Blog Posts

Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Peaches & Cream

Thursday, June 8, 2023

Active Time: 30 mins, Total Time: 5 hrs, Yield: 10

Ingredients: 

Directions:

Icy Lemon-Ginger Vodka Cocktails

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Total Time: 20 mins, Yield: 8 drinks 

These slushy, potent cocktails are easy to make in batches. They're also ideal for parties because most of the preparation can be done in advance. 

Ingredients: 

Directions:

Make Ahead: The lemon-Ginger Zucchini Marmalade mixture can be frozen for up to 1 week.

Preserving Traditions: Exploring Different Preserve Types & Techniques

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

~3 Minutes Reading Time

12 Different Types of Preserves

Preserves come in various forms, each with its own unique characteristics and flavors. Understanding the distinctions between these delicious spreads can help you choose the perfect one for your palate. Here are the different types of preserves:

By understanding the characteristics of each type of preserve, you can explore a wide range of flavors & textures to find your personal favorites. Whether you prefer the chunkiness of preserves or the firmness of jellies, there's a delightful preserve waiting for you!

Eggplant Cinnamon Jam and Walnut Rugelach with Tahini Glaze

Monday, May 15, 2023

Active Time: 1 hrs 30 mins, Total Time: 6 hrs 25 mins, Yield: 36 cookies 

Ingredients: 

Dough 

Eggplant and Walnut Filling 

Additional Ingredients 

Tahini Glaze 

Directions: 

Notes: If date syrup is not available, substitute 2 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. 

If the dough has chilled for more than a few hours, test to see if it will crack when rolled out. If it cracks, let the dough stand for 10 to 20 minutes until it can be smoothly rolled out. Do not let the dough warm up to room temperature. 

To Make Ahead: Dough and walnut Eggplant Cinnamon filling may be made 1 day ahead of time. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and place the filling in an airtight container; store in the refrigerator. Tahini glaze can be made 1 day in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. Let glaze come to room temperature, and stir well, adding boiling water by the teaspoon as needed for desired consistency.

13 Cheese & Preserve Pairings

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Slow Cooker Root Beer BBQ Pork Ribs

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Serves: 4, Prep Time: 10 Minutes, Cook Time: 6 Hours, Total Time: 6 Hours, 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

Directions:

Pro tip: For charred bits that will add a smoky flavor and make it seem as though the ribs came fresh off the grill, brush the ribs with sauce and place them under the broiler for just a few minutes instead of placing them back into the slow cooker.

Pesto-and-Cheese-Stuffed Brioche Scrolls with Bacon-Tomato Jam

Friday, April 21, 2023

Ingredients: 

Directions: 

Make Ahead: Brioche dough base can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 16 hrs. 

Note: Scrolls are best served warm. To reheat, warm at 300°F for 5 mins before topping with bacon jam & garnishing.

Stone Fruit and Cheese Pasteles

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Active Time: 1 hrs, Total Time: 8 hrs, Servings: 8 

Ingredients: 

Directions: 

Champagne Glazed Ham

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Great for Christmas or Easter, this ham is so simple to make and has a great glaze made with our Champagne Jelly.

Makes: 18 servings, Active Time: 20 minutes, Total Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

6 pounds semi-boneless smoked ham half

5 oz of Champagne Jelly

1 tablespoon Apple Cider Jelly

Directions:

Cheddar Cheese Coins

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Ingredients: 

Directions: 

Make Ahead: Cheese coin logs can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month. Let thaw in the refrigerator overnight (12 hours) before slicing and baking. Baked coins may be stored in an airtight container with 1 bread slice (to help keep coins from going stale) at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

Variations: 

Green Chile and Cornmeal Coins:

In step 1, prepare the recipe as directed, substituting cornstarch with 2 tablespoons fine yellow cornmeal and dry mustard with 1 tablespoon Hatch green chile powder (such as Desert Provisions). When adding water to the butter mixture, add 1 teaspoon of Habanero Jelly with the first addition of water. Proceed with the recipe as directed. 

Benne and Black Pepper Coins 

Bacon-Cheddar Cheese Coins 

In step 1, reduce the salt amount to 1/2 teaspoon and add 3 to 4 tablespoons of Bourbon Bacon Jam to the cheese mixture with the first addition of butter. Proceed with the recipe as directed.

Monkey Butter Challah Fritters with Sweet Tahini Sauce

Monday, March 20, 2023

Active Time: 55 mins, Total Time: 55 mins, Servings: 12 

Ingredients: 

Fritters: 

Sauce: 

Additional Ingredients: 

Directions: 

Make in Advance: Fritters may be made up to 1 day in advance; store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Place in a 250°F oven until heated through before serving. The Sweet Tahini Sauce may be made up to 2 days in advance without silan; store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Orange-Cardamom Marmalade Morning Buns

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Active Time: 45 mins, Chill Time: 8 hrs, Total Time: 10 hrs 20 mins, Servings: 12

Ingredients:

Dough

Filling

Directions:

Skewered Shrimp and Ham with Apple Jelly

Saturday, March 4, 2023

Total Time: 50 mins, Yield: 45 pieces

Ingredients:

Directions:

Cherry Cheesecake Dip

Friday, February 24, 2023

Total Time: 5 minutes, Servings: 10 servings

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Sacher Torte Cookies

Thursday, February 16, 2023

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 20 min., Bake: 15 min./batch + cooling, YIELD: about 2-1/2 dozen.

