Doris and Ed Simpson established their fine dining, destination, restaurant, in 1974 in rural Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Muirhead  began in an old farmhouse, which they promptly painted a celery green color. Muirhead  was and still is their home. The children helped, each in their turn; Robin, Mark, Neil, and Barbara. Mark is a graduate of the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park NY. After we ran out of children, we enlisted the help of grandsons, Henry and Arthur, for several of the final restaurant years. The restaurant enjoyed a metropolitan popularity for twenty years, at which point Doris and Ed elected to retire the fine dining end of their business and pursue only the food product portion of their endeavors.

At the restaurant we served such delicious appetizers as Clams Muirhead , Blue Cheese Cheesecake, Onion Tart, Goat Cheese Tart, Fresh Garden Tomatoes with Pesto, Eggs with a Tapenade Sauce, Smoked Fish and many other items. Soups were an ever changing scene: Fennel, Leek and Sweet Red Pepper, Cool Lemon, Winter Squash and Pumpkin. The salad course always included fresh lettuces and herbs from the garden in season. Entrees were an individual Beef Wellington, Rack of Lamb, Sole En Papillote, Cioppino, Sole Florentine, Cornish Hen, Boneless Duck Breast. Desserts covered the rainbow with Praline Cheesecake, Linzer Torte, Raspberry Mousse, Chocolate Pot de Creme, Black Forest Torte, Couer a la creme and many more.

During the years we had customers ask for a jar of salad dressing to go, which led Ed to formally bottle some of the items for retail sale. As the story goes, one thing led to another and here we are with a varied array of food products for sale, anchored by our major product, Muirhead  PECAN PUMPKIN BUTTER. Not quite so simple though; as with anything in the field of sales, it has taken a lot of knocking on doors, phone calls, and food shows. Our most effective effort was our production and introduction of our Muirhead  PECAN PUMPKIN BUTTER. We were a finalist in the new product category at the New York Fancy Food Show. What do we do with the Muirhead  PECAN PUMPKIN BUTTER? We spread it on bread, rolls, and bagels, or any of your favorite baked goods, mix it into your baking batters for any of your scratch recipes, create a new pecan pie or pumpkin pie. The uses are endless and the taste is good!

We have developed a line of products which include, mustards, salad dressings, sauces, marmalades, chutneys, jellies, butters, etc. We do add to this list and on occasion delete items. Recipes are always a consideration and we enjoy hearing from you with new uses and suggestions or a little help with a current recipe.