After reading a magazine article about making jam, Rivka Berg, photographer and avid water skier, decided that it didn't seem so tough so she set about making a pot of jam.

She was wrong...

Her jam was, as she describes it, "terrible," but the jam did set and the jars sealed, so she didn't give up. A few batches later, she was getting somewhere. She knew she was on to something when the friends who'd been gifted her test-batches called for more - and were willing to pay!

Eleven years later, The Wild Pear Co. is one of our local favorites. Rivka uses fruit from friends around the Bay Area whenever possible to make her enticing creations. The flavors are bold and clean and, well, fruity! We may be called purists when it comes to jam and preserves, but these jams perfectly express that all it takes is good fruit, a little technique and, in Rivka's case, tenacity!

We'll rotate the flavors as the seasons come and go. Right now, choose from three quintessential California fruits - Fig, Blackberry or Apricot.

Bring home a jar of jam from the Wild Pear Company  

for $10 or $27.50 for all three 

Our Colatura di Alici in the Wall Street Journal this weekend

Sometimes we come in to the office to find a mountain of orders for one item and we don't know where they came from. Monday morning it was a pile of orders for Colatura! This one was pretty easy to track back to one of our favorite food sections...the Wall Street Journal.

Their Guide to the Best in Summer Food featured Lidia Bastianich, the chef behind the explosion of regional Italian cuisine in the U.S., recommending a product we know and love!  

We have used this product in lots of ways - with pasta, green vegetables, salad dressings - but surprisingly, never with tomatoes. We can definitely see what Lidia is going for - the savory, briny flavor should make a great match to the sweet acidity of a summer tomato. Any day now we'll be seeing the first fruits at the market... 

Order a bottle of Colatura di Alici now for $25.00 

Organic Blue Agave Syrup

Organic Corn Syrup

"Sometimes it seems that we're a long way from real food. As a company, we appreciate consumers who take the time to read labels. Product labels tell us where the food comes from,  

who made it, what is in it  

and how it is produced."

This philosophy hits especially close to home when one is dealing with raw ingredients, like corn and sugar cane. Commodities like these are governed by price - lower is better - so when we found a company who pays a fair price for a great product, we wanted to be a part of what they're doing.

The organic corn syrup from Wholesome Sweeteners is made from organic, non-GMO corn. It's essential for candy-making, like marshmallows and brittles, but also great for frostings, syrups, chocolate sauces and, of course, pecan pie! (Click here for some good reading on corn syrup vs high-fructose corn syrup...quite a different thing) 

Agave syrup is a hot ingredient right now - it's showing up in lots of recipes these days because, while it's sweeter than sugar, it has a lower glycemic index and is completely natural and sustainable. It dissolves easily so we use it to make sorbets, ice cream bases and to sweeten beverages and fruit salad.  It's also a great way to sweeten sauces, like chutneys, compotes and BBQ sauce. 

Order these Wholesome Sweeteners now, starting at $7.00