Ingredients:

GLAZE:

Directions:

Cherry Bakewell Cookies

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

YIELDS: 24, PREP TIME: 15 mins, TOTAL TIME: 2.5 hours

Ingredients:

COOKIES-

ICING-

Directions:

COOKIES

ICING: In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar and milk until combined.

6. Using a spoon or a small squeeze bottle, drizzle icing on top of the cooled cookies.

Pineapple Star Cookies

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 25 min. + chilling, Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling, YIELD: 2 dozen.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Austrian Nut Cookies

Monday, January 23, 2023

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 30 min. + chilling, Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling, YIELD: 10 sandwich cookies.

Ingredients:

FROSTING:

Directions:

Marmalade Thumbprint Cookies

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Time: About 1 hour

INGREDIENTS: 

-1/2 lb unsalted butter, 2 sticks

-2/3 cup granulated sugar

-2 large egg yolks

-The seeds from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla extract

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1/2 cup Orange Cinnamon Marmalade

-2/3 cup confectioners sugar

-milk or cream to thin

INSTRUCTIONS:

Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, Servings: 8 

The tradition is to serve all of the rice pudding and whoever gets the whole almond wins a prize. If you're the one who finds the almond you're supposed to tuck it in your cheek or hide it so no one knows it's been found. That way everyone is forced to eat all the rice pudding in the entire house thinking the almond might still be available to be found.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Note: If you simmer your rice and milk mixture too long it'll get very stiff and solid after it has cooled. This is normal, just add a bit of milk to loosen it up if you want, but the whipping cream will do all the loosening you need really. This is all done to taste. If you like a sweeter rice pudding, add more sugar. Ditto for the Scotch Bonnet Cherry Jelly.

Pull Apart Baked Cranberry Brie Bread Bowl

Friday, December 30, 2022

Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 20 minutes, Total Time: 25 minutes, Servings: 6 

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Eggnog Panna Cotta with Cranberry Preserves

Thursday, December 22, 2022

PREP TIME: 25 mins, COOK TIME: 10 mins, CHILL TIME: 2 hrs, TOTAL TIME: 2 hrs 35 mins

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mincemeat, Marzipan, and Apple Bread Wreath

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cook Time: 30 minutes, Rising Time: 2 hours, Serving: 10 people

Ingredients:

Dough:

Filling:

Instructions:

Cranberry Pepper Jelly Dip

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Ingredients:

Instructions:

25 Grown-Up Versions of Peanut Butter & Jelly

Monday, November 28, 2022

>6 Minutes Reading Time

Waste Reduction Strategy

Sunday, November 20, 2022

4 Minutes Reading Time

Conservation has always been a passion of mine, so I looked into ways I could affect change on a larger scale, especially through the manufacturing process. I made a conscious effort to choose glass jars despite plastic containers being cheaper, not breaking as easily, & are lighter for shipping because glass is sustainable, can be reused forever, repurposed, & easily recycled. I knew I wanted to encourage my customers to join my efforts so I offer 10% off their next jar if they returned an empty glass jar or showed me how they’re repurposing it.

Similarly, from the start using ugly produce has been at the core of my business model. Food waste is huge. I read that the UN Food & Agriculture Organization estimates a 1/3rd of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted globally, which is about 1.3 billion tons per year. I see it as an injustice to the people who lack access to food. There’s no reason to go hungry in the 21st century. Food & water waste happens in every step of the process from growing, transporting, processing, & selling which likewise impacts the use of our croplands, fertilizer utilization, labor, energy, & greenhouse gases. Markets have conditioned people to look for perfect produce & will avoid anything that doesn’t measure up to specific appearance standards. However, the growing process is far from perfect with uncontrollable weather, temperature, & soil conditions. This is where the B-grade, ugly produce comes in. Farmers can’t sell those imperfect goods to the general market, but as far as we’re concerned like most things in life, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. We’re going to lovingly cut, crush, & blend the fresh delicious produce to be cooked into jam, so misshapen appearances, bruises, & discolorations do not matter. The farmers still make a living & nothing goes to waste. It’s all about small changes from contentious individuals making a difference in global issues. 3) Please give me a couple of examples of ways that you reduce waste in your manufacturing process. Which ones work the best? Do you feel there are any trade-offs? Can you quantify how much waste you're saving?

We are mindful of our storage & cooling facilities so that nothing spoils under our watch. We have an efficient inventory management system to trace raw materials & components throughout procurement, production, & sales. We keep close track of our inventory, our system processes, & the supply chain to ensure we have the right quantities for the correct timing & to be sure that we can locate & move stock faster. If it does look like our fruits & vegetables are ripening too quickly, we cut, label, & freeze them for future use. Everything we produce for our regular line of preserves is freshly made, but we’ll be asked for special orders of things that aren’t in season & that’s when we let our customers know that we can do a just-in-time limited run for them with the produce we had stored away at the peak season that way nothing goes to waste.

One of the reasons we use the small-batch approach is to create less waste through quality control because an error or defect is caught immediately & the problem can be fixed before it affects other parts, moreover minimizing the expenditure of time, money, effort, & overproduction. Plus, we have made some recipe modifications to cut down on as much waste as possible. We have a variety of seasonal apple jams, jellies, chutneys, & butter so we were having a great deal of peels we didn’t want to waste. We tested a bunch of recipes & came up with what we initially called Scapple Jelly where we made juice from the peels & turned it into jelly. The name didn’t stick, but the jelly did & it became one of our best sellers. Furthermore, instead of buying pectin try to get it from our apple & citrus peels. We aren’t at the stage of having our own organic farm yet, but we do have little gardens at home so we compost the green food waste that can’t be repurposed & use it to grow our community gardens. Additionally, have started looking into waste exchange programs with local farmers to use our produce scraps to help feed their pigs, goats, & chickens.

