I recently had the great fortune of spending some time with Fadia House, the delightful owner of the Floury Apron, thanks to some of the folks at the upcoming Southern Women’s Show. The Southern Women’s Show (April 21-23) is the premier weekend-long event for women in the Triangle community and attracts tens of thousands of guests each year. The show features celebrity guests and chefs; lots of shopping; and workshops on food, fashion, beauty, health and fitness, business, education, home, travel, and more. But more about this great show later in this post — let me now introduce you to Fadia and Floury Apron.

Floury Apron, located in Wake Forest, N.C., is the brainchild of Fadia House and is a Mediterranean-American kitchen where she make gourmet snacks, sauces and pastries that span Eastern and Western flavors. Fadia strives to offer only the highest quality products and uses locally grown ingredients whenever available. She started her business a decade ago after her husband passed away and considers it “her second husband.” At the time, she was living in the mountains on North Carolina, but recently relocated to Wake Forest to be closer to her sons and her grandchildren.

Originally from Lebanon, Fadia began cooking with her family as a young girl, picking up family secrets and flavors throughout the years. Her husband was a busy corporate executive with a number of international clients and she often found herself cooking for and entertaining 30-40 people at a time, further honing her culinary skills. When Floury Apron first started, Fadia worked closely with N.C. State University’s Food Science Department and completed coursework on acidified food and how to determine the nutritional aspects of her products.

The first product Fadia sold was her crackers, which are awesome (you must try these!) She is so grateful to Southern Season in Chapel Hill, which started carrying them in 2006. Southern Season also carries Fadia’s tasty sweet and tart tomato sauces, which come in three flavors: oregano, ginger, and spicy. Fadia sent me home with a jar of the oregano-flavored sauce, which, according to her website, is great on meat and vegetable dishes as well as a dip (http://www.flouryapron.com/item/tomato-sauce-1). I’ve only tried it with tortilla chips, but love its fresh and unique flavors and can’t wait to use it with other recipes.

Fadia is basically a one-woman operation, but her sons pitch in as needed, designing labels for her products, helping her set up at various events like the Southern Women’s show, and even brainstorming the name of her business, Floury Apron. She is so thankful for their help and is thrilled to be living so close to them and her grandkids. She is fine with the size of her operation because it helps her to stay local and connected to her customers and to source local ingredients as much as possible, such as the North Carolina pecans in her awesome baklawa.

Participating in local events such as the annual Southern Women’s Show and the Got to Be NC Festival is one of Fadia’s favorite aspects of her business. And what is particularly satisfying to her is when people come back to these events and specifically seek her out for more products and just to talk. Her products also are offered occasionally by the Produce Box, a popular local food delivery service that features North Carolina products.

Fadia is truly a delightful woman who pours a lot of love into her gourmet creations. I felt like I had known her for years within five minutes of meeting her — she is so personable, sincere, genuine, and humble. She wanted me to make sure I mentioned several people/organizations who have helped her and Floury Apron over the years: her sons, of course; the folks at NCSU’s Dept. of Food Science, who guided her early on; Southern Season; the Produce Box; Got to Be NC; and of course, the Southern Women’s Show, for allowing her to make new contacts and stay connected to her already loyal following.

Fadia sent me home with two awesome goodie bags of some of her products, which I have been savoring all week. Please seek her at out at the Southern Women’s Show next weekend, sample some of her fresh and tasty products, and just take a few minutes to chat with her. You’ll be glad you did! She’ll be located in The Got to Be NC Pavilion — tell her I sent you! And if you can’t make the show, you can still order her yummy products at http://www.flouryapron.com/. And then have a great tea party – all you have to make is the tea!

The Southern Women’s Show runs Friday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, April 22, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.SouthernShows.com/WRA.

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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