard plaza.

11:00 a.m. Ribbon Cutting ceremony will take place at the entrances of all four buildings officially opening the new Pottery to the public.

If that isn't exciting enough, festivities will continue on to Friday, April 6th and Saturday April 7th as well! If you get a chance join them to celebrate the NEW Pottery!

Chincoteague Vegetable Red Crab Soup – An Easter and Spring Favorite

Vegetable Red Crab Soup is the perfect starter for your Easter meal, an elegant alternative to cream based soups. The soup is a colorful combination of juicy crab meat, a kaleidoscope of fresh vegetables and a generous splash of seasonings. Not condensed, just heat and serve. Check out some ways we sell it: In a set of three 15 oz. tins, enough for a party of 12. For a thoughtful hostess gift, our Spring Favorites! gift basket includes several soups including Vegetable Red Crab as well as other gourmet tasty treats. Another thoughtful hostess gift is a Seafood Soups and Dips gift box. We have two varieties that include vegetable Red Crab Soup.

Easter Favorites From Virginia

Spring is here! Along with Spring, comes Easter. Easter Sunday is April 8, just a few weeks away. The Virginia Marketplace has everything you need for a gourmet Easter meal. For your Easter ham we recommend a Brown Sugar Cured and Spiral Sliced Ham or a Paula Deen Honey Ham . For something extra special try the Steamship Ham Roast. Start your Easter meal with gourmet Seafood Soup, Cream of Crab or Vegetable Red Crab Soup. To accompany your meal try Smithfield’s new side dishes, Cheesy Green Bean Casserole, Mac and Cheese or Sweet Potato Casserole. There are several varieties of
mouthwatering biscuits to choose from: 24 Layer Cream Cheese Biscuits, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Parmesan Herb Cream Cheese Biscuits or Sweet Potato Cream Cheese Biscuits. Try some Monastery Creamed Honey from the monks of Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville, Virginia on your biscuits.

Don't forget dessert! How about a Spring Loaf Sampler or a traditional
Egg-Shaped Cake from Rowena.


Looking for a hostess gift? The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg Easter Egg Bucket is filled with Virginia Peanuts and pastel egg-shaped Holland mints. Their new Happy Easter Basket is filled with gourmet specialties: Praline Peanut Clusters, Divinity, Pecan Gophers, Pralines, Chocolate Truffles, Chocolate Brittle, Jordan Almonds and more! The Spring Tin is decorated with daffodils and daisies and filled with chocolate covered Virginia peanuts.

March is National Peanut Month

Celebrate National Peanut Month! Peanuts are whole foods that contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, ample protein and beneficial unsaturated fats. All Virginia-type peanuts are known for their large size and crunchy texture and have been referred to as "the peanut of the gourmet." The Virginia Marketplace sells many kinds of Virginia Peanuts: salted, unsalted, seasoned, sweet, in-shell,boiled and chocolate covered.

Some special days in March are:
March 4 National Pound Cake Day We sell many flavors of pound cakes from Rowena’s in Norfolk,Virginia: Almond, Lemon, Chocolate, Chocolate Cappuccino, Mint Chocolate, Orange, and Key lime. We sell them in 40 oz. round bundts with and without curd sauces and 24 oz. loaves with and without curd sauces as well as some Specialty-Shaped cakes such as egg-shaped for Easter and some 10 oz. tea loaf assortments. There is also a Baby Bundt assortment with 6 flavors of pound cakes. Almond, Lemon and Chocolate pound cakes are available in sugar free versions.

March 8 National Peanut Clusters Day
Try some of these traditional Southern favorites taken to the next level from The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg. Using their extra-large hand cooked Virginia Peanuts, topped with a generous dollop of creamy smooth caramel and rich milk chocolate. You'll get crunchy and creamy - all in one yummy mouthful! Also a dazzling Tower of handmade nutty treats guaranteed to please any nut lover in your life that includes Milk Chocolate & Caramel Peanut Clusters.

March 9 National Crabmeat Day
We have crab cakes and crab balls as well as crab dip and a cheese ball kit. Our crab cakes are harvested from the Chesapeake Bay, washed and cooked within an hour of delivery, then handmade and frozen to ensure freshness. A fluffy blend of jumbo lump and backfin crabmeats are combined to impart the sweet flavor of the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab. Blue Crab Bay Crab Dip Kit -After a decade of searching for the finest shelf-stable canned crabmeat to offer their customers, they finally found it! Premium crabmeat is packed in a gift box with Blue Crab Bay's own Crab Dip Blend. Entertain the easy way with Blue Crab Bay's Crab Cheese Ball Kit. The kit includes a tin of premium crabmeat, crab seasoning and a packet of crushed Crab House Nuts® (Extra-large gourmet Virginia peanuts cooked in peanut oil and seasoned with spicy Chesapeake Bay Seasoning). Check out all these great proucts in our Seafood section.