In addition, there are some little things we do to reduce waste as well as such as print on both sides of the paper to reduce paper wastage, use recycled paper for our letterhead, email as often as we can, use a dishcloth instead of paper towels in the kitchen, avoid buying items that are over-packaged with foil, paper, & plastic & buy products in bulk to reduce excess packaging, purchase durable goods that are well-built & carry good warranties, & gently use, maintain, & repair as much as we can versus harshly using & immediately replacing equipment. We use energy-efficient light bulbs & appliances. We try to standardize as much as possible. We ask our major suppliers to cut down on packaging to only what is absolutely necessary. When we ship our preserves, we use air packs & as many recycled materials as possible for our cardboard packaging & at events, we give inexpensive canvas or jute tote bags instead of plastic bags to our customers. We have recycling bins set up throughout the premises & as part of our event booths. We reuse & repurpose wooden pallets.

We strive to properly layout, label, & organize to reduce wasted time. Our workflows, standard operating procedures, & training help with that as well. We monitor, audit, & adapt.

The final thing we hate to waste is the time & creativity of the people who work with us. We ensure everyone is seen & heard & all opinions & suggestions are taken equally into consideration regardless of their position or time with us. We encourage open communication, transparency, respect, & honesty & reward & publicize their efforts & ideas.

Coronation Chicken

Saturday, November 12, 2022

A salad fit for a king! This recipe was inspired by the original, which was made for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation luncheon in 1953. Studded with dried apricots & toasted almonds, the salad is finished with a curry cream sauce. It's sweet, crunchy, savory, & has a hint of spice — & perfect to serve over lettuce or between bread for a satisfying sandwich.

Total: 55 min (includes cooling time) Active: 25 min Yield: 8 cups

Ingredients: 

Directions: 

Cook’s Note: Rather than dispose of the poaching liquid, reuse it! The liquid is a bit thinner than regular broth but still has plenty of flavors. Use it to cook rice or quinoa or to make a delicately flavored soup.

Salt-and-Pepper Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Margarita Preserves

Friday, November 4, 2022

Active: 1 hr, Total: 1 hr 30 mins, Yield: Makes 18 sandwiches

Ingredients:

Directions:

Make-Ahead: The salt-and-pepper cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Halloween Sugar Cookie Pizza

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Take a page out of Food & Wine Magazine by making their Halloween Sugar Cookie Pizza using our Strawberry Margarita Preserves www.foodandwine.com/recipes/halloween-sugar-cookie-pizza This is a playful riff on the classic margarita pizza, made with a crisp sugar cookie “crust,” Strawberry Margarita Preserves, & marshmallows. This would also be terrific with a peanut butter cookie crust.

Active: 30 mins, Total: 1 hr 10 mins, Yield: 8

Ingredients-

Directions-

Make-Ahead: The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Strawberry Crème Fraîche Biscuits

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Active: 35 mins, Total: 1 hr 35 mins, Yield: 12

Ingredients:

BISCUITS:

WHIPPED Crème Fraîche:

Directions:

Our 10 Core Values

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

~4 minutes reading time

1. Produce the highest quality all-natural and organic preserves

We create preserves with all-natural ingredients; you can trust they are free from corn syrup, preservatives, artificial flavors, colors, and additives, and are also gluten-free, fat-free, sodium-free, and dairy-free with almost all flavors except one being Kosher, Halal, Ital, and vegan. We partner with farmers and suppliers and carefully vet their produce to make sure they meet our high standards by researching ingredients, reading labels, and auditing sourcing practices all to make the highest quality all-natural, and organic preserves for you. Remember, if it doesn’t meet our standards, we don’t sell it. A focus on fresh food, thinking, and innovation makes us better at serving our customers.

2. Delight our customers with our quality and consistency

We strive to meet or exceed our customer’s expectations in every shopping experience by providing good food to good people. We deliver outstanding customer service through our knowledge, skill, enthusiasm, and operational excellence. We source our seasonal ingredients locally to bring fresh, tropical, and unique delights, straight farm-to-table, small-batch goodness using our multicultural family recipes to your family. We cater to special needs including organic, kosher, vegan, and gluten-free. We continually experiment and innovate to offer a better customer experience. We create environments that are inviting, fun, unique, comfortable, attractive, nurturing, and educational. We want our preserves to be in the center of community meeting places where people can join their friends and make new ones. “Customers don’t need us, we need them,” so focus on them and thrive by meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations.

3. Promote team member growth and happiness

Our success is dependent upon the collective energy, intelligence, and contributions of all our team. We design and provide safe and empowering environments where highly motivated people can flourish and reach their highest potential. We strive to build positive and healthy relationships. "Us versus them" thinking has no place in our company. We earn trust through transparent communication, open-door policies, and inclusive people practices. We appreciate and recognize the good work that our fellow team members do every day. Everyone is seen, heard, and taken into consideration. We aim to help and serve people by improving the quality of life for others, individuals, and society. We value the importance of fun, family, and community involvement to encourage a rich, meaningful, and balanced life. We believe in treating each other with dignity and respect.

4. Form win-win partnerships with our farmers

We are part of an interdependent ecosystem. There are dozens of farmers we depend on to create an outstanding preserve and in turn a wonderful shopping experience for our customers. We view them as allies and treat them with respect, fairness, and integrity, expecting the same in return. We listen compassionately, we think carefully, and we always seek win-win relationships with everyone. By relying on these local farmers for seasonal, ugly produce we help reduce waste, cut transportation time keeping the fruit fresher & healthier for longer, and reduce our carbon emissions. Our vision is to create a better world by employing fair economic and labor practices, promoting and incentivizing recycling, reusing, and reducing, and donating 10% to cancer research making a healthier world around us.

