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.

February is National Snack Month

Every month of the year has ethnic, cultural, religious and yes, food holidays. Every month also has special days to celebrate the things we love. February celebrates many of the things we love to eat from Virginia! February is National Snack Month

February 25 National Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day
February 25 National Clam Chowder Day
February 26 National Pistachio Day
February 27 National Chocolate Cake Day.

We all love to snack. We have so many different items, it’s hard to decide. May we suggest: Virginia peanuts (extra large salted and unsalted , chocolate covered, sweet and seasoned), specialty nuts like pistachios, almonds, and cashews, Peanut Straws and Peanut Butter.


For National Chocolate Covered Peanut Day we suggest some of our many different products with chocolate peanuts. We have baskets, gifts tins, and gift boxes as well as tins of chocolate-covererd peanuts.



For National Clam Chowder Day we suggest seafood soups from Chincoteague Seafood Soups and Blue Crab Bay. We offer Chincoteague New England Clam Chowder and Manhattan Clam Chowder and Blue Crab Bay Eastern Shore Clam Chowder and New England Clam Chowder. These seafood soupsare sold in sets of 3 of the same can or samplers as well as in gift boxes and gift baskets.

For National Pistachio Day we suggest our extra large and meaty pistachios and our new Smoked Hickory and Garlic and Onion Flavor pistachios or our VERY popular Pistachio Basket.

For National Chocolate Cake Day we offer a wide variety of chocolate cakessuch as Rowena's Double Delicious Chocolate Pound Cake, Chocolate Cappuccino Pound Cake and Chocolate Mint Pound Cake, also Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Layer Cake and Paula's Double Chocolate Gooey Cake.

Check back next month to see what Virginia foods are celebrated in March!

Virginia Seafood Soups for Anytime

We carry many different soups, chowders and bisques from Blue Crab Bay and Chincoteague Seafood Co.
Blue Crab Bay started in 1985. Blue Crab Bay founder Pamela Barefoot had an inspired vision of what a business could be. From her seaside farmhouse kitchen she imagined a company that would put the tastes of the Chesapeake region on the map, be a protector of the environment and provide stimulating and fun employment for citizens of her rural community. Surrounding herself with foods from the Chesapeake, a functioning stove, a list of contacts and boatloads of imagination and determination, Barefoot got to work. Sales exploded, awards rained plentiful, and the number of employees mounted. Blue Crab Bay makes five delicious seafood soups and chowders.

New England Clam Chowder - A smooth and creamy New England style clam chowder with corn, potatoes, and bits of hickory-smoked Virginia ham added for a true regional flavor.

Eastern Shore Clam Chowder is All Natural! This condensed clam chowder is a spicy and flavorful version of a traditional clear broth soup. Made without tomatoes or milk. Contains ocean clams, fresh vegetables, herbs, pepper and sea salt.

Crab Norfolk Chowder - Blue Crab Bay combines delicate Blue Crab meat with bits of hickory-smoked Edwards' Virginia ham, potatoes and corn to create a sensationally smooth and creamy chowder.

She Crab Soup - Considered one of the most elegant of all Southern soups! A creamy bisque style soup flavored with the delicate meat and roe of the Chesapeake Bay's Blue Crab.

Cream of Crab - Perhaps the ultimate comfort food of the Chesapeake Bay region! Cream of Crab soup is accented with Chesapeake Bay Style Seafood Seasoning giving it a slightly spicy flavor. Traditionally served at elegant dinners, its rich and creamy consistency is highlighted by the flavor of crabmeat.

These soups and chowders are sold individually in a set of three cans and in samplers of four of the cream soups or try all five in a sampler that includes Eastern Shore Clam Chowder. She Crab Soup, Cream of Crab Soup and several samplers are available in a Blue Crab Bay award winning seafood themed gift pack. The gift pack can be gift wrapped if you like. We also sell Blue Crab Bay soups and chowders in seafood gift themed gift baskets and in other Virginia Marketplace gift baskets and in a gift box with Blue Bay dip kits.

Chincoteague Seafood Co., a local family-owned business has successfully operated boats and processing facilities in Chincoteague and Atlantic, Virginia. Chincoteague is nationally known as the home of quality seafood, particularly clams, crabs and oysters.

The company was started in 1955 when Bernard Rubin, the founder and current Chairman, began selling their clam chowder to restaurants in New England under their original Cape Cod label. In 1969, as a result of a clam supply problem in the northeast, he searched for a new location and opened a processing facility in Atlantic, Virginia to take advantage of the area's abundant supply of high quality clams. In 1974, as a result of company growth, the second processing facility was opened in Chincoteague, Virginia and also became the corporate headquarters. Their newest venture, completed in May 2001, was the acquisition and move into a brand new office facility and distribution center in Parsonburg, Maryland (outside of Salisbury, Maryland).

Their product line can best be described as a "gourmet" quality line that is competitively priced and is "Naturally Sea-Licious". Their uncompromising recipes are based on fresh, high-quality ingredients, and provide a home-made authentic taste and presentation. They use no MSG, preservatives, artificial preservatives, artificial colorings or artificial flavorings in our soups.

They have been awarded the American Taste Award of Excellence certificates on their New England Clam Chowder, Manhattan Clam Chowder, Corn Chowder, Clam Bisque, Lobster Bisque, Cream of Crab Soup, and Vegetable Red Crab Soup.

Check out all Chincoteague Seafood Soups, Chowders and Bisques: She Crab Soup, Cream of Crab Soup, Vegetable Red Crab Soup, Crab and Cheddar Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Manhattan Clam Chowder, Corn Chowder, Lobster Bisque, Shrimp Bisque, Clam Bisque and Lobster and Cheddar Bisque. We also sell Chincoteague soups, bisques and chowders in seafood gift themed gift baskets and in other Virginia Marketplace gift baskets and in gift boxes.