May 2009
Ferndale Record-Journal

Trilby’s Kitchen: Barbecue sauce with a taste of the Northwest
by Gloria Dawn Irwin
for the Record-Journal

Photos, traditions and favorite destinations. Many things are handed down from generation to generation. But Ferndale businesswoman Laura Joseph got something even more: Her mother’s famous home recipe for barbecue sauce.

Years ago, when her mom was a caterer, people raved over her homemade barbecue sauce and encouraged her to make the product to sell.

“It is a 40-year-old recipe and people just loved it,” Joseph said.

Trilby’s BBQ Sauce was born and it has been a venture that has traveled from one generation to the next and over the years has involved many of the family members.

In 1992, Joseph moved to Whatcom County from Silverdale, Wash., to go to college. Joseph took over the business 12 years ago and has been in her current location in Ferndale’s Carnation building for one and a half years.

When Trilby’s first started in Silverdale, the laws were different than they are today and the sauce was made at home. When Joseph opened the business in Whatcom County it was tough finding approved kitchens where she could manufacture the sauce and she was pleased when she found a kitchen to rent in Ferndale.

Prior to settling in the Carnation building, Joseph and her crew had to pack pots, pans and ingredients back and forth to a kitchen they rented on an as-needed basis in Bellingham.

Products originally included mild and spicy hot barbecue sauce and Trilby’s B-B-Q Rub.

Joseph then expanded the line with an idea of her own, marionberry barbecue sauce.

“It gives it a unique Northwest feel and I feel honored that I am the first to have it,” Joseph said.

Joseph gets her marionberries from Oregon and has a seeding machine which takes the seeds out of the berries and prepares them for the sauce.

According to Joseph, there are distinct seasons where her products are purchased as gifts; however, they are sold in stores and used in local restaurants year-round.

“I have the gift season that starts in the fall when people buy it to ship to family and friends,” Joseph said.

After the rush of the holidays, Joseph usually takes time off in January and February. In the summer she does promotions, demos and sets up at the Ferndale Farmers’ Market.

“I have been very fortunate that word of mouth has been very effective for me,” Joseph said. We are starting to build a name, she added.

In 2000-2001 Trilby’s participated as one of 250 entries in a Texas cook-off. Even though the sound of Texas barbecue and Whatcom County, Wash., may not sound like it could go hand-in-hand, Trilby’s won the Grand Champion award.

Currently, Trilby’s sauces are in 150 stores and Joseph praises Haggen for being the longest-running carrier for the past nine years.

“We get people calling us all the time because maybe they want a larger volume or a private label,” she said.

The local Cedars Restaurant currently uses Trilby’s, Ferndale’s Nelly’s will be using the sauces, and Fiamma Burger in Bellingham was so impressed they named a burger after Trilby’s.

“That was huge to us,” Joseph said.

The burger consists of an onion ring, Hempler’s bacon, Trilby’s sauce, blue cheese crumbles, local meat and buns from a local bakery.

“It’s a little goopy but it’s great,” Joseph said.

Joseph works by herself with the help and support of her husband Mark. Over the years she has employed nieces and nephews in their teenage years who wanted a first job. They were able to take that experience into other jobs as they grew older.

Joseph mixes the sauces in a huge kettle. The product then goes through a filling hose into the bottle. She hand-seals the lids, labels the bottles and they are ready for sale.

According to Joseph, her goal may be to open up the kitchen on an hourly rate for people who do not have access to a kitchen to make their own products.

Joseph prides Trilby’s Kitchen on being green and touts that her recycling regime helps her do her part for ecology and the environment.

“I am quite green actually and everything I have is recyclable,” Joseph said.

All the cans, bottles and boxes her ingredients are shipped in are recycled, and at the end of the week she may have one tiny bag filled with garbage. There’s a sense of satisfaction in that, Joseph said.

For more information about products and where to find Trilbys BBQ sauces visit their Web site at www.trilbys.com, visit them most Saturdays at the Ferndale Farmer’s Market or call 360-392-6800.

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"Holiday Gift store featuring Whatcom County products now open in Cordata"

Come sample firsthand the unique flavors of our Northwest grown and produced gourmet foods and crafts. Northwest Gifts will be next to the entry area of the Meridian Cost Cutter at 4131 Meridian St. The store will be open the first week of November, and will be open every day through December except Thanksgiving and Christmas, with a grand opening on Nov. 7th. Hours of operation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

The store will have a variety of gifts from local companies, including Twisted S Bison, Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards, Aldrich Farms, Trilby's Bar-B-Q Sauce, Hammerhead Coffee Roasters, Chocolate Necessities, Vis Seafood, Red Barn Lavender and Fairhaven Candy Co.

The store also will have artwork, photography and jewelry from local artists. The shop will offer a variety of ways to package gifts: small handmade gift boxes and bags, baskets, and canvas tote bags printed with local artwork and images from Gifts in the Bag.

Northwest Gifts is being put together by Shelley Johnson, Laura Joseph and Richard Buford.

Trilby's captures two awards!
"Best BBQ Sauce" and the
"People's Choice" Awards
Trilby's staked their claim to the bragging rights in Northwest Washington for the "Best BBQ Sauce" and the "People Choice" Awards at Nooksack River Casino's Best of the Pacific Northwest BBQ Cookoff 2006. The cookoff packed in over 4,000 people checking out the festivities and to sample the "Best BBQ Sauce", "Best BBQ Pork Shoulder", Best BBQ Pork Ribs, and Best BBQ Chicken.

YEEEE HAAAA! Trilby's first award!
Beating several other former champs, Trilby's BBQ Sauce took top honors of "Grand Champion" and "1st Place in Taste" at the La Salle County Wild Pig Cook-Off in Texas, a place renowned for its spicy food!

Every year, over 250 Texan Teams compete at the La Salle County Fairgrounds to see who will earn bragging rights for the best BBQ sauce, and Trilby's won in 2000 and 2001 confirming everyone's suspicions and of course bragging rights that, "Trilby's is the Best!"