The weather outside was a little frightful but not the vibe at Millcreek Common, no it was quite delightful as Utah’s Own holiday shops gave out free samples of tasty treats inside the Public Market and the ice skating ribbon opened for the season.

“The kids were really excited to go skating again,” said Jenana Fadlic who brought her two kids out to ice skate. “We were here last year almost every weekend. My kids are not into roller skating but really love this place.”

Many came out to brave the cold and wet first night of skating with almost freezing temperatures as a mix of rain and snow fell on the Hallmark movie looking scene with tiny lights lining the trees surrounding the skating ribbon. 

It was a much toaster environment for those looking to get a start on the holiday shopping or just try the samples of various foods that the Utah’s Own shops were offering inside Millcreek Common Public Market.

“We’re the main sponsor of the holiday shops for the Public Market and we are open every day of the week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. until the middle of December,” said Mitch Garrett of Utah’s Own. “This is our grand opening and we celebrate with some free samples.”

Garrett said a lot of people are curious about what they can do to help support local Utah businesses and visiting these shops located at Millcreek Common Market Place this holiday season is a way to help these Utah businesses and the community.  

Samples for those with a sweet tooth were not ignored during the event. Lori Darr the owner from Cache Toffee Collection was giving out samples of her irresistible award winning toffee.

“I don’t cook with any corn syrup or preservatives or dyes,” Darr said. “Our toffee is award winning.” Darr’s Tangled Toffee won an award at the North West Chocolate Alliance in Seattle.

“It has tequila in it and toffee, cashews, sea salt, lime and a secret ingredient that gets warmth out of it,” Darr said.

Cache Toffee was started in Park City in Darr’s kitchen making toffee that was taught to her by her mother. A toffee recipe that keeps many asking for more because they say it is just irresistible.

The booth for SLC Underground Sweets is set up for the holiday season and they sell homemade delightful confectionary treats. “SLC Underground Sweets is a female owned company that makes marshmallows, chocolate and vegan truffles. We have been in business for two years,” Gina Polidori, co-owner, said. 

Once your sweet palate was fulfilled, there were samples at other booths to take care of the salt cravings. Owners Arlene Dominguez and Calvin Chan put their talents together and created Killer Spice.

“We have spice blends and infused the salts in them. Killer Sting which is a honey, habanero spice is very popular, Killer Tamoy is a chamoy flavor, Killer Lookout is a Cajun spice and for the more spicy fan there is Death. This spice is hot sauce infused and has habanero garlic spice in it,” explained Dominguez. 

Sharing the same booth but with Italian flavors was Grandma Sandino’s Sicilian Sauce along with garlic bread mix and other seasonings.

“We made the sauce and handed it out to neighbors and friends. We had to give out samples for people to understand what it was,” Dave Udy, one of the owners said. Udy was giving out a wide array of samples during the grand opening and selling their vegetarian garlic sauce, Grandma’s Fish Sprinkle and other rubs. Their famous Sicilian sauce is used as a salad dressing, marinade or dipping sauce.

Frog Bench Farms is an urban farm in Salt Lake City and set up a holiday booth to sell secondary products that allow them to extend the life of the food that grows on Frog Bench Farms. 

“I make the secondary products on the farm,” Abby Jorgensen said. “We are really focused on our secondary products for sustainability, so we give all our excess products that come back from the farmer’s market another life.” 

Jorgensen was handing out warm herbal tea samples on this chilly night.

“Our infusion tea sets include three different herbal blends, three different sugar cubes and they also come with a teaspoon. These are great gift ideas. I make the sugar cubes from freeze-dried fruits,” added Jorgensen.

 “We also make vinegar from the wine that we make on the farm as well,” said Jorgensen. The vinegar is being sold at the booth this holiday season.

These are just a few of the many Utah’s Own vendors that have taken root at the Millcreek Common’s Public Market this holiday season. It is open for business every day of the week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.