Calicutts Spice Co.

05/11/2026

Mother’s Day is one of those days where whatever I say is going to land differently for everyone reading. There is no version of this caption that doesn’t ask something hard of someone. So I’m just going to start by naming it.

Today is complicated.

If you are someone’s mother and today feels like the one day a year you might actually get to sit down — I see you. I hope someone hands you the good coffee.
If you are not a mother, by choice or by circumstance or by a grief you don’t talk about much — I see you too. The cultural script today is loud, and it does not leave a lot of room for the women who are mothering in ways that don’t show up on a card.

If your mother is gone — recently or for so long it’s become its own kind of weather — today asks you to perform a relationship with absence. That’s a heavy ask, and I don’t think we acknowledge it nearly enough.

If your mother is alive and the relationship is hard, or distant, or unresolved — today is also for you. The women who are mothering themselves through what they didn’t get are doing some of the most quietly heroic work I know.

Here is what I keep coming back to. Mothering — the verb, not the title — is not actually about who calls you Mom. It is about whether you show up for what is in front of you. Whether you tend things. Whether the people and creatures and projects in your orbit feel safer because you are there.

By that definition, almost every woman I know is mothering something. And almost none of us do it perfectly. We do it tired. We do it on Tuesdays. We do it while grieving. We do it without enough rest, without enough help, without enough acknowledgment that what we’re carrying is, in fact, heavy.

So today, the only thing I want to say is this: whoever you are mothering today — including, especially, yourself — that counts. Not because it produced anything. Not because anyone noticed. Because you showed up.

You do not have to earn today. You just have to be in it.

Tell me in the comments: what shape does your mothering take? Or just leave a heart, if today is a quiet one. I’m reading all of them.

xo

05/07/2026

So excited! Thanks for helping us spread the word Sentinel!

Jessica Hughes of Dillsburg is opening her first retail location, the Pantry, for her existing spice business, Calicutts Spice Co., on May 16 in Upper Allen.

05/07/2026

Less than 10 days. We can’t wait to see you!

04/29/2026

Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Honey Reduction. 🔥🫐

Here’s the move: crust a pork tenderloin in our Calicutts Smoked blend, grill it to a perfect medium, and finish it with a glossy blackberry honey sauce that tastes like you spent way more time on it than you actually did.

Sautéed leeks and brussels sprouts on the side. Bed of rice underneath. Done in 45 minutes.

This is the kind of dinner that makes everyone go quiet at the table — in the best way. Smoky. Sweet. A little fancy. Zero fuss.

The Smoked blend is doing the heavy lifting here. That deep, slow-smoked flavor without ever touching a smoker? Yeah. That’s the whole point. ✨

Full recipe is live on the blog 👉 LINK IN BIO

Grab your jar of Calicutts Smoked while you’re there — it’s about to become your most-reached-for spice of summer. ☀️

04/19/2026

It has slowly been coming together.

My family built this. Every shelf, every detail. every late night decision about what this space should feel like when you walk through the door.

The Pantry at Calicutts opens May 16 in Mechanicsburg, PA.

It’s a place to slow down. To allow your senses to inspire you. To linger. To leave with something that makes dinner feel worth sitting down for. 

We can’t wait to open the door for you.

Sign up for the exclusive newsletter via the link in bio. More this week. ✨

04/14/2026

We’re hiring. But not just anyone.
 
The Pantry opens soon in Mechanicsburg, PA — and we’re looking for 2–3 part-time Retail Associates who want to be part of something that actually feels good to work at.
 
This isn’t a spice shop. It’s a room where people come home to themselves. Where Tuesday nights become something worth savoring. Where a stranger walks in and leaves feeling like a regular.
 
We need people who get that. People who greet customers like they mean it. Who love food, love community, and show up with warmth and reliability.
 
The details:
•  Part-time, hourly ($19/hr)
•  Wed–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 9am–2pm + occasional evenings
•  Located in Mechanicsburg, PA
•  Start date: as soon as possible
 
If this sounds like your kind of place, send us a DM or email [email protected] with a few sentences about yourself and why The Pantry feels like the right fit.
 
No resume required. We want to hear how you talk about yourself.

03/01/2026

I found a jar of lemon pepper from 2020 in my cabinet last week. I’m allegedly a spice professional.

Here’s the truth: most of us have spice cabinets full of things we bought for one recipe and never touched again. Half-empty jars of stuff that lost its flavor two years ago. That bag of whole cloves you bought because Pinterest told you to.

Spring is the perfect time to reset. Not to organize everything perfectly (I will never be that person). But to clear out what’s lost its flavor and make room for what actually makes your food taste like something.

The 5-minute version: pull it all out, smell everything, toss what smells like nothing, keep what you actually reach for, and restock with intention.

You need fewer spices than you think. You just need the right ones.

Save this for your next cabinet clean-out. ⬇️ And tell me: what’s the oldest thing in YOUR spice cabinet? I need to feel less alone about the 2020 lemon pepper.

02/25/2026

Tuesday. 5:47pm. Ground bison. No plan.

Grabbed our Mexican Adobo, diced some peppers and an onion, and let the skillet do its thing. Twenty minutes later: bowls loaded with bison, corn salsa, cherry tomatoes, guac, pickled onions, chips, and a squeeze of lime.

Everyone built their own. No one complained. Seconds happened.

This is the blend I grab when I want bold without complicated. Smoky, warm, a little heat — it does all the thinking for you.

Save this for your next Tuesday.

Full recipe at the link in bio.

02/24/2026

Five years ago I bought a spice company. I had a plan that was quickly shattered, no professional culinary degree, and two little boys who just wanted chicken nuggets.

What I did have was this quiet belief that the dinner table matters. That Tuesday nights are sacred. That ordinary life — with all its mess and noise and imperfection — deserves to be savored.

That feeling became .table

And today, I’m beginning again. Not starting over. Beginning again.

Every Sunday, I’m going to write you a letter about what it means to build a life worth savoring. Every Tuesday, I’m going to make dinner and show you exactly what happened — the real version, not the pretty one.

Because I think what most of us need isn’t another recipe. It’s permission. To stop striving. To start savoring. To let Tuesday night be enough.

So here we go. No perfect plan. No perfect timing. Just beginning.

What are you beginning this spring? Tell me below. ⬇️

02/16/2026

We’re hiring! 🧂

Calicutts is opening a retail space in Mechanicsburg, PA — and we’re looking for a Retail Manager to help bring it to life.

If you’re passionate about creating warm, welcoming experiences and love the idea of building something special from the ground up, we’d love to hear from you.

Job details available on the contact page of our website: Calicutts.com