Our salsa friend and dedicated Jam Fan, Ryan, decided that it was time to hop on the Jam Brunch train and host his very first Jam Pairing Meal. His requirements were simple. He wanted a delicious menu in the theme of “Summer is gone, but Fall is so pretty.”
As the clock hit 11am on a sleepy Saturday, not quite Fall, not quite Summer, afternoon an intimate crowd of Ryan’s close friends gathered in his rather spacious LES apartment. We were pleasantly surprised to find that his place overlooks Hester Street Fair, the outdoor street market where we normally spend most Saturdays anyway. We unloaded Betty, our trusty jam-mobile, waved hello to our market friends below, quickly set up shop and greeted all of our new brunch friends.
As guests chit chatted away awaiting the first course we happily filled their jam jar glasses with mimosas, tequila sunrises and hot coffee before scurrying back into the kitchen.
Don’t you just love that warm feeling you get from preparing a meal in the kitchen while the busy murmur of silly banter and laughter rolls in from the other room? It is the noise of happy guests, something I can only assume all hosts find comforting.
Now for the menu -
1st Course: A jam jar parfait with layers of homemade granola, yogurt, honey, J+S Blueberry Bourbon Jam and J+S Strawberry Jam
2nd Course: Freshly baked cheddar biscuits with a side of J+S Raspberry Jalapeño Jam
3rd Course: Butternut squash hash tossed with leafy greens, J+S Sweet WINO_nion Jam and J+S Bacon Jam, topped with a sunny side up egg
4th Course: Boozy baked french toast smothered with J+S Drunken Monkey Banana Jam and homemade whipped cream
This is the part where I give Ryan cred for the photos. Sabbs and I were busy bees in the kitchen and the foodie photographer aspect completely escaped us. Oops… Ryan informed us that he was sorry for the lack of photos on his end, but he was so engrossed with the meal that he just.. forgot. This is something that we are AOK with. Food is to be enjoyed and we are happy that him and his guests did just that!
This is Sabbs making some delicious cheddar biscuit dough from scratch. Yummmm.
Okay okay… out of the kitchen and back to the party.
With Raphael Saadiq’s Pandora station rocking the speakers it was a proper afternoon Jam Sesh, if we do say so ourselves.
As the meal came to an end the music switched over to some lively latin tunes and we thought that a salsa extravaganza was underway. Sadly, it seemed a unanimous vote that everyone’s bellies were so full of food that one could barely stand, let alone dance. So, the brunch did not end in a full out salsa dance fest, but we had to leave something for the next party, right?
We have the coolest Jam Fans!
