About Us

Our Story…

Milly’s Silver Spur Gourmet is a small, natural food company based in the heart of the Rockies in the small town of Buena Vista, Colorado. It is a small but quickly growing company based on the idea that if you can give something your all, do it right the first time, (and say your prayers!) you will succeed. We started off with our cornerstone product, Milly’s Salsa…a deliciously fresh tasting, medium in temperature salsa made from the freshest and finest ingredients available. As we say, its “freshness of taste” is what sets it apart from other brands!

I had been serving my homemade salsa in my restaurant in Leadville, Colorado (34 miles up the road and 2,000 feet higher in elevation!) for 10 years. In 2003, on a whim (see “Calypso’s Story” below) I started bottling it and selling it through the restaurant and soon I had repeat orders from all over the country from people who had visited our great state and took some home. It started to snowball and soon it was hard to keep on the shelves. I literally had people buying it from its cooling rack before it was even labeled! They would walk in the restaurant, say, “what’s that delicious smell?” and walk out with two jars…warming their hands in both pockets. Believe me, at 10,152 feet it gets pretty cold! So…in the spring of 2006 I decided to go online with it and soon was on my way to the Fancy Food Show in New York City as a special invitee with Gourmet Food Mall in July. I know, I know…salsa in NEW YORK CITY???

Coming home where life is more my pace I realized that I needed more than just the Original Milly’s Salsa. I sold my restaurant, moved to Buena Vista full time and started expanding my product line. Soon I came up with a “HOT!” version and then a mild Salsa Verde made from fresh tomatillos. I couldn’t stop there and soon developed my Gourmet Seasoning which makes a fabulous dip mix as well as seasons just about everything in our kitchen! I am anxious to get going on my muffin mix and jalapeno bread mix. It all takes time but I love to create new products and watch them take off. Sam turned 7 this year and started school in Buena Vista in October. When kids ask “where does your mom work?” he proudly says, “She makes salsa!”. That explains it all!

I am very blessed to be doing something I love and to be able to involve my son in many aspects of the company. His opinion is ALWAYS appreciated and valued. He is one of my main “new product tasters” as well.

What’s With the Horse?? Calypso’s Story…

In 2003 I was out on a beautiful springtime ride in the mountains with my riding buddy, Brigette Egli. As we often did, we packed a lunch and found a nice comfortable log to lean against while the horses stood quietly by. She was telling me that she had a booth at the Horse Fair in Albuquerque, NM the next month for her hand-built western pottery and wished she had someone to share the booth with. I thought…a Horse Fair…well, I’D like to go! “You…what would YOU sell?”, she asked in a skeptical voice. “I don’t know yet but I’ll think of something. Count me in!”. So I went back home and canned up a bunch of cases of my salsa and soon we left the snowy hills of Leadville and headed for the desert.

I was thrilled to be at the Horse Fair and apparently the folks were thrilled to have me because I sold all of the product I brought right away and was free to roam about. The booth next to ours was Walkin’ in Circles Ranch, a non-profit horse rescue. I got to chatting with Anna and Lindsey who were some of the veteran volunteers at the ranch. I told them that I lost my first horse Ellie recently and may be looking for another horse. They looked at one another, Lindsey got a funny look in her eyes and a smile on her face, and said, “Calypso…”. Anna thought for a moment and then said, “No…well…would you like to take a trip out to the ranch and meet her for yourself?”

Early the next morning I waved goodbye to Brigette and all of her pottery and headed east towards Edgewood, about 30 miles away. I pulled onto the country road and marveled once again at the magnificent desert vistas before me, so unlike my Colorado mountains. Even in May the temperatures were rising enough in the morning to need to roll down the windows of the truck. Soon I arrived at the front gate of the ranch and as I opened and closed it behind me I started to notice all of the beautiful horses scattered around the property. Some looked up as if to say, “Who are you and why have you come to interrupt our morning?” while others trotted over to the fence for a closer look, whinnying as they came.

