In an effort to get caught up on all the back-blogging there is to do (I know, I promised I wouldn’t get behind this year, my bad), I’m bringing both May and June’s Jelly of the Month Club posts as a single entry. To be honest, we didn’t eat May’s jelly until June anyway (but we bought it in time for May, so it still counts!)
May’s Jelly of the Month is one of our delicious finds from California. Each night at the hotel where we stay in SLO, Avila La Fonda, there is a magical event called Pie Time. From 8pm until the pie runs out, you can enjoy locally-made pie and wine, as well as ice cream and coffee. One of the best kinds of pie we had this year was olallieberry pie.
What’s an olallieberry? Well, it’s a cross of two kinds of beries: loganberry and youngberry. And a loganberry is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry, while a youngberry is a cross between a blackberry and a dewberry. (And a dewberry is somewhere between a blackberry and a raspberry.) Confused yet?
All you really need to know is that olallieberries are totally delicious. They are kind of tart and juicy and sweet all at the same time. We bought this jar of Mama’s Preserves Olallieberry Preserves at the San Luis Obispo Farmers’ Market. Mama’s Preserves is local to the San Luis Obispo area, based out of Arrroyo Grande.
The olallieberry preserves were just right all around. They were great with the peanut butter crackers, and perfect with the English muffin. To me, the olallieberry jam makes a snack taste more like a dessert. I’m looking forward to using it in a cherry tart recipe later this week.
And of course, the littlest jelly judge loved it as well!
Miss Lucy was persistent in getting to the very bottom of the spoon for all that jam!
color: 5
flavor: 5
jelly-ness: 5
bottle presentation: 3.5 (very simple, homemade-on-a-local-farm presentation)
awesomeness: 5
Mama’s Preserves olallieberry is probably one of my favorite jellies of all time. (Bonus: even if you don’t live in or visit Central Coast, CA, you can order their jellies online!)
June’s Jelly of the Month came from Whole Foods. This is apricot jelly from Casa Giulia, an Italian company that makes jams, marmalades, pasta, and tomato sauces.
The apricot jam is very light and refreshing, both in color and taste. However, since it *is* such a light flavor, it’s a little too delicate for a peanut butter pairing. This was a great topping for an English muffin, but the taste of the apricot got a little lost in the peanut butter, and I wouldn’t recommend it being served that way.
It is good enough to beg for.
And it’s just fine if you prefer to wear it on your nose.
color: 4
flavor: 3.5
jelly-ness: 3.5
bottle presentation: 4
awesomeness: 3.5
Have a great holiday weekend everyone! More posts coming as we catch up on Achievements passed, so check back for more!