Dec 18, 2008

A talent that sticksBy Dena VenturaMVTimes.com

Linda Lee Alley, a native Islander, has been making and selling her New Lane Sundries for 20 years. The business was born in August of 1988 after she had been working at the Homeport Restaurant for two decades. “I had never gone to the Farmer’s Market and it’s a minute from my house,” she remembers. “One Saturday I went and thought that everyone looked like they were having fun. I said to myself ‘I can do this. I’m tired of being a waitress.’ I whipped up some jelly and I did pretty well the next week. I only had a few recipes at the time, but I just kept adding on. Now I have over twenty varieties.”

Between her years of experience and her friendly nature, it is no wonder that she greets many of her customers by name as they stroll into her shop. “I loved doing it from the start and I still do,” she says.

Once again you can find Ms. Alley’s delicious jellies, jams, marmalades, and mustards at The Vineyard Holiday Gift Shop in Brickman’s Basement located in Vineyard Haven. Although she sells her products throughout the year, this approach makes her condiments easily available as holiday gifts. The shop is run much like a co-op – the craftspeople share everything from cost, to insurance, to advertising, to shifts working the store. “It is a good system,” says Ms. Alley.

Producing her goods out of her kitchen, which is certified by the Board of Health, Ms. Alley has mastered her technique. No one else samples her recipes as she creates them. When she invents a new flavor, she brings it to the Farmer’s Market and lets the people try it. It’s trial and error.

She can make a batch of jam, which produces nine jars, in half an hour. The jars are neatly decorated with fabrics and bows matching the season in which they are being sold. Of her packaging skills, she says, “I’m really fast – I can case 12 jars in three minutes.”

Read complete article.