A very nice woman who’s name escapes me now came to show me around the ranch, introducing me to each of the 35 “residents”, as they called the horses. There were as many different kinds and colors as the flowers in the fields with as many different stories as to why they were there. Many were had been abused, many injured, a few off the racetracks. Then there was Calypso, a soft eyed, intelligent looking buckskin roan mare. She had neither been abused nor abandoned. She was an 8-year old mustang, wild since birth, running with a known mustang herd in the Placitas Range of New Mexico. It was the year of all of the fires and drought and they were bony and starving. Their only offense was that they broke onto a private rancher’s land to graze. As the law allowed, he rounded them up and sent them to the slaughter barn, killing the stallion in the process who was trying to protect his herd. Calypso had her yearling with her at the time. Some folks from the rescue ranch happened to be there, gathering statistics on horses sent to the sale barn and subsequently to slaughter when they saw the mustangs come in. They realized immediately by their markings that these horses were not dog food material and were able to buy 7 of them out. They immediately called for help and others showed up with trucks and trailers.

No one was able to touch Calypso or her yearling for days after they arrived at the ranch. The sale barn sticker even remained on her hip for a long time because no one could get close enough to get it off. They fed Calypso and her baby and spoke kindly to them, never mistreating her or giving her any reason to fear humans. Gradually they were able to approach her and eventually even to halter her. Astoundingly, a few days after Calypso arrived at the ranch in her skin and bones condition she dropped a foal. She was a full-term pregnant mare and no one could have guessed. Calypso gave birth to Mariah who later was adopted by a woman from Montrose, Colorado.

The day I drove to the ranch was about 8 weeks after Calypso came in from the wild. The woman who introduced me to her out in the far corner of the paddock told me that she probably would not let me touch her and not be disappointed. Out of respect for Calypso I did not even try but stood a few feet from her and talked to her for a moment. Then we continued on to meet all of the other horses. I stayed around the ranch awhile, thinking and considering the possibilities. As far as Calypso went…a mustang? Was that a fit for me? I was so new to the horse world and had only gotten my first horse a year and a half before. I didn’t have the knowledge or skills I would need for riding a mustang, let alone gentling her in the first place. Why was I even thinking about it??? Still, I went back to the hotel that night thinking about her and made plans to return the next day.

When I arrived back at the ranch, no one seemed available to work with me so I got a rope halter and lead rope from the barn they showed me the day before and went out to the pasture. I walked towards her, closer and closer but not looking right at her. The rope hung from my left hand. I would take a few steps closer, and then look around at the other horses. I really didn’t think she would let me close so I had nothing to lose. Amazingly, the next thing I knew I was standing right next to her, sideways to her shoulder. She turned her head towards me and I stood very still. She started to smell my arm and I just talked to her quietly. It was like there was no one else there but us in the New Mexican desert. I slowly reached up to pet her shoulder and found the adrenaline pumping inside me when she allowed it. I took the rope and let her sniff it and then slowly, almost holding my breath I started to rub her shoulder with it. She was completely at ease. I could not believe it and soon untied the halter and asked her to put her nose through it. She did and I fastened it above her ears. I could barely breathe and felt a thrill like I had never known before. Slowly I asked her to follow me with a very gentle pull on the rope and soon we were walking back towards the barn. Soon I had her tied and began to just rub her all over and got out a grooming brush, moving slowly and continuing to speak quietly to her.

One of the head volunteers came over and said, “Oh…I didn’t realize you were here”, with a puzzled look on her face. “Who got Calypso in for you? I didn’t see her in the barn.” “She was in the pasture,” I said, “I hope you don’t mind that I helped myself to the halter and rope. They told me yesterday that it would be all right”, I said, feeling embarrassed that I may have overstepped some bounds. “You got her from the pasture? By yourself? No one has ever caught her out in the pasture. We always have to drive her to the barn first and she eventually runs into her stall. That’s the only way we can get a halter on her or touch her.” I realized then that not only was I choosing Calypso to be part of my life but that for some unknown reason, she was choosing me.

There is so much more to the story of how Calypso and I have grown together since then but that is the gist of the story. If you are interested in hearing more, drop me a note or keep your eye on “In the News” section. As to why she is on the label with me, well…she came into my life when I canned and sold my salsa for the first time. She is my dear friend and a huge part of my life. What more reason should there be???

If you would like to learn more about the wonderful people at Walkin’ in Circles Ranch in Edgewood, NM, visit their website at www.wncr.org.

Well…that’s the end of this story and the end of this section! Thank you…and good night!