Handmade

Artisan cured meats, fresh sausages, and cooked specialties made with "sustainably raised, heritage-breed pork, Italian sea salt, and the freshest spices with the rarest ingredient of all: time. Our small-batch, hands-on methods and traditional cold curing techniques can take up to ten times longer than other producers'. Why sacrifice efficiency? Because taking our time lets us focus every step of our process on a single goal: great taste. Fine salumi are more than mere salted meats. At their best, salumi connect us to the earth, reveal the essence of the whole animal, demonstrate respect for our ancestors, and inspire our humanity."  I discovered this place while on a trip to San Francisco, and it is absolutely the best. Truly a labor of love. Read their website to learn more about their philosophy of food,

Hand-thrown unglazed terracotta clay cooking pots that can be used on the stove or in the oven. "Our cookware is made from terra-cotta clay – a rich and potent matter that is naturally occurring on the surface of the earth. It is composed of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, sodium etc, which are essential to our body. And these minerals are bound together so perfectly in nature, that they do not react or leach into the food being cooked in them....The clays used to create our terra cotta pots are carefully selected and strictly controlled to ensure that they are lead and cadmium free. Clay by itself is a pure ingredient of nature just like rain water. It is made up of various minerals essential to the body, contained in perfect proportions. Human activity however may contaminate the top soil, which is why we use clay from two to three feet underground and harvest it from less populated areas and lake and river beds. This clay then undergoes testing to ensure that it is pure. MEC pots are not glazed because we strongly believe that nature is beautiful just the way it is...Clay pots cook food with far-infrared heat (FIR). This type of heat is unique to clay cooking and helps carry spices and seasoning much deeper into the food, giving it that extra special touch in flavor. An added advantage is that this feature also helps you reduce the use of salt...Clay pots retain heat better than any other cookware. Their immense heat-retaining capacity helps food stay hot longer, saving the need to heat and re-heat. Food stays warm for upto 5 to 6 hours. Also, since they retain heat so well, you can safely turn off the stove 5 to 7 minutes earlier than you usually do and rest assured that your food will be cooked the same, and taste better...Clay vessels have the unique quality of locking in all the steam and vapor that evaporates during cooking, thereby retaining all the nutrients of the food. The added advantage is that when this locking in of steam and vapor happens, the food gets cooked in its own oils and liquids."

Enchanting recycled "glass infused pottery" gifts that sparkle and delight. "Each piece is made by collecting glass jars, beer and wine bottles, and other discarded glass which is then broken and fused into the pottery. The unique shapes and positioning of each fragment insures each piece to have a sparkle and depth that is truly unique. The unique crackle glass surface created is smooth to touch and sparkles and reflects light ." More than 40 gift items, including jewelry and accessories, dinnerware, hardwarem tiles, clocks, soap dishes, door knobs, picture frames, garden stones, coasters, magnets, candleholders  and more.