As Seen on Great Day SA

[Opening shot: Texas Hill Country treetops at dusk. On screen for the whole segment: “Previously recorded” and the KENS 5 Great Day SA logo.]

[Roma stands in front of a backdrop of fall leaves. On screen: “Roma Villavicencio.”]

Roma Villavicencio, host: Welcome to Great Day SA. I'm your host, Roma Villavicencio, and I am so glad that you're tuning in today. If you're not sure what to make when you host this weekend, well, how about an elevated fall spread that's absolutely doable with a sweet dash of local goodness? I'm so happy to welcome Gerry Waters with New Canaan Farms. Thanks for being with us.

[Roma and Gerry stand behind a long table with a large wooden board of cheeses, cured meats, crackers, fruit and New Canaan Farms jars, with small pumpkins around it. On screen: “Elevated Fall Gathering. Furnished by: New Canaan Farms.”]

Gerry Waters, New Canaan Farms: It's so wonderful to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Roma: Well, I am especially thankful for this beautiful spread, but that's something you want to encourage our audience to do, is that you guys can do charcuterie boards, but you don't have to stress out about how elegant it will look, right?

[On screen: “Gerry Waters, Sales & Marketing for New Canaan Farms.”]

Gerry: The extraordinary thing is, we got here maybe 25 minutes ago, and we put this board together in 15 minutes. And you can do it with friends, it's so fun, and there's no wrong answers. You just bring the board together with all sorts of amazing different tastes, textures and flavors, put out a couple of serving utensils, and you're done.

[Close-ups of the board: a wheel of brie, wedges and cubes of cheese, salami, crackers, grapes, figs, apricots and chocolate leaves.]

Roma: And you're done. I just appreciate that there's sweet, there's crunchy, there's tangy. This is my kind of board right here for sure.

Gerry: Yeah, we have some little surprises, so a little chocolate, fall leaves in there as well, so as people are browsing, they'll come across something a little bit unexpected.

Roma: Love it. Okay, so we're going to continue adding to it, right, Gerry?

[On screen: “For more information: newcanaanfarms.com.”]

Gerry: Yes. So we just have some fresh fruits and some nuts, and a lot of it is reflective of fall flavors. So we have some oranges, as you see, with apricots, but I love these gorgeous blackberries, and we'll just scatter them around where you see holes. And these lovely nuts to add some crunch and texture, so I'm going to put some here. And you might see I've gathered everything in small little groups, so if you have people all the way around the board, wherever they are, they can reach for whatever flavor they want.

Roma: That's good advice, rather than putting everything forward in one part. That way they can share too, right? If they're on a table, you're not reaching too far.

Gerry: Okay, the berries are a good thing. A few more figs, maybe here.

Roma: What did you want to put in here?

[Gerry spoons jam into small white bowls set on the board.]

Gerry: Well, we have some manchego here, and our Lemon Fig Jam pairs so beautifully with nutty cheeses like parmesan and manchego, so we might spoon that into this bowl.

Roma: Is it this one?

Gerry: It's this one right here. Lemon. And then I have a Cranberry Pepper Jam, which is, of course, a perfect, perfect fall flavor.

Roma: Yes.

Gerry: It's really sweet, and then it has a lovely peppery bite at the end. And that goes amazingly well with soft, creamy cheeses, so I'm just going to spoon it on. Just put it on top.

[Gerry spoons Cranberry Pepper Jam over the wheel of brie.]

Roma: I love there's actual lemon slices in here.

Gerry: Oh, yes, we flavor that. It's a fig jam, and we flavor it with fresh lemon slices.

Roma: Oh, Gerry, that is... I'm going to smell it. Let me taste it all.

Gerry: Yeah, I know. I love that jam. And we also bake this brie with rich red fruit flavors like cranberry. You know, you can put the brie in the oven, and then it's oozy all over.

Roma: That is such great advice there. That's wonderful.

Gerry: And we have a pepper jelly. This is our top seller, which is also sweet with a lovely peppery bite, and that is also amazing on soft, creamy cheeses.

Roma: Look, again, the peppers are in there, y'all. You could see them. I love that there's a little chunk every bite you take.

[On screen: “New Canaan Farms. 800.727.5267. newcanaanfarms.com.”]

Gerry: Yeah, exactly. There's like a little sweet red peppers or jalapeños.

Roma: Can you handle spicy?

Gerry: Yeah, we don't have anything that's super, super spicy. Everything we have is just a lovely little extra peppery bite to the flavor.

Roma: And talk about that. It's all locally made, y'all.

[Photos of New Canaan Farms products: jams spread on toasted bread, jars beside salads and pastries, and Strawberry Almond Jam, Caramelized Onion & Garlic Jam and Cilantro Salsa on a gift box printed “Have a delicious day!” On screen: “Follow on social: @newcanaanfarms.”]

Gerry: It is. We handcraft in small batches over 50 different products in this tiny, beautiful town called Utopia. It is one of the first towns to ever have a water bottling plant, and now we are in the former water bottling plant. Everything we do is fed with that beautiful, clean, fresh spring water that used to be put in bottles and sold.

Roma: I know exactly where Utopia is. It's right there near Uvalde.

Gerry: Yes, between Uvalde and Bandera.

Roma: Very cool.

[Close-up of jars on the board: Cranberry Pepper Jam, Olive Rosemary Dijon Mustard, Jalapeño Jelly and Country Apple Butter.]

[On screen again: “New Canaan Farms. 800.727.5267. newcanaanfarms.com.” Then: “Follow on social: @newcanaanfarms.”]

Gerry: And it's a family-based company: my husband and myself, and my sister-in-law is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and she has a destination restaurant there. So many of these flavors... For example, this is a huge award winner, our Olive Rosemary Dijon Mustard.

Roma: What is it?

Gerry: It's Olive Rosemary Dijon Mustard.

Roma: Wow, rosemary.

Gerry: It's won the best condiment of 2026 from the Specialty Food Association this year.

Roma: What's the restaurant?

Gerry: It's called the Laurel Tree.

Roma: I want to go check it out. I'm a foodie.

Gerry: She only opens on Saturdays, and she changes the menu every week. So she's always thinking about new flavors, and then we get to put them in our jars.

Roma: Well, you know what? We are grateful for that, because now the jars are here. And if you guys want to check them out, probably your website, social media?

Gerry: Yes, we're just at newcanaanfarms.com. New Canaan.

Roma: I had said "cannon."

Gerry: That's right. Canaan.

Roma: Perfect. Beautiful. It was great to meet you today, Gerry, and truly, you did prove to us you could whip this together. Look how fancy it looks.

[Roma waves goodbye beside Gerry and the finished board.]