every so often, something of the outer realms of the pure genius-sort captures my fancy and i wish so badly that i could be "that person" that came up with the idea. this one so happens to be in the food category, one of my all time favorites: jam. for a few years now, my mantra has been to get whisked away to farmland to have a family and bake pies and/or make jam all day. i am serious. but sometimes i am so inspired by my very dream when i come across something that is sheer perfection, that i almost have to give up on in because how can i ever make anything remotely comparable or try to compete? i know, this is a bit of a defeatist attitude, but you will see what i mean...
one of my all time favorite spots to pop in while on my daily route between the office in los feliz and echo park, was the cheese store of silver lake. great sandwiches. yes, the cheeses are fantastic, but what made those sandwiches come to life was the jam. jam on a ham sandwich? hell yeah. and this is how i came to discover the all-time best jam in the world by welovejam. even the name is perfect. not only was it jammin' on the sandwich i ate, it was apricot jam which is my favorite. and, it is of the blenheim varietal which is going extinct, so it is extra special. i immediately purchased a jar of the apricot jam and one of the fukushu kumquat marmalade. a couple weeks later, back to the cheese store for more. this time, plum jam! but which kind? elephant heart or mariposa? my head was spinning. ever since, i have been addicted, as is apparently everyone else that has tasted this wonder of a product. last week while back in los angeles, i did my ritual stop over in silver lake to pick up some essentials and the cheese store was on the top of my list for jam. to my heart's content, there was a new one to be discovered: montmorency cherry and blenheim apricot.
what i really can't believe is that it took me one year to look up the welovejam website. i knew whomever was behind this delectable product had to be cool, but when you read their website, you really get a sense of who they are and how they are 150% behind the cause: to make the most amazing jam ever. they dedicate their heart and soul to producing the highest quality and for that, i am grateful and rest assured that whenever i am inspired to get into the kitchen, i too will come up with a stroke of genius that will put a big smile on the faces of those around me, if only in a simple meal :)
