Gus & Grey Jam

With a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye, Tara Grey is off to jam. Flavored jam, that is.

Growing up in western Michigan, Tara was surrounded by farms of all types. The most amazing thing to her was the variety of crops—from corn to cherries, peaches, blueberries, beans, asparagus and much more. She loved the idea of growing food, harvesting, preparing and finally getting it to share with the people around her.

“The first time I remember anything being ‘canned’ was with my grandmother, Patricia Tufts, as she spent the day making bread-and-butter pickles. Her recipe is still my absolute favorite,” says Tara.

Tara’s first experience canning with fruit was grape juice, in the fourth grade with her teacher Mrs. Tutak, who had the class make jam to sell at the church Christmas bazaar.

“It was a simple grape jelly, and it was the best thing that I have ever tasted.” It made Tara think of ways to create her own version of jam. With that early beginning, she was off on a mission to create a jam experience like no other.

Twenty years later, Tara found herself living in New York City, and though she hadn’t thought about canning in nearly two decades she still had the desire to create jams to share. She asked her mom for her grandma’s pickle recipe, and, once in hand, Tara was off to the local farmers’ market in search of fresh locally grown produce to re-create her fond childhood memory.

After sharing her pickles with friends in Brooklyn, she decided to try out a few jams. Tara started with apricot jam and gave most of it away—to the same folks who could not get enough of the pickles. Their response was overwhelming, and the feedback consistently outstanding.

From this response, Tara knew what she wanted to do: make jams that no one else was making. Upon moving back to Detroit, she continued what she had started in New York: the creation of unique jams with amazing flavors from not-so-common ingredients, under the name Gus & Grey (sharing the spotlight with Gus, her cat). The key, she says, is making the jams in small batches and using seasonal produce. And the funnest part is she gets to be very creative in naming her recipes:

Pucker Up, made with sour cherries Trifecta Triple, made with strawberries, raspberries and blackberries Floozie, made with peach, bourbon and vanilla And of course, Sweet Jesus, made with Jalapenos

And the list keeps growing. This is truly a culinary experience, says Tara. Visit Gus & Grey online at GusAndGrey.com. Or, if you’d like to see that smile and twinkle in person, visit Tara at Eastern Market in Detroit.

Tara says to think outside the jar with jam: Use Gus & Grey on your turkey sandwich, try some on a grilled cheese, mix into your yogurt, put on your pancakes—the options are limitless. Just keep on jamming!