Fort Mill business is Stirred By Hand – and with love

The latest craze in Fort Mill’s caramel craving is known simply as Stirred by Hand.

The name of the family confection business, owned by Robb and Jennifer Hudson of Fort Mill, was suggested by the owners’ great aunt, who said, “They need to know that you stir every batch by hand!”

The company’s inspiration began right in the owners’ kitchen, but the roots of the owners’ passion began in a land far away, for a cause that is as sweet as their caramel.

Robb is an executive with a Japanese machine tool company and a member of York County’s Economic Development Board. Jennifer is a retired US Airways flight attendant. Both love to cook and experiment with recipes, and they both have a passion for helping children.

The combination would hold the key to their sugary success.

While driving in the car one day, Jennifer heard a radio commercial about The Philippine Host Program for people considering the adoption of older children. The message made her revisit the couple’s desire to adopt a child. She began research and contacted the agency that specializes in Philippine adoptions. They sent an email with a flier of several pictures of children already in the host program.

As Jennifer poured through the email, she came across a picture of a 12-year-old girl with “the most amazing eyes.”

“It is hard to describe the feeling, but I knew she was our daughter!” Jennifer said. “I had an instant, very strong connection to her!”

Jennifer sent the picture to her husband, and when the picture came in, he happened to be talking to a co-worker who was encouraging him to look into adopting an older child. When Robb saw the picture of the little girl in the pink dress he said, “What a delicately beautiful little angel!”

Thus began the couple’s long and sometimes trying trek to bring their daughter home from the Philippines.

On Dec. 23, 2012, Robb, Jennifer, and their new, daughter, Mari Hudson, touched down at Washington’s Dulles Airport. With reserved and curious anxiety, Mari and her new parents drove all night to their home in Fort Mill.

Jennifer says she will never forget the tears of joy streaming down the face of Robb’s mother, Sara Ottenbacher, as she and her husband Tom, met their granddaughter.

Now the Hudsons await the news of their second adoption of an older little girl.

Mari, a Fort Mill Middle School eighth-grader, is awaiting the newest addition to her family and friend-group. When asked what she will say to her sister upon their meeting, Mari said, “I will always be your real sister and I will always love you! You will always be my best little sister!”

When asked what the best part of her journey from the Philippines has been, she said, “Having parents and getting to experience having a family. My parents are incredible and I am so blessed to have them!”

Having a second daughter will be a dream come true for Robb and Jennifer. This time, they decided they needed a new venture to help with funds required for adoption.

After a fall trip to an apple orchard in Hendersonville, N.C., the family came home to enjoy fresh apples dipped in store-bought caramel. With a basket of apples left and no caramel dipping sauce left, Robb took to the stove to create his own syrupy confection.

He modified his caramel praline sauce recipe with a specialty sea salt called Fleur de Sel de Guerande, found on the coast of France, and the Hudson family made a mouth-watering discovery. The result of the recipe’s tweaking was a thick, taffy-like caramel sauce.

The Hudsons began sharing their sauce with friends, family, neighbors, and their Bible study group. In turn, they would received donations toward their adoption fund.

Soon, people began requesting the sweet treat to give as gifts or serve at events.

Pamela Caywood pleaded with the Hudsons to jar their sauce and sell it. “Anything Robb and Jennifer do has always been at a high level, so I knew they would not cut corners and would present a beautifully packaged product,” Caywood said.

Caywood also said their timing was impeccable, since it was autumn and everyone likes caramel with apples in the fall.

With deliveries both locally and globally, Stirred by Hand was up and running. And the Hudsons said they knew it was time to give back, which was something they enjoyed doing.

Their friend, Nikki Esquivel and her husband, Anthony, had offered support during their adoption of Mari.

Nikki and her husband left their home in Raleigh, N.C., to return to Anthony’s native Philippine homeland where four of their six children were adopted. They departed with high hopes of starting Mercy House of the Philippines Orphanage to give care to the street children of Silang, Cavite, which is about an hour south of Manila. As a tribute to her friends, Jennifer committed a percentage of the regular caramel sales and 100 percent of the holiday proceeds to the overseas shelter.

“If Stirred by Hand can help even just one child find its forever family or save one child from a life on the streets in an underdeveloped country like the Philippines, then all of this hard work will have been worth it,” Jennifer said.

As Stirred by Hand continues to grow, and the family’s adoption goals are met, the Hudsons will continue to give back to Mercy House, as well as Christian Family Services in Rock Hill and other organizations that promote adoption and orphan care in and around York County.

“We have dreams of starting a charitable 5013C foundation where we can help other local families realize their own miracles by adopting children from here in York County or from around the world,” Robb Hudson said.

Stirred by Hand is not only known for the salted caramel sauce, they have now expanded to include old fashioned, hand-wrapped salted caramel candies, sprinkled with the delicate flaked Fleur de Sel.

There is no limit on imagination for holiday inspired creations, like their Jameson Irish Whiskey salted caramels for St. Patrick’s Day. The craft boxes, mason jars, and glassine and polypropylene packaging are tied with ribbons and topped-off with Anne Venci’s one-of-a-kind tag designs.

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Fort Mill business is Stirred By Hand – and with love."