I’m writing today’s post from not-quite-sunny Southern California (yeah, evidently rain doesn’t only happen in Seattle- weird). I came back for a quick trip to watch a dear friend get married (yay!), but don’t fret and think I’ve gone all LA on you- I’m coming back tonight, and I’m bringing presents! That’s right, while I was here I got to connect with the lovely founders of J and R Foods, two dear friends who make some of the best sauces, jams, pickles and salsas that I’ve ever eaten. So I’m coming back with a pro tip on how you can vastly improve your pantry, support a great small business, and make everything you eat taste a hundred times better. Oh, and of course, there’s a giveaway. Because what kind of friend doesn’t come back with souvenirs?
J and R Foods makes yummy food in jars. Whether you like your condiments sweet (think apple butter, strawberry jam or figs in port syrup), savory (onion jam, mustard sauce, red pepper jelly), crunchy (pickles of every shape and sort) or spicy (I have fallen deeply in love with their harissa), J and R Foods makes a canned good that you should be eating right now. The company is the brainchild of Jon and Rachel, a chef and a sugar-friend-turned-baker who fell in love with food and each other. Instead of long walks on the beach, their courtship consisted of long simmers in the kitchen.
This year they’ve taken two big steps forward in life- they got married over the summer and made their amateur saucery a real-deal business, so now everybody has the chance to taste the goodness that they cook up. Now you can head over to J and R Foods to buy their goods online! They also specialize in custom orders, so if you want something made just for you, these two dynamos can make it happen. This year, skip the weird smelly lotion that your relatives are probably allergic to and order a dozen jars of spicy orange pickles or candied quince. Have a big event (personal or corporate) that you need thank you gifts for? Give people something delicious (like peach butter) instead of something useless (like a branded stapler) and your guests won’t make fun of you after they go home.
To celebrate the launch of their website and e-store, J and R Foods gave us two fabulous gift packages to give away to some lucky Yay-Today readers. To win a gift pack of 3 of their most delicious (read, my favorite) products, leave a comment below and tell us what your favorite condiment is. (I really just want to find out if putting ketchup on fried chicken is as normal as my husband claims. I vote gross.) You can also enter on twitter by following both @yay_today and @JandRfoods and retweeting “I want to win a saucy sampler from @yay_today & @JandRfoods #i<3harissa http://ow.ly/7lwfD.” Two randomly selected winners will be chosen this Thursday morning at 8:00am and will win a 4 oz jar of Onion Jam, Apple Butter and Harissa. (If you don’t know what harissa is, it’s a Moroccan red-pepper based sauce that is basically gastronomical gold. You’ll love it, trust me.)
Good luck!
my favorite condiment is Tzatziki Sauce
Stone ground mustard!
Aioli ftw!
Fav condiment? Anything spicy, but prefer a good hot sauce with flavor, too.
I have to second aioli, mmmm good.
I have an unhealthy obsession with chutney…
aioli for sure, and peach chutney!
Aioli with extra! garlic.