We have been very busy this last month or so attempting to make three new flavors. Two of them turned out great and the third was disappointing to say the least.
Our first new flavor to try was Strawberry jalapeno. We sourced the Strawberries from a local grower (Jillybeans Farm Stand in Farmington CT) they were so fresh and tasty. It was a little challenging to create a jam that was full of Strawberry flavor but still had a nice heat at the back end of the Jalapeno’s. However we hit the jackpot after three attempts. This variety is full of flavor with both Strawberry and Jalapeno.
Next up was our attempt at Cherry Jalapeno. We started out by picking some beautiful fresh Cherries from March Farm in Bethlehem CT. However that is where the fun ended. We tried so many different variations to make this flavor taste like Cherry jam but we failed miserably and after spending hours pitting and prepping the Cherries for the jam to not taste of a whole lot was disappointing to say the least. It’s the jam to be never spoken of again in the kitchen lol.
Onwards and upwards we have made s delicious Blueberry Jalapeno. Once again a trip to March Farm to pick our Blueberries fresh off the Blueberry bushes started us off. Three batches later and we came up with a great tasting jam that has a very dramatic color while it is cooking and really hits the spot. It has great Blueberry flavor to start with and the Jalapeno’s gently warm your taste buds in the back end. It’s going to be available only through ourselves when we are selling at events throughout the year. When they are gone they are gone until next year and we will make some again.
The weather has been kind to us through July at the weekends and all of the events that we have attended have been dry. The Rhinebeck balloon festival in New York was a wonderful event and we were very well received by those who attended. The festival had a great atmosphere and is set in the Dutchess Fairgrounds which are the nicest kept fairgrounds I think we have ever attended. Well worth a visit for next year.
Next up was the CT Summer Food Truck Festival in Naugatuck. For such a small in town event we sold a lot of jam surprisingly. If you love food truck food this place is well worth a visit next year and it’s free to get in too.
Our favorite event this month has to be the CT Wine Festival at the Goshen Fairgrounds. We met so many wonderful people to talk to and have a real laugh with especially later on in the days once a couple of glasses of wine had been consumed. We did really well at the event and will be looking forward to next years without a doubt.
In other news we have added 2 more stores to our wholesale list. This takes us up to 28 stores in total.
Bristol’s Farm in Canton CT have agreed to stock our jams and we got a call from the Shelton Big Y store manager ordering 7 cases of jam (all seven of our regular flavors) for the first time. We love those types of phone calls.
We have an exciting announcement to make next month which will see our jams available in another supermarket chain. This is another great breakthrough and a small step further to where we want to be in the marketplace.