5. Care about our community and the environment

We serve and support a local experience, and practice and advance environmental stewardship. We employ women, minorities, and people with disabilities to create quality preserves. We make a commitment to sustainability and to acting in an environmentally friendly way. We made a conscious effort to choose glass jars despite plastic containers being cheaper, not breaking as easily, and lighter for shipping because glass is sustainable, can be reused forever, repurposed, and easily recycled. We want to encourage our customers to join our efforts by offering 10% off their next jar if they returned an empty glass jar or showed how they’re repurposing it. Food and water waste happens in every step of the process from growing, transporting, processing, and selling which likewise impacts the use of our croplands, fertilizer utilization, labor, energy, and greenhouse gases. Markets have conditioned people to look for perfect produce and will avoid anything that doesn’t measure up to specific appearance standards. However, the growing process is far from perfect with uncontrollable weather, temperature, and soil conditions. This is where the B-grade, ugly produce comes in. Farmers can’t sell those imperfect goods to the general market, but as far as we’re concerned like most things in life, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. We’re going to lovingly cut, crush, and blend the fresh delicious produce to be cooked into jam, so misshapen appearances, bruises, and discolorations do not matter. The farmers still make a living and nothing goes to waste. It’s all about small changes from contentious individuals making a difference in global issues.

6. Help preserve lives through donations to cancer research

The name JP's Delights is for my dad, John-Paul, who inspired me to follow my dreams. Unfortunately, he passed away 2 months before the initial start of JP's Delights after an 11-month battle with stage 4 esophageal cancer. This is my motivation for donating 10% towards esophageal cancer research.

7. Inspire adventure

Be adventurous, creative, and open-minded while perusing growth and learning. It’s fine to make mistakes as long are you learn from them and leave room for growth. No one has all the answers, so go out there and look for them; explore.

8. Innovate transparently with playful creativity

Share information and ideas freely, ensuring that others can benefit from the things we learn through failures and successes. Be curious and come up with new ideas. We embrace diversity by acknowledging that different perspectives are needed to fuel creativity and innovation.

9. Ownership

We are the owners of our actions and decisions. Treat the company as if one were a founder.

10. Create fun and a little weirdness

How do these values shape culture?

Core values directly impact the organization's culture as they lead the attitude and united behavior of the sense of community. They inspire, motivate, give purpose, and guide communication, decisions, branding, strategies, customer service, and innovation. People will usually be most comfortable working in a business that has a corporate culture that reflects their own personal values. They will be more likely to be satisfied and engaged with the company, increasing overall performance and giving the organization a competitive advantage. It helps with creativity, motivation, efficiency, and productivity. Core values can boost brand perception and help to build trust in a business. They attract the people you want and set a unified, guiding framework for hiring people, a code of conduct, and handling human resources. It’s something that can differentiate one organization from others. Teams need a shared code, vision, identity, ethos, and company culture otherwise they will evolve on their own, potentially in ways that hurt the organization.

Sensational Strawberry Sorbet

Monday, October 3, 2022

Makes almost 3 cups

Ingredients:

Directions:

7 Jarcuterie Ideas

Sunday, September 25, 2022

1. The JALAPEÑO POPPER Platter

For those who like it hot. It’s no surprise this appetizer is a timeless favorite: Cream cheese is just the cool, rich match for spicy jalapeños. https://www.jpsdelights.com/blog-posts/recipes-ideas#h.p_khFBVgrg5c0h 

INSTRUCTIONS:


2. The ITALIAN DELI Platter in a Jar

When it comes to cheese boards, prosciutto is the best for a reason. It’s sweet, salty, and goes beautifully with soft and hard cheeses alike. Here, we pair it with Italian cheeses and other antipasto favorites.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Slice provolone and pecorino Romano however you’d like (cubes, slices, triangles—you name it). Take a few slices of prosciutto and roll each one into a cylinder-like shape so it can stand up straight in the jar. Skewer pepperoncini and roasted red peppers on toothpicks. Fill the bottom of the jar with pieces of crusty Italian bread (or prop a piece on the rim of the jar). Fill in the rest of the jar with the skewered ingredients and cheese.


3. The TACO TUESDAY Platter

If you really want to wow your guests, look no further than this Mexican-inspired number that boasts tiny versions of your favorite handhelds. Fair warning: You just might want to make a double batch, because odds are everyone will want seconds.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Start by making or buying a batch of mini empanadas. While they bake, fill the try with tortilla chips. Then, take either a cut piece of a full-size corncob or a few baby corn cobs and grill them. (You can also just lightly brown them in a grill pan or skillet on the stove.) Roll them in queso fresco crumbles and top them with cilantro, spices like chile powder or Tajín, and a spritz of lime, and skewer them to create a mini elote. Top the tortilla chips with fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, and queso fresco. Finally, prop the empanada and corn skewers up in the jar.


4. The PIZZA NIGHT Platter in a Jar

Your kids will be psyched to see their favorite dinner’s latest glow-up. Think of this as a deconstructed pizza in a jar, plus a few bonus snacks.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place a small cup of warm marinara or pesto at the bottom of each jar for dipping. Make or buy a few mini garlic knots and skewer them. Make a few bocconcini (aka fresh pearl mozzarella) skewers as well. Stand the skewers up in the jar alongside mozzarella cheese sticks, pepperoni sticks and thin, crispy breadsticks.


