Customers often stand and marvel at the old fashioned canning machinery in their kitchen. Many have not seen such machinery since childhood. Those memories blended with the family atmosphere surrounding the store complete the Baldwins’ art of preserving preserves.

“We’re not just a jam and jelly store,” said Kimberly Baldwin, owner and founder of Appalachian Harvest. “Our customers are like one huge family.”

Their return customers and the many new faces seen walking through the door prove that the recipe for the budding business is right, extending Appalachian Harvest’s orders far beyond Cashiers.

The Baldwins have shipped their products all over the country for a few years now, but the bulk of their shipping has remained mainly on the east coast. Lately, however, the nationwide orders seem endless. Last fall, a jar of iced green tomato pickles lured the Food Network star Paula Deen into the Appalachian Harvest kitchen. A few weeks ago, the holiday baking issue of Deen’s magazine featured the Baldwins’ enterprise. Now, they are struggling to keep up — particularly in their best seller — Kimberly’s Iced Green Tomato Pickles.

“Our horizons have expanded a little bit,” said Kevin. “And it is nice to receive a pat on the back from someone of her [Paula Deen’s] stature.”

But the new-found fame hasn’t changed the store’s atmosphere much.

“I’m just a jam and jelly maker in a magazine,” Kimberly said.

Her hometown attitude remains much the same as in her Michigan upbringing. But it was that first Michigan memory that shaped the path of her family’s lives.

One of Kimberly’s first memories is walking down the steps of her grandmother’s cellar and staring at all of the jars neatly lined and labeled. She has since turned that fascination into a booming business, but has never once lost the love for preserving the art passed down from her mother and grandmother.

After moving to the mountains from the Tampa Bay area with her family and high school sweetheart, Kevin, 10 years ago, Kimberly decided to pass that art on to her three daughters, Whitney, Brandy and Trinity. She began scouring the local produce stands for fresh produce. Some of the vendors wondered what she was up to. She explained and was then encouraged to sell some of her and her daughters’ wares. She started with one, lone shelf at a store in Whistle Stop Antique Mall in Franklin. That one shelf then turned into a prime 600-square-foot corner space at the mall.

“I started right about zero,” Kimberly said. “I didn’t even know what the Atlanta Mart was! But I received lots of encouragement from the other store owners.”

Soon the word spread to surrounding communities, and visitors began arriving at her doorstep, clutching half empty jars and asking her if she could remake that particular preserve.

“You can take a sample,” they warned. “But I’ll need the jar back.” Often times they would simply show up with their grandmothers’ recipes, asking Kimberly to recreate the cherished family memory.

The Baldwins moved their business to Cashiers six years ago. A few years after the move, they needed a larger kitchen and moved to their current location at the Old School House on Highway 107 South.

Like their down to earth work ethic, the Baldwins’ business starts home grown with only local produce. And from picking the produce to placing the final labels, the Baldwin family individually touches each part of the preserving process.

Their 2,000-plus customer waiting list serves as proof for the quality of their products.

“Our customers are what have built this business, and they will continue to build our business,” Kimberly said. “Having satisfied customers is our number one priority!”

On the Appalachian Harvest Web site, www.jamsnjelly.com, a slogan best sums up their thriving creations. “Rediscover. Remember. Relive.”

But the Baldwins hit a home run by keeping it simple.

“If we would have asked for this, it never would have happened,” Kevin said. “Sometimes you just have to step back and let things happen. We have been very blessed.