The Mum & Me Jam Company

Closing sale now on

2011-10-06T06:17:00.001-07:00

Firstly we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has kept us running by purchasing our jams and chutneys over the past 2 years, secondly we would like to apologise for having to close the business for a little while.

Both Mum and Me are taking a break from the end of November until the end of January and are therefore looking to sell the remainder of our stock beforehand.

We really don't have very much left, so if you were thinking of stocking up for Christmas gifts or even just purchasing a jar or two of your favourite flavour, now is your last chance.

We never say never, we might not shut down completely and may merge Mum & Me with our sister company Beautiful Things by Claire Mackaness in the New Year, but until we decide for certain we are saying, GRAB YOUR JAM WHILE YOU CAN.

As of today these are our current stocks
Mainly our standard sized jars at £1.90 but there are a few mini (hotel sized) jars as well as some slightly smaller which are priced accordingly.

If you are interested in any of these please e-mail admin@clairemackaness.com with your request and I can arrange payment by paypal or cash on collection/delivery.

You can collect your jam from us in Brentwood or I can deliver in town if you buy 4 or more jars.

I am afraid we cannot post orders.

Many thanks
xx

Blackberries, Blackberries, Blackberries

2010-08-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

They are everywhere! We have a particularly good picking spot only a few minutes walk from our house and this week we have been over every day. I honestly think if we had an army of people working over there we would still keep picking all day, they are ripening quicker than we can pick them.

I took our two apprentice pickers out on Saturday Little Me and his friend Alfie. Alfie took picking in his stride, but Little Me had enough and decided to read his Thomas magazines in the bushes instead!

Where are your favourite picking spots? We are having a competition at the moment. Tell us your best spots in Brentwood and Billericay and we will enter your name into a draw to win 12 months supply of jams and chutneys (1 jar a month). The draw is picked in October so send us your entries by leaving a comment below.

Whats cooking?

2010-07-23T05:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry we havn't blogged for so long. We have no excuses but hope you dont mind!

This week we have been cooking up a storm in the 'Me' kitchen making Strawberry and Greengage jam.

As you can see we have a rigourous testing system in place. The jam is popped on a cool plate to see if it is set and then given the quality taste test by my chief taster Little Me.

If it passes (which it usually does) a dollop is placed on a slice of bread and Little Me is dispatched to the table while I pot it all up.

Photos to follow soon of the finished products!

It's Market day

2010-06-03T03:27:00.000-07:00

We will be at Ingrave Community Market again this Sunday 6th June from 9.30am - 12.30pm. The market takes place at the Knights Way Centre, Knights Way, Brentwood, CM13 2AZ and is a great place to come and buy your organically produced meat and veg, our lovely jams and chutneys, cakes, plants and wonderful crafts.

This month we have been raiding the freezers due to the lack of available wild fruit so have some interesting fruit mix jams for you to try. Why not put them in a pie instead of on your toast for something a bit different?

We have on sale this Sunday:

Apple & Blackberry jam
Victoria Plum & Apple jam
Ginger and Marrow Chutney
Orange Marmalade
Strawberry jam
Red Onion marmalade

Do pop along and see us and remember if you have any fruit or veg, fresh or frozen that you cant use, we will swap it with you for a jar of produce.

Market day tomorrow

2010-03-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

We are back at Ingrave Community Market tomorrow.

Do pop along and see us, we have some lovely stock all packed in the car and ready to go:

Red Onion Marmalade
Marrow & Ginger Chutney
Blackcurrant Jam
Prune Chutney
Apple Tarts

The market runs from 9.30am - 12.30pm in the Knights Way Centre, Brentwood, CM13 2AZ

Remaining Stock List

2009-12-06T15:13:00.000-08:00

Well today was the last market of the season for us today and we have a small quantity of produce left. So rather than hold it over till Februray we thought we'd post a list so you can see whats left. Should you wish to purchase any of the items below just send us an e-mail to clairemackaness@btopenworld.com and we can arrange a time for you to collect your produce.

