Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Angie Rucker and her husband Brian show off the three available flavors of candied walnuts from Angie and A Ginger.
Angie Rucker has always been drawn to nutrition, food, health and wellness.
It was after being diagnosed with a variety of health issues from asthma to immune deficiencies that the Chelsea resident began living a healthier lifestyle.
“For me, it’s been a journey of something I’m passionate about,” Rucker said. “I don’t want people to feel like they are their diagnosis. We’ve been given everything we need to heal, and healing can come in different forms, and diet is a big part of that.”
Rucker took a plant-based cooking course, and even though her husband Brian is “a true Southern boy who likes meat and potatoes,” she wanted to show that a plant-based diet doesn’t mean the food doesn’t taste good.
In 2014, she started a blog about her journey to health and healing. During that process, she used walnuts in one of her recipes and that healthy treat became the staple of their business: Angie & A Ginger.
“I created a six-course meal and designed it from scratch; this is where the walnuts were born from,” she said. “Everyone raved about them. Walnuts are a treat but are also healthy, but also good in omega 3s and magnesium.”
Rucker took that idea and started letting people taste them and tweaked the recipe. That took the better part of two years. When she finally nailed down the recipe, she asked Cowboy’s on U.S. 280 if it would carry them, and it agreed.
Rucker orders the walnuts raw and then roasts and candies them in her home kitchen. She has been working under Alabama’s Cottage Law, but hopes to get a commercial kitchen in the future.
The three flavors include brown sugar chipotle, mild brown sugar chipotle and spicy brown sugar chipotle. The mild flavor is sweet with a little bit of heat, similar to a piece of Big Red gum. The spicy starts off sweet and the heat comes in sooner and lasts longer, similar to a fireball or red hot candy. She said her best seller is still the mild flavor, but it’s fairly even across the board.
In 2019, Angie & A Ginger made its debut as a vendor at Pepper Place and will return this year.
“It was our first year doing Pepper Place, and it was very exciting,” Rucker said. “Prior to being there, we had done a few other festivals, but being there was kind of the validation that we have something here."
Rucker said it’s been exciting to get to talk to people and get to know them as they come back week after week. Some customers will buy the walnuts and pair them with other fresh items purchased at Pepper Place, including salad mix, fresh strawberries or goat cheese.
Other recipe options to use the walnuts include adding them in oatmeal, yogurt, sweet potato casserole, banana nut bread or zucchini bread. They can also be added to a trail mix for a pop of flavor.
“The biggest thing we’ve gotten is a lot of intrigue,” she said. “People are surprised when they take a bite of our walnuts.”
Angie & A Ginger donates a portion of its sales to nonprofit organizations, including Alabama Unchained, which helps get dogs off chains; Blood:Water, which helps developing nations put water into wells; and Backpack Buddies, which provides food for students to take home to eat over the weekend.
As the business expands and continues to grow, Rucker hopes to add new products, including Cocoawows, which are made with walnuts, dates and cocoa and taste like a Reese’s peanut butter without the sugar.
In addition to the walnuts, the couple also handcrafts personalized jewelry pieces that are inspirational, faith based, collegiate inspired or custom created and feature names, dates or meaningful phrases.
The walnuts and jewelry can be purchased at angieandaginger.com, and there you can also find out what festivals and markets they will be heading to next.
“We are grateful for this opportunity and the support we have received from our customers who have become friends,” Rucker said.
