By Shirley Shuman
Anyone looking for different and unusual- tasting jellies should stop at the “That’s My Jam” table at the Sutton Farmers’ Market any Saturday. There, Jessica Albright will have an array of jellies ranging from redbud through peach, honeysuckle, and dandelion to ramp. Top sellers this spring, Albright noted, have been redbud, peach mango, peach and pineapple. At the table, customers will also find pepper jellies of all flavors such as mango and strawberry as well as regular pepper jelly which she describes as “the hottest.” In addition to this wide array, this jellymaker offers butters, (Think of ramp butter, for example.] marinades, and barbecue sauce of various flavors. She explained how all of this began.
Albright attributes her interest in cooking and jelly-making to her great-aunt Polly. “She got me started at an early age,” she said. “For about seven years, I’ve been canning, but I just started selling jams and jellies a year ago to my husband’s co-workers. They seemed to like my products, and the business took off.”
“My husband began joking about my having a jelly business, and now, a year later, I actually have one,” she said. “I started out just messing with it but decided to go into a true business,” she added. Her flavor mixtures are not only interesting but also apparently delicious since she has customers who try a flavor and return for that flavor. For example, her pineapple pepper sauce is a favorite for those preparing wings.
The mother of two, Albright answered the question of when she finds time to make all these products. “I do most of my work when the kids are in school,” she said, “with plans to market them in the summer.” She also sells the products through a Facebook group, and that has proved successful. “I just started my Facebook group in April,” she said, “and already I have over 170 people in the group.”
People interested in finding new tastes such as the redbud, which the jellymaker says ‘tastes kind of like strawberries and cotton candy mixed,” will be happy with what she has to offer. These tastes are also available in her other products, and all can be found by visiting the Sutton Farmers’ Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. or by going to Albright’s Facebook group. The price is five dollars for a pint jar.