4 x Seedless Apple & Blackberry Jam - £2.10
4 x Prune Chutney (Great with cheese) - £1.90
2 x Orange Marmalade - £2.20
2 x Blackberry Jam - £2.00
4 x Cinnamon & Crabapple Marmalade (with Christmas fabric tops) - £2.30
4 x Pink Grape Jelly - £1.50
1 x Gift basket containing a mini Blackberry Jam, Mini Elderberry Jelly & 2 sachets of tea £2.50
2 x bags of 1/2 lb of Fresh French Walnuts - 80p
4 x Tarte Aux Pomme Normande (now frozen - collect from Billericay) - £3.50

This list will be updated to show recent sales.

Available produce

2009-11-29T05:02:00.000-08:00

Mum and Me will be at Ingrave Community Market on Sunday 6th December. This is our list of available produce that should hopefully be ready in time for you to purchase:

Seedless Apple & Blackberry Jam
Rose, Grape Jelly
Crab Apple & Cinnamon Christmas Marmalade
Prune and Sun Ripened Red Pepper Chutney
Green Tomato Chutney
Orange Marmalade
Lemon Marmalade
Fresh French Walnuts
Tarte Aux Pomme Normande (French Apple Tart)

The market runs from 10am - 1pm at the Knights Way Centre, Brentwood, CM13 2AZ

Dinky Jam

2009-11-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

I just had to show you this little cutey. We have been saving mini jam jars all summer in order to make up some little gift baskets for our Christmas markets.

This tiny jar of blackberry is still dressed with our signature cloth top and string but is only available to buy in one of four gift baskets we have made up for the festive season.

If you would like to get your hands on one of these tiny treasures you will need to visit us on Saturday 28th November at the Doddinghurst Road Community Church between 10.30 - 1pm. Or at the next Ingrave Community Market on the 6th December @ Knights Way Community Centre, Brentwood between 10am - 1pm.

Come and see us at Christ Church

2009-11-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

This Saturday 7th November is the Christ Church Fair trade shopping and lunch day. It is an event I have been trading at with my handmade cards for 4 years and I love it. This year the Mum and Me Jam company will be there too with a full range of Jams and Chutneys as well as some fresh Apple Tarts.

Basically the church opens it's doors to the public for the day and has some stalls offering home made items, fair trade gifts and food and crafts for the kiddies. They have a wonderful cafe which serves amazing home made soups and bread for about £1 or so and other yummy goodies.
There is no entrance fee and no obligation to buy anything, but it's just a really nice family focussed event with great food.

10.30 - 3pm @ Christ Church, Perry Street, Billericay, CM12 ONX.

Why not make a day of it and visit Lake Meadows Park whilst your over and feed the tame squirrels and walk round the lake. (they like monkey nuts)

Typically British weather today

2009-11-01T11:49:00.001-08:00

How awful was the weather today? Rain definitely made a difference to the visitor numbers at the Ingrave Community Market but we didn't let that stop us. Armed with tons of jam and chutney and our splendid Tarte Aux Pomme Normande we took the market by storm and made sure everyone left with something yummy tucked under their arm. Here is MUM manning the stall and today's stock list.

More tarts

2009-10-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

After defrosting the freezer I came across 1lb of plums and another 1lb of blackberries. What a perfect excuse for more tarts. 3 yummy blackberry and apple and a plum lattice. Make sure you get to tomorrows market early if you want to snap one of these up for only £3.50.

Tarte Aux Pomme Normande

2009-10-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

We have had such a lot of apples donated to us that we didn't want to waste that we have decided to branch out a bit and make some tarts in time for this weekends Ingrave Community Market.
Here are two full size French Apple Tarts and a tasting slice fresh out of the oven and cooling. These will be plated up and sold for £3.50 on Sunday. Do pop along and see us between 10am - 1pm @ Knigths Way Community Centre, Brentwood, CM13 2AZ.

Get there quick if your looking to buy a tart though! We will also be selling:

Apple & Blackberry Seedless Jam
Blackberry Jam
Greengage Jam
Orange Marmalade
Lemon Marmalade
Prune Chutney
Green Tomato Chutney
Elderberry Jelly

Ingrave Community Market

2009-10-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Ingrave Community Market back in October. We sold out of everything that morning so we are busy making our supplies up for the next market on November 1st. If you want to find out more about the event you can visit the market website.

We are desperatly in need of more fruit as the summer months have left us. If you have a glut of unwanted fruit, please get in touch. We offer a free jar of jam or chutney for every bag of fruit we receive.