5. The GREEK Platter in a Jar

Dress Feta up with other Mediterranean favorites for a charcuterie that doubles as dinner.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fill a small cup with tzatziki and place it at the bottom of the jar for dipping. Make a batch of Greek lemon chicken or gyro meat skewers. Slice a slab of feta, as well as some thin, long cucumber sticks. Stand the skewers, cheese and cucumber up vertically in the jar, along with pitted kalamata olives stacked on toothpicks. Toast some pita points, spread them with hummus and nestle them in the jar, or cut a slit in each and stick them on the jar’s rim.


6. The BRUNCH Platter

Psst: We know what you’re cooking Sunday morning. This recipe calls on a handful of breakfast essentials and assembles them in a fun way that’s impressive enough to serve to company. (Pro tip: Keep the cooked waffles/French toast sticks and scrambled eggs on a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven until you’re ready to assemble and serve, so they don’t get cold.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Whip up a batch of French toast sticks or cinnamon-sugar waffle quarters (or buy the premade, frozen kind—we won’t tell!). Stand them up in the jar, with or without skewers. Make scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar and put a layer on the board. Fry a few slices of bacon; while they cook, assemble fruit kebabs with produce of your choice. Lay the bacon alongside the fruit. If you’re feeling extra, finish it off with a mini biscuit spread with preserves.


7. The CANDY LAND Platter in a Jar

Our favorite thing about jarcuterie is that cheese and meat don’t need to be included. You can go ham with just about any ingredients you can think of, from a pancake board to chocolate charcuterie. This dessert alternative is all about sweets. Might we suggest whipping these up before an epic movie marathon?

INSTRUCTIONS:

Add a layer of yogurt or chocolate-covered pretzels to the bottom of the jar. Next, add a layer of chocolate truffles or fun-sized chocolates. Cut up a few Rice Krispie Treats (feel free to use shaped cookie-cutters instead of just slicing them) and skewer them. Fold up a few Sour Strips or gummies and stick a skewer through them. Position all the skewers in the jar and fill the rest of the space with rock candy and lollipops.

Strawberry Amaranth Porridge with Cardamom

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Total: 20 mins, Yield: 2 to 4

Ingredients:

Directions:

Strawberry-Mango Paletas

Friday, September 9, 2022

Active: 30 mins, Total: 5 hrs 30 mins, Yield: 8 ice pops

Ingredients:

Directions:

Make-Ahead: The paletas can be covered and frozen in a single layer for up to 1 week.

Pink Grapefruit, Sparkling Wine, & Basil Granita

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Recipe:

Stilton Sirloin Burgers with Sweet & Spicy Double Onion Marmalade

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Total: 50 mins, Yield: 8 mini burgers

Ingredients:

Directions:

Light a grill. Generously season the sirloin with salt and pepper. Mix gently, then shape into eight 1-inch-thick patties; season again with salt and pepper. Grill the burgers, turning once until charred on the outside and pink within, about 3 minutes per side. Just before the burgers are done, top them with the Stilton. Transfer to a platter. Lightly grill the buns. Set the burgers on the buns. Top with the Sweet & Spicy Double Onion Marmalade and lettuce and serve.

Serve with sweet potato fries and a glass of bourbon.

Strawberry Tamales

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Active: 45 mins, Total: 2 hrs 45 mins, Yield: 8

Ingredients:

Directions:

Make-Ahead: The uncooked tamales can be frozen for 2 weeks; steam from frozen. The cooked tamales can be refrigerated for 2 days and rewarmed to serve.

Michelada Gingembre

Monday, August 8, 2022

Makes 1 Drink

Ingredients:

Directions: 

Fill a chilled pint glass halfway with ice.  Add the Sprite, lemon juice, Simple Syrup, ginger juice, hot sauce, Habanero Jelly, Meyer Lemon and Vanilla Marmalade, and Mountain Dew Jelly; stir well.  Add enough beer to fill the glass; top with the salt.  As you finish the drink, continue to pour

Frozen Strawberries-and-Cream Pops

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Active: 15 mins, Total: 6 hrs 35 mins, Yield: 10

Ingredients:

Directions:

Process milk, crème fraîche, heavy cream, honey, vanilla, and salt in a blender on medium-high speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds.

Divide Strawberry Margarita Preserves evenly among 10 (3-ounce) ice pop molds (about 1 tablespoon per mold). Divide cream mixture evenly among molds; stir gently to combine. Insert ice-pop sticks or food-safe craft sticks, and freeze until firm, about 6 hours or up to overnight.

Raspberry & Cherry Chipotle BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Total Time 7:20 - Prep 0:20 / Cook 7:00, 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS: 

Ribs

Dry Rub

Raspberry and Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce

PREPARATION:

Redhead in Bed

Friday, July 15, 2022

Total: 5 mins, Yield: 5 drinks

Ingredients:

Directions:

In a blender, combine Strawberry Margarita Preserves, vodka, ice, and puree.  Fill 5 collins glasses halfway with ice. Pour the cocktail into the glasses, top each with about 1 tablespoon of Riesling and serve.

Grilled Edible Cheeseboard

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Total: 1 hr 30 min, Active: 30 min, Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

Directions:

Grilled Strawberry-Avocado Toasts with Burrata

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Total: 45 mins, Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Directions:

Spicy Cherry Cordial

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Active: 30 mins, Total: 1 hr, Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients:

Directions:

Tips: Cherry cordial may be stored in resealable glass jars in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Orange Marmalade Martini

Monday, June 13, 2022

2 Servings 

Ingredients

Directions:

Red, Hot, & Cool Raspberries

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Active: 25 mins, Total: 50 mins, Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Directions:

Frozen Strawberry Custard with Lemon Curd Swirl

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Active: 1 hr 20 mins, Total: 4 hrs 30 mins, Yield: Makes 2 quarts

Ingredient:

Directions:

Make-Ahead: The custard can be frozen for up to 1 week.

