Recipe Share: Honoring Francesca-A Star Maisie Jane’s employee since 2007!

Posted on : February 29th, 2024

When I say, “we are family at Maisie Jane’s”, I mean it!  Many of our employees have been part of our ‘nutty family’ for most of the time that Maisie Jane’s has been in business.  For example, our wonderful Francesca who we are honoring today, National Employee Day!

 

Francesca’s Fiery Almond Chile Sauce Recipe

Recently Francesca brought in to share with her Maisie Jane’s family an amazing Almond Chile sauce that she created from scratch.  Everyone fell in love with it.  It’s not for the ‘mild’ heat seekers, rather for the ‘HOT’ lovers!  It will provide your favorite Mexican cuisine an extra hot punch that’s full of complex rich flavor.  Francesca was kind enough to share with us her ‘secret recipe’!

Francesca’s Almond Chili Sauce

1 ½ Cups Maisie Jane’s Roasted Almonds

3 Cups ground Dried Chilies Arbol

1 ½ Cups Pumpkin Seeds

2 TBS Sesame Seeds

½ Yellow onion

Sunflower seed oil

Salt to taste

Directions: In a skillet with soil, add the Pumpkin Seeds and Sesame seeds.  Stirring in heat cook until lightly fried and you start to smell the aroma, (about 3-5 minutes).  Pulse all ingredients in a Cuisinart until smooth. Store in glass jar in the refrigerator.  Enjoy!

A bit about Maisie Jane’s Employee to be Honored…

Family life:  Francesca has been married to her husband, Javier, for twenty-one years now.   Together, they have two children, a daughter of eighteen years, and a son of sixteen years.  They call Orland home since 2006.

Work life.

         Francesca’s favorite memory working with Maisie Jane’s is when we moved from our old manufacturing plant, 116 West 12th Street, to our current location on the corner of Hegan Ln. and Dayton Rd.  Fun Facts: For some of you long time customers you may recall that our ‘old’ location was the previous location of Ponce bakery and Miller bakery in Chico.  And then when we left the original founder of Tin Roof Bakery, Brandon, purchased Maisie Jane’s ovens which we used for roasting our nuts, taking them back to being used to bake bread.    Currently, our old space on 12th Street is occupied by Shubert’s Creamery as additional production space to them.    The move to our new manufacturing space in Chico meant endless growth capabilities.  It’s allowed us to put in our own cold storage facility, warehouse, and room for expanded manufacturing capabilities.  It’s properly located right in the middle of our family’s almond orchards and less than two miles down the street from our Gift Shop.

Why Francesca loves working at Maisie Jane’s

Francesca enjoys being part of all growth and innovation at work.  She enjoys using the new equipment that Isidro seeks to make work easier and more efficient in our manufacturing processes.  She also enjoys the fantastic lunch spreads that her and her team put together.  It’s a giant potluck every day and she really enjoy her lunches with everyone.

Francesca’s favorite Foods:  Her homemade Mole sauce and Maisie Jane’s Tamari Almonds!

We are grateful for Francesca’s dedication to her Maisie Jane’s work, her positive attitude, and her leadership and willingness to jump in to help wherever needed.  And…. we love her recipe she shares and hope you will too!

-Maisie Jane Hurtado