Farmer’s Market: Grandma Koyote’s sauce works for everybody

Special to the Green Valley News

When someone asks Katherine Stevens if she’s Grandma Koyote she smiles and answers, “Yes I am, but I left my fur in Tucson today.”

She gets a kick out of it, even if some people don’t catch her humor. You’ll find her decked out in coyote earrings and a shirt advertising her sauces near the shady wall at the entrance to the Farmer’s Market at Green Valley Village on Wednesdays.

She’ll give you a taste of any of her products served up on a tortilla chip. A few weeks ago one man wondered about the chip and BBQ sauce combo, but became a believer once he tasted it.

“I have to get it to you somehow,” she cajoled him with her ready grin.

Katherine became Grandma Koyote when she howled for her then 2-year-old grandson. The child looked up at his uncle and asked, “What’s THAT? Is it a COYOTE? Yes, it’s a GRANDMA coyote,” was the answer. The name stuck and made its way into their business several years later with a one-letter alteration.

Katherine and her husband, Clarence, are serious about their sauces. Katherine designed the logo and label resulting in a first place Scovie Award, given out to hot, spicy products. Since then, each of their sauces has won first prize in the People’s Choice category at the Houston Hot Sauce Festival.

With barbeque sauces ranging from Diabetic Friendly to “Woosie Hot” to their Habanero Hot Sauce, they’ve got something for every taste. More important to many is the sensitivity with which they prepare the product.

“It’s all natural. No funny chemicals, and they’re gluten-free,” Katherine said.

Katherine became a diabetic a few years ago so she’s attuned to the needs of people with dietary restrictions. That’s why she also sells the sweetener she uses in her barbeque sauces at her stand. She is aware of the fact that many people are troubled with gastro-intestinal challenges like GERD or simply excess gas. Her recipes don’t contain anything that adds to those problems, she said, reopening a whole realm of flavors to diabetics and GI troubled folks.

“We sold a barbeque sauce at a bakery we had for a while then we started combining it with my grandmother’s chili sauce recipe and everyone had to have it,” Katherine says of how Grandma Koyote began.

You’ll find Grandma Koyote every Wednesday at our Farmer’s Market. “If you miss me here you can pick up my sauces at Ace Hardware right here in Green Valley,” she says. You can also see all their products and gift baskets ready for shipping at www.grandmakoyotesbbq.com.

If you go

Green Valley Farmer’s Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Green Valley Village, Esperanza Boulevard and La Canada Drive.