Tartiflette

Friday, May 20, 2022

Active: 45 mins, Total: 2 hrs. 5 mins, Yield: 8

Ingredients:

Directions: 

Suggested Pairing: Dry, powerful Chablis.

Meyer Lemons

Monday, May 16, 2022

<2 Minutes Reading Time

Tree.com & I thought you might be interested in the resources we created to recognize a tree that has the best of both worlds thanks to its hybrid fruit, health benefits, & ornamental features: the Meyer lemon tree!

Here are a few fun facts to celebrate this unique source of citrus sweetness & encourage people to plant one on their own:

You can learn more here: https://www.trees.com/meyer-lemon-tree#fun-facts

https://www.trees.com/meyer-lemon-tree-organic#fun-facts

🍋 Don't forget to pick up some of our Meyer Lemon and Vanilla Marmalade to easily enjoy any time of the year.

🌞 It's tart Sunshine in a Jar! A lemon lover's paradise, intensely lemony & sweet. https://store.jpsdelights.com/products?store-page=Meyer-Lemon-and-Vanilla-Marmalade-p293530134

Smoked Cherry Bounce

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Active: 35 mins, Total: 2 hrs 40 mins, Yield: 26

Ingredient:

Directions:

Notes: Don’t rush this cordial; our testers found it drinkable after 2 months but exponentially smoother after 3 months.

Chocolate Part 6 of 6

Sunday, May 8, 2022

<3 Minutes Reading Time

131. Darker chocolates contain a higher percentage of cacao, whereas ones with lower percentages contain more milk products and sweeteners. The average milk chocolate bar can have as little as 10 percent of actual cocoa bean products, which is the minimum requirement for the FDA to consider a food a chocolate product.

132. For one of the most popular episodes of the series, titled "Job Switching," which is when Lucy works in a chocolate factory and things start running amuck on the conveyer belt, Lucille Ball heavily prepared for the episode before filming. She recruited a professional chocolate dipper, Amanda Milligan, to play the chocolatier beside her in the episode and taught her how to actually dip chocolate before filming came.

133. According to Smithsonian.com, M&M's are a common treat for astronauts to pack during their space endeavors. This is mainly because they are small, edible, but also fun for the astronauts to use as entertainment in zero gravity, according to the Smithsonian's reports.

134. The average chocolate bar contains insect fragments. The U.S Food and Drug Administration says “Anything more than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams of chocolate is rejected.”

135. A thief took $28 million worth of gems in 2007 after gaining the guard's trust at an Antwerp Bank by repeatedly offering them chocolate.

136. 1 in every 200 workers, or around 17,000 people in Belgium work in the production and promotion of chocolate.

137. One chocolate chip gives an adult enough food energy to walk 150 feet. Around 35 chocolate chips are enough for a mile or 875,000 chips would take them around the world.

138. The biggest chocolate sculpture ever made was a 10-foot-high Easter egg weighing 4,484 lbs (2,034 kg) in Melbourne, Australia.

139. In 1991, a chocolate model ship was made in Barcelona measuring approximately 42.5ft long, 28ft tall, and 8ft wide.

140. The largest chocolate ever made was in the Netherlands; the chocolate marzipan took 3 days and weighed 4,078 lbs (1,850 kg).

141. The largest cuckoo clock made of chocolate can be found in Germany

142. Japanese women give chocolate hearts to their loved ones on February 14th. The men a month later return the gesture on “Howaito” white day.

143. In the original Psycho film, the blood in the famous shower scene was actually chocolate syrup.

144. Blue packaged chocolate doesn’t sell in Shanghai or Hong Kong, as the Chinese relate blue with death.

145. Chocolate and chili is a well-known combination, but Firebox took it a step further producing the “instant regret chili chocolate” infused with 6.4 million Scoville chili extract.

146. Napoleon always had chocolate with him; he ate it whenever he needed an energy boost.

147. When chocolate is covered in a white speckled layer, it has “bloomed”. This is caused by the fat (cocoa butter) molecules inside the chocolate over time rising to the surface and recrystallizing. Bloomed chocolate is still edible but will be dry and less flavorful.

148. More than 7 billion chocolate chips are eaten annually.

149. American author Robert Cormier wrote a novel called The Chocolate War, due to its nature the book appeared in the American Library Association's “Top 100 banned/challenged books in 2000-2009”.

150. Global production of cocoa is currently forecast to decrease for the third year in a row, 2015/16 production is expected at 4.1 million tons vs. 2014/15 production of 4.2 million tons. 2013/14 production was 4.3 million tons.

151. Chocolate producers worldwide use around 20% of the world’s peanut crops and 40% of all almonds grown.

152. Chocolate actually inspired the Microwave. Percy Spence, a scientist working on WWII radar loved chocolate. When near a magnetron, he noticed a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. He realized magnetrons could be used to heat food quickly and discovered the microwave oven.

153. Gorging on sugar-free chocolate acts as a severe laxative. At one producer’s factory, there are buckets of defective chocolates. Each bucket has a sign warning employees of the ramifications of over-consumption.

154. Approximately 70% of the nearly $500 million spent on candy during the week leading up to Easter is for chocolate. Approximately 71 million pounds of chocolate candy are sold during the week leading up to Easter.

