A Blue Chair Fruit Valentine!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner -- and we've gathered our tastiest preserves and favorite lovey-dovey fruit puns into a thoughtful and whimsical Valentine's Day Trio!

3Pack Jars A Blue Chair Fruit Valentine!

Also included to sweeten the deal is a Valentine's Day book-card, "The Fruits of Our Love," hand designed by Blue Chair Fruit's Kate! This little card elucidates your love for your Valentine, employing romantic fruit witticisms highlighting each included flavor, of course! Each Valentine's Day Trio arrives with this card in its own red envelope, tied on with a blue bow; we've even stamped a petite red heart onto our signature blue chair wrapping paper.

3Pack Card A Blue Chair Fruit Valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Blue Chair Fruit team!

New Summery Flavors!

Alright, time for us to fess up: We've been a bit sneaky and squirreled away two of our favorite summer flavors to enjoy during the winter. Curious about what they are?

New Flavor: Apricot-Orange Jam

Apricot Orange Jam New Summery Flavors!

Our thoroughly luscious Apricot-Orange Jam, full of this beloved summer fruit, finds its effervescent sunny flavor highlighted by slender slices of orange rind. A true delight on toast or in a PBJ, or used as a pork glaze if you're feeling intrepid.

New Flavor: White Cherry Marmalade

White Cherry Marmalade New Summery Flavors!

Yowza, eating this marmalade is like tossing a handful of confetti into your morning! Our White Cherry Marmalade is full of itty bitty lemon rinds, which contrast beautifully with the rotund whole cherries throughout. A dash of almond extract accentuates the springy, warm flavor of this summer marmalade!

Bring Apricot-Orange Jam and White Cherry Marmalade home!

Give the Gift of Jam!

With the holidays upon us, we'd love to recommend the perfect gift: a membership to the Blue Chair Fruit Jam Club!

Members of the Jam Club receive shipments of 3 surprise flavors every other month; these flavors are frequently brand-new flavors not yet available to the public or small batches that may never show up anywhere else!

Last month's Jam Club members received one jar each of: Provencale Tomato-White Nectarine Jam, Rosemary-Damson Jam, Blood Orange-Chestnut Honey Marmalade with Rosemary.

Whether you're not sure which flavors to pick for your loved one or you know they have a voracious appetite for jam, our Jam Club is sure to please! Sign up for the Jam Club here.

Tom Marm Square Give the Gift of Jam!Damsons Square Give the Gift of Jam!Eng Marm Square1 150x150 Give the Gift of Jam!

A New Morning Toast 2-Pack!

The seasons are changing, and so are our jam cravings! We find ourselves lusting after a heartier jam and marmalade come autumn, and we've got a new Morning Toast 2-Pack to reflect our new favorites:

Morning Toast Holidays 2011a 495x371 A New Morning Toast 2 Pack!

We love the rich, tart flavor of Damson Jam on toast (or stirred into yogurt), and our Orange-Kumquat Marmalade is a sweet marmalade with just enough kick to shake off a cold winter morning. Plus, these two jars are available at a special price. Yum!

Eat Real Fest Recap

WOW, we had such a blast at the Eat Real Festival this year! We teamed up with some favorite local artisans and put our jam in some pretty yummy situations. Curious about the appearances our jams made? We're glad you asked!

ERF triptych Eat Real Fest Recap
1. Our lovely jam stand where we were sampling all of our ERF flavors! We met some great new friends and had a blast talking jam all day.

2. Saturday's Craft Collaboration with Starter Bakery. Yep, that's our Blood Orange-Hibiscus Marmalade and Meyer Lemon-Blood Orange Marmalade with Rose Geranium in two different Kouign Aman.

3. Sunday's Craft Collaboration with Mike the Bejkr. Three different breads, three different jams. Kamut bread with Early Girl Tomato Jam. Farro Bread with Peacotum Jam. Pain Biologique with Strawberry-Pluot Jam. To say Mike's bread is our favorite is an understatement!

Other fun things we did: Rachel gave a stone fruit talk with Fran of Blossom Bluff and Michele Polzine, and served our Damson Jam spooned over peach ice cream. And our marmalade was incorporated into a yummy cocktail!

Can't wait until next year!

The Best of California

California is made for fruit lovers -- a long growing season, moderate temperatures through winter, and a brigade of farmers and gardeners committed to nurturing heirloom fruit varieties.

Here at Blue Chair Fruit, our greatest joy is celebrating California produce by taking fruit at the peak of its season and preserving it to enjoy throughout the year. And we want to share our favorite California flavors with you!

3Pack Wide The Best of California

Our California Preserves 3-Pack contains one jar each of:

  • Olallieberry Jam, made from our favorite regional blackberries
  • Meyer Lemon-Blood Orange Marmalade, highlighting the unique flavor of Meyer lemons
  • Yvette's Plum Jam, our love song to our friend Yvette's perfect backyard plums

We hope you love these special California fruits as much as we do!

Jam and Toast: A Perfect Match

In case you haven't gathered, we're big fans of jam and toast here at Blue Chair Fruit.

To fuel your obsession, we're offering a special Morning Toast 2-Pack containing a jar each of our two favorite flavors. This limited-edition set will be available until a new "favorite flavor" comes along (translation: about a month).

