Week Two at the Vancouver Farmers Market was lovely. How satisfying to witness people's smile after sampling your jam. We ran out of sampling spoons so quickly. Luckily, other vendors were kind enough to (save our asses) give us some of their own spoons and everyone who wanted to try some jam was able to do so.
A man came to our stall and said he was happy to see us at the market because he has already finished the jar he bought last week and was desperate for more quince jelly. We love that man, wherever he is. And, if you can believe it, another gentleman with a similar story showed up not too long after, in the hopes that we still had some of our pear and vanilla jam for him. Friends, we have return customers !! And we don't mean our mothers, best friends and husbands either. How rewarding the jam making business. It's finally working; our evil plan is to make you all addicted to Sticky Spoon, moohahahahaha!
When one is slightly obsessed with making jam, it is easy to find oneself with more jars than one can possibly eat. Over the past few years, we have given away as much jam as we have consumed ourselves and it is safe to say that, based on our friends' and families' reactions, a jar of jam makes a great gift. Now, we get to watch other people buy Sticky Spoon jam and give it to their loved ones. The fact that we sold more than half of our inventory before Christmas and that so many of those little jars went into baskets and stockings for friends makes us really happy. We are even more honored that the tradition continues in the new year. Many of you have come to our market stall and purchased something for a friend who loves peach jam, a father who is particularly fond of anything tomato, or as a hostess gift for a dinner party. Because we love to see you sharing the jam love, we work on the details that make each jar extra special to give away.
Now included with every jar of Sticky Spoon jam is a tag with suggestions pairings. These are just a few ideas of what to do with each flavour if, like us, you think that jam can be delicious with so much more than just toast. At home, we regularly serve jam with eggs, prawns, chicken wings, pork loins, duck breast and, if you have read any of our blog posts, you know that we are very fond of adding a spoonful to our cocktails.
We have also taken advantage of our men's carpentry skills and tools and, with the purchase of three jars, you may now take your jam home in a lovely wooden gift box. We think they are so cute, thanks Andrew!
In the past few months, we have had some interest in Sticky Spoon gift baskets for corporate and family events and we will soon be producing several dozens of jars for a friend who plans on handing out jam to each of her guests as a wedding favour this Summer. We love it when you come to us with such ideas and can't wait to collaborate on those projects.
For now, our inventory is dangerously low right now so back to the kitchen we go. We have purchased hundreds of pounds of onions, carrots and kiwi and we are ready to make more. Next time you take a look at our blog, you will actually see photos of fruit and vegetables boiling up in gigantic pots... our favourite! As always, we look forward to sharing the process with you. See you soon.