155. Only 48 million pounds of chocolate are sold during Valentine’s week.

156. In contrast, over 90 million pounds of chocolate candy are sold in the last week of October leading up to Halloween.

Grilled Short Ribs with Smoky Blackberry Barbecue Sauce

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Active: 45 mins, Total: 1 hr 30 mins, Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Directions:

Make-Ahead: The Blackberry Jam sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Suggested Pairing: Peppery, blackberry-rich Petite Sirah from California was practically made for sticky barbecue.

Chocolate Part 5 of 6

Saturday, April 23, 2022

~3.5 Minutes Reading Time

105. Spanish royalty gave cakes of cacao in their dowries.

106. On December 6th during the feast of St. Nicholas, children in Holland put their clogs outside at night so Santa can fill them with chocolate money.

107. July 7th is National Chocolate Day in the UK, the day marks when chocolate was first brought to Europe on July 7, 1550. Some credit Christopher Columbus with this feat in 1504.

108. International Chocolate Day is celebrated on September 13th, & some celebrate National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day on November 7th.

109. In November, Germans celebrate St. Martin (a knight who shared his cloak with a beggar) with a lantern-lit parade, sweets, & steaming hot chocolate. 

110. German chocolate cake was named for Sam German, who developed a sweet bar for Baker’s Chocolate–and was not from Germany.

111. April Fool's Day in France is called "Poisson d'Avril." The word "poisson" in French translates to fish, so children enjoy a piece of fish-shaped chocolate on this day while playing pranks on one another.

112. According to the artisan chocolatiers at Amano, the process of making chocolate from cocoa beans takes about a week. Larger companies like Hershey's can make a chocolate bar in two to four days due to their larger chocolate-producing machines.

113. Chocolate contains two doses of cocoa butter—the natural amount from the bean, plus an extra dollop to bump up creaminess.

114. Cacao percentage determines the amount of cocoa bean products by weight in a chocolate.

115. “Cacao” is how you say “cocoa” in Spanish.

116. Champagne & sparkling wines are too acidic to pair well with milk or dark chocolate. Try pairing a sweet bubbly with white chocolate & red wine with dark. In general, you want to match the sweetness level of the wine with the sweetness level of the chocolate.

117. Some cocoa certification programs are modeled on success with a similar product–coffee.

118. Chocolate can make dogs & cats ill–meaning no tastings for your furry friend, & more for you.

119. According to the BBC, research found that chocolate can actually stimulate your brain & releases more endorphins in the brain than kissing does. It was also shown to increase your heart rate faster than kissing as well. Researchers believe that this is caused by chocolate's concentration of phenylethylamine, a compound that increases endorphin production in the brain.

120. The man who created the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup was a farmer, by the name of Harry Burnett Reese, who was a former shipping foreman & dairy farmer for Milton S. Hershey, the founder of Hershey’s chocolate.

121. Terry’s produce over 350 million chocolate orange segments per year. 5 tons of chocolate is enough to make 28,000 Terry’s Chocolate Oranges.

122. America's favorite chocolate brand produces millions of those bite-sized chocolates we all love daily. They are all made by machine at Hershey's factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  It actually got its name from the sound that the chocolate makes when coming out of a machine during the manufacturing process.

123. Cadbury Creme Eggs are one of the most popular chocolate candies in the world. According to the Cadbury website, the chocolate company produces up to 1.5 million of their famous creme eggs daily, & over 500 million made per year.

124. Three Musketeers bars used to have three individually flavored bars: chocolate, vanilla, & strawberry. But they decided to drop the strawberry one when prices began to rise for the fruit & eventually turned into one large chocolate bar.

125. Andes Candies were originally called 'Andy's Candys.' The creator of the now-famous chocolate, Andrew Kanelos, was going to name them after himself originally, but changed it for a funny reason: he realized that men did not like giving their wives & girlfriends boxes of candies with another man's name on them, according to the book Chicago's Sweet Candy History by Leslie Goddard.

126. The most valuable chocolate bar in the world sold for $687.  This Cadbury chocolate bar had a much pricier tag than usual, & for good reason. At the time of being sold in 2001, this bar of chocolate was 100 years old & went on Captain Robert Scott's first Discovery expedition to the Antarctic, according to Guinness World Records.

127. In a small study at Indiana University, cyclists who drank chocolate milk after a workout had less fatigue & scored higher on endurance tests than those who had a sports drink.  A study published by Medicine & Sports Science found that chocolate milk can actually help athletes recover faster after exercise. The study noted that this could be due to the drink's high protein & carb ratio.

128. According to the BBC the survey conducted for the Infosecurity Europe trade show in London in 2004 found that 79 percent of people were willing to give out personal information that could be useful for identity thieves, such as birthdays & mother's maiden names, for chocolate. 70% of people would give their passwords for a chocolate bar.

129. According to the History Channel, the U.S. Census Bureau noted that during the week of Valentine's Day, more than 58 million pounds of chocolate are sold, & makes up a large percentage of yearly chocolate sold in the US.

130. The Brussels Airport is the biggest chocolate seller in the world. They sell about 800 tons of Belgian chocolate per year.

Huevos Rancheros with Raspberry Chipotle

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Serving Size: 1

FOR THE SALSA

FOR THE HUEVOS

INSTRUCTIONS

Chocolate Part 4 of 6

Friday, April 22, 2022

~2.5 Minutes Reading Time

79. Red M&Ms are among the most popular today, but in the 1970’s, they were replaced with orange pieces for almost ten years. This was the result of a study which stated that red food dye was linked to cancers.