Toast Post July Jam and Toast: A Perfect Match

Curious about our favorite ways to enjoy our morning toast? Here's what the BCF team has to say:

Jamie: "Apple-Meyer Lemon Marmalade with butter on Acme's Pain de Mie. With coffee. Perfect when friends are in town!"

Luz: "Bergamot Marmalade on toasted raisin bread with a lot of butter, and sips of saffron & honey tea just for decadence's sake."

Rachel: "Levain with almond-hazelnut butter and Rhubarb Jam with Plums & Ginger. Plus Kusmi Tea's Troika."

Jo: "Olallieberry Jam and foie gras mousse from Fabrique Delices on orange zest scented brioche -- with spicy black pepper chai with a smidge of Katz (black button sage) honey and splash of Strauss milk." What Jo only mentioned later is that she pipes on the foie gras, because her brioche is SO delicate. Baroque, indeed!

Kate: "Olallieberry Jam. On the tiny toasts you see above, because then my jam-to-toast ratio is about 1:1. And I MUST have my morning cup of Kusmi's Bourbon Vanilla Tea."

Do we know how to enjoy our breakfast or WHAT?
What's your favorite jam-and-toast indulgence?

 

Punk Domestics & BCF Food Preservation Swap!

Hey, Bay Area jammers! Join Punk Domestics and Blue Chair Fruit for a Bay Area food swap, plus the chance to show off what you've got and meet other local preservation geeks. Hey, Bay Area jammers!

Eventbrite Final Punk Domestics & BCF Food Preservation Swap!

On Friday July 15, we'll be gathering at the Blue Chair Fruit kitchens to sample each other's wares and chat preservation with local amateurs and professionals alike. Best of all, the event will culminate in a DIY food exchange, but with a catch: It's a free-market exchange. Want that bottle of limoncello? It might cost you three jars of blueberry jam. Or vice versa. You negotiate the value between each other. It all comes down to what the market bears.

Come on down -- the party starts at 6pm. You'll want to arrive right on time so you get a chance to try everything. All manner of preserved food is welcome: jams and jellies, liqueurs, charcuterie, homemade cheese, pickles, or anything else you've spent time preserving!

Please bring as much of your favorite preserved item(s) as you want to trade (including serving utensils), plus enough to share with other guests. Gotta get 'em hooked with a free sample first, of course.

*The BCF kitchen's entrance is on 47th St. and there should be ample street parking. Alternately, we're a short walk from MacArthur BART!*

RSVP Already!

P.S. Unsure what to make between now and then? Check out Punk Domestics for all kinds of inspiration: they've got everything from pickle recipes to tips on making cheese at home!

A Bourbon’d Father’s Day

Here's what your dad wants for Father's Day: Jam. And marmalade. And bourbon.

Fathers Day Bourbon A Bourbond Fathers Day

Our Father's Day Bourbon Two-Pack is just the ticket! This power combo of our Spiced Bourbon-Tomato Conserve and Bourbon'd Lemon Marmalade offers the manliest preserves we have. Talk about a killer breakfast!

Why give your dad a tie or power tools when you can give the gift of tasty food? Our Spiced-Bourbon Tomato Conserve is the secret ingredient for an awesome grilled cheese or BLT, and Bourbon'd Lemon Marmalade is like a whiskey sour, but better because it spreads on toast!

We can guarantee Father's Day delivery if we receive your order by 3PM PST this Wednesday, June 13, when you select USPS Priority shipping!

Is your dad a true jam fiend? He might like: A 6-Month Jam Club membership, our Marmalade Lover's Gift Pack, or a Mauviel copper jam pan to make his own preserves!

3 Classic Jam Pairings

The most frequent questions we receive (other than "What's the difference between jam and marmalade?") are from people wondering how one enjoys jam or marmalade other than on toast -- or maybe on scones at teatime. While there is surely no better start to the morning than your favorite jam on toast, preserves have myriad applications beyond bread or baked goods!

How to Enjoy Jam in a Healthy Breakfast

Morning oatmeal is a fiber-filled way to begin the day. We've come to love our morning oatmeal with a generous helping of our Cranberry Jam with Pluots & Vanilla. Whole cranberries add a delightful tartness to this wholesome breakfast, while pluots help add a bit of necessary sweetness. While this combination is fantastic with steel-cut oats, it's a fantastic way to take quick-cook oats from so-so to stellar.

Oatmeal CranPluot Wide 3 Classic Jam Pairings

Why Jam Has Its Place at Lunchtime

Who says jam needs to have only sweet applications? One of our favorite lunches is a grilled cheese sandwich -- with Spiced Bourbon-Tomato Conserve. Tomatoes add a bit of sweetness to complement your favorite cheese (we love a nice sharp cheddar), and the added candied ginger in this conserve brings a bit of surprise. An easy way to take your sandwich to an entirely different level!

Grilled Cheese BT Wide 3 Classic Jam Pairings

How to Make a Quick and Easy Jam Dessert

Rachel in particular really loves this next one: tasty toast with a smear of ricotta and a dollop (or two) of Strawberry-Rose Jam. Add a few twists of black pepper and you have a light, sophisticated snack. YUM.

Ricotta StrawRose 3 Classic Jam Pairings

What unique and non-traditional jam or marmalade pairings have you been enjoying lately?