WHY ARE THESE COOKIES SO GOOD?  The secret ingredient is Rocky Mountain air.  Just kidding, you can’t bake air.  They’re so good because we take our time, we care about our ingredients and our process and we want you to like us so we add a little bit of love to everything we make.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BISCOTTI AND CANTUCCI?  Pronunciation.  Again, I kid.  Today it may just be an issue of semantics, but the original recipes for biscotti did not call for yeast, acids or fat, resulting in a very dry, bland cookie meant to be dunked.  Today, what we often refer to as biscotti are actually cantucci, a variation on the original biscotti recipes including acid and fat as well as nuts, spices and chocolate.  This is true except, of course, if you’re in Tuscany where they honor history and detail, offering cookies their appropriate, God-given titles.  Bless those beautiful people.

IS IT A NUT FREE KITCHEN?  No. We can imagine that having a nut allergy is no fun, but unfortunately we can’t promise there won’t be any cross contamination between our nut and non-nut products so please don’t risk it.  But hey, maybe just watching someone enjoy one of our delicious treats is reason enough to buy some!  Yeah, probably not.

HOW MANY CANTUCCI ARE THERE IN THE 6oz. BAG COMPARED TO THE 16oz BOX?  Our products are handmade. That means we hand form the cantucci loaves and hand cut them.  Different ingredients in each flavor also affect the weight.  That means that the cookie sizes and weights vary.  We think that’s a good thing as it shows some of the hard work we are putting into these things.  So that’s a rather indirect way of answering your question by saying that the number will vary based on the flavor and how steady our hands are when we do the cutting but in general a 6oz bag has about 7 to 10 cookies while the 16oz has about 19 to 22.

CAN I FREEZE THE CANTUCCI?  Sure, just don’t bite into them without defrosting first (holy cow, am I funny or what?).  They actually do keep very well frozen in an airtight container or bag and should keep for up to 5 weeks.  But honestly, we’ve never had the willpower to really let them sit in a freezer that long to test it out.  Let us know how that goes for you, Bodhisattva.

HOW MANY CALORIES ARE THERE IN EACH BISCOTTI?  Boy, you really are a buzz kill, aren’t you?  We haven’t had to calculate this information yet but let’s just say they’re not that big so one or two won’t kill you but be aware that we don’t use ‘low fat’ ingredients.  What I’m trying to say is, you shouldn’t be so concerned with such things because from where I’m sitting you look way hot eating that cookie!!

I NEED THESE AMAZING TREATS IMMEDIATELY!  CAN YOU OVERNIGHT THEM TO ME???  Believe me, I know the feeling but we’re just not quite geared up for that yet.  For one, while cantucci will keep well for about 5 weeks in an airtight bag or container, we generally don’t keep a huge supply lying around to immediately fill orders.  And two, we ship USPS and our website is not automated yet for another overnight carrier option.  We do hope to add this in the near future and if you seriously have an emergency, it wouldn’t hurt to try us via email and we will see what we might be able to do for you.  We hate to leave someone mid-jones.

DO YOU SHIP OUTSIDE OF THE US?  Our shipping rates don’t consider this just yet but email us and we’ll try and work out a way for you to take part in the fun.

DO YOU MAKE A GLUTEN FREE VERSION?  Not yet but we’re trying to work out a way to do so with a local commissary kitchen that is equipped to help us with that.  Please email us and let us know you’re interested though because sometimes a little kick in the butt helps get us going.

ARE THESE KOSHER?  No.  We pray you’ll like them but that’s as far as we go with any blessings.

ARE ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS CERTIFIED ORGANIC?  No, but it’s a goal of ours to get to that point.  We are committed to using the highest quality, locally sourced products available and as our network of vendors expands we hope to be able to become wholly certified organic.  Believe me, we’ll be proud to let you know when it happens and thanks for sharing our vision of better products through conscientious farming.

WHERE IS RURAL ROUTE FARMS?  Janice grew up on a family farm in Oswego, New York on Rural Route 5; hence the name.  The farm is no longer active, but the lessons we learned there we’ve applied to the products you can purchase here.  Btw, if you ask anyone in Oswego County where the best sweet corn they ever had came from we’re pretty sure they’d tell you it was our place.  We currently produce our baked goods out of a kitchen in the Denver area near our home and our canned, pickled, and preserves will be produced by our daughter in Los Angeles.  It’s a family affair.

WHERE CAN I BUY YOUR PRODUCTS IN PERSON? Right now we don’t have a physical store front, but if you happen to be in Denver area you can pick up our products and these fine stores: Carmine Lonardo’s Italian Markets in Lakewood and Aurora, CO and at the Press Coffee shop in Belmar (Lakewood, CO) (see also: our How? Section for links to these vendors).  We also happen to hit local farmers markets and festivals so please check back often to our Twitter and Facebook feed where we’ll be updating our appearance schedule.

THESE TREATS HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE! WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD OF THIS NIRVANA I’VE DISCOVERED THROUGH RRF?  You’re too kind.  But boy if we had a nickel for every time we get this comment we’d be delivering these treats in electric hover crafts!  Still, we’d love your help in getting our name out there.  Please follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook, let us know about any food bloggers we should share our product with (free pub is great!) and don’t be shy in simply passing out our treats to strangers on the street.