80. Ben & Jerry's made the first cookie dough ice cream. According to Ben & Jerry's website, the ice cream aficionados created the flavor after an anonymous suggestion was sent into their shop in 1984. They spent six years perfecting the ice cream before finally releasing it, and it became the massive hit it is today.

81. In 2008, Thorntons in London created the world’s largest box of chocolates at 16.5 feet tall and 11.5 feet wide. The box contained over 220,000 chocolates and weighed 4,805 pounds. Previously, the record was held by Marshall Field’s in Chicago with a box containing 90,090 Frango mint chocolates and weighing a whopping 3,326 pounds.

82. In 2013, Belgium issued a limited edition of chocolate flavored stamps.

83. Rudolph Lindt designed the first conching machine, its bed curved like a conch shell.

84. Contrary to popular belief, mice actually prefer chocolate over cheese every time! Mice love sweet smelling food so they would be more tempted by a piece of chocolate than a chunk of cheddar.

85. The History Channel noted that the chocolate industry bloomed into one of the most successful businesses in the world. Each year, the chocolate industry makes over $110 billion in sales around the world.

86. Chocolate has evolved into such a massive industry that between 40 and 50 million people depend on cacao for their livelihood. Over 3.8 million tons of cacao beans are produced per year.

87. Each cacao tree produces approximately 2,500 beans.

88. Because cacao trees are so delicate, farmers lose, on average, 30 percent of their crop each year.

89. There are an estimated 1.5 million cocoa farms in West Africa.

90. Most cocoa–70 percent–hails from West Africa.

91. Cocoa is raised by hand, on small, family-owned farms.

Assorted mixed chocolates. Chocolate bars, cocoa nibs, powdered cocoa, spreads, bon bons, truffles, 

92. Cacao leaves can move 90 degrees, from horizontal to vertical, to get sun and to protect younger leaves.

93. Some cacao trees are more than 200 years old, but most give marketable cocoa beans for only the first 25 years.

94. Nearly all cacao trees grow within 20 degrees of the equator, and 75% grow within 8 degrees of either side of it. Cacao trees grow in three main regions: West Africa, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia/Oceania

95. The average size of a cocoa farm in West Africa is 7 to 10 acres.

96. Cote d’Ivoire is the single largest producer of cocoa, providing roughly 40 percent of the world’s supply.

97. Through some programs supported by industry and partners including foundations and governments, farmers are now earning between 20 percent and 55 percent more from their crops.

98. Most cocoa farms are not owned by the companies that make chocolate.

99. The price of cocoa can fluctuate daily–affecting farmers’ incomes.

100. The average West African cocoa family has eight members.

101. A farmer must wait four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first beans.

102. In addition to tending cacao trees, family members may harvest bananas or other fruit crops.

103. Worldwide, 40 million to 50 million people depend upon cocoa for their livelihood.

104. An Indonesian cocoa farming community built a giant statue of hands holding a cocoa pod.

Pimento Cheeseburgers with Bacon Jam

Monday, April 18, 2022

Total: 45 mins, Yield: 4

A heavenly bacon cheeseburger.  The pimento cheese and sweet Bacon Jam both melt into one dreamy, messy bite—this is not a burger for the faint of palate.

PIMENTO CHEESE:

BURGERS:

Directions:

Chocolate Part 3 of 6

Thursday, April 14, 2022

~3.5 Minutes Reading Time

53. The spread of chocolate from Spain throughout Europe began in the sixteenth century with the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition. Some Jews who left Spain brought with them Spain’s secrets of processing chocolate.

54. From 1500 to 1900, Europeans documented 100-plus medical uses for chocolate, including treatment of dysentery, gout, fever, seizures, anemia, vision difficulties, urinary problems, and intimacy issues.

55. In 17th century Mexico someone suffered death by chocolate. Poison was injected into chocolate, killing a Spanish Bishop who banned the consumption of chocolate during church services. The Catholic Church once associated chocolate with heretical behavior, including blasphemy, extortion, witchcraft, seduction, as well as being an observant Jew.

56. The Natural History Museum found that chocolate milk was invented in the early 1700s in Jamaica by Irish botanist Sir Hans Sloane. The natives of the land gave him straight cocoa to drink, but could only stomach it when he mixed it with milk, according to the museum's research.

57. In 1730s Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin’s legendary print shop sold bibles, stationary tools, writing implements, handmade parchment, and one consumable — a drinkable chocolate. In Franklin’s colonial America, liquid cacao was nearly as popular as coffee and tea, but this drink was not your grandma’s hot chocolate — it was thick, strong, quite bitter, and contained no sugar.

58. Thirty-one years later, Franklin, writing under the alias Richard Saunders, touted chocolate as a cure for smallpox in his Poor Richard’s Almanac, colonial America’s most popular publication. He was not proven correct, however, as no sure cure for smallpox was ever found. (Twentieth-century vaccines did manage to eradicate the disease by 1980.)

59. Cornell University reports that in 1753 Swedish physician Carl Linnaeus gave the cacao tree its botanical name, Theobroma cacao, which is Greek for “cacao, food of the gods.” Linnaeus, who originated taxonomy — the manner of naming and classifying all organisms — did not reference the divine this plainly in any other species names he dreamt up.

60. The first machine-made chocolate was produced in Barcelona, Spain, in 1780.

61. When English Buccaneers overran a Spanish ship loaded with cacao beans, they set it on fire, thinking the beans were sheep dung.

62. Some scholars link the growing popularity of chocolate houses in Europe, such