Ricky's Lucky Nuts.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: [small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF - Brief article

Paul Gelose, current owner of Durango's Palace Restaurant and former personal chef for Oprah, worked with Rick Jensen in many a kitchen. After Jensen traded the Southwest for the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Gelose kept making his specially seasoned peanuts for parties he catered, and people loved them.

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Now with his wife, Carolyn Lamb, Gelose is trying to make Ricky's Lucky Nuts a national brand. The company launched in 2008 and has since expanded to five flavors that run the gamut from curry-coconut to cocoa-vanilla bean.

"We only use four ingredients: peanuts, sugar, salt and spices," he says. "We don't use any gums, adherents or...