Jam Lunch at The Spoon

Of the many cool things we like to pack into each busy year, one of the coolest is a visit to my sister's place in Harbor Springs. It's relaxing, energizing, and reinvigorating, all at once. And if that weren't enough, my sister is a great hostess and one heck of a fun person. There are so many great diversions up there, we never get to do half of what we want, but that's ok, because we always feel like we did enough to get us by until next time.

Depending on the season, there's hiking, swimming, snowshoeing, wandering around the Gaslight District of Petoskey, having a beer in "Ernest Hemingway's seat" at the City Park Grill, and much more. Of all the possible activities, one of our favorites is the inevitable visit we pay to American Spoon Foods.

You see, "The Spoon", as we affectionately refer to this northern Michigan company, makes the best jams I've ever tasted. They are wonderful and you can get them all over the states now. But that in itself is not enough to get us to spend valuable up-north time visiting their Petoskey store. After all, I could just buy them in Royal Oak when I go to the grocery store. No, the real reason we give this such a high priority is because they have a Jam Bar. It's the only store I know of that has such a thing.

What's a Jam Bar? Well, The basic premise of this form of marketing is to let customers sample all of the great jams, marinades, and salsas that The Spoon offers. There is a table in the center of the store upon which is placed one open jar of every type of jam they sell at The Spoon, plus a big heap of crackers to aid in the sampling. It's a real courtesy to the customers, it helps them figure out what their favorites are. But my family, being the kind of people we are, have decided to push this thing to the limit. When we descend on poor unsuspecting Spoon, we make a meal of the Jam Bar. We'll walk in, slowly, and fan out. Look around for a bit, and pretend to read the back of a jar or two as we casually glance at the Jam Bar, mentally planning our attack.

Then we strike.

We all have different strategies, of course, but I will usually start my meal with an appetizer. Something light and fruity, like a spoonful of blueberry butter on a white cracker. Then it's off to the savory side of the table for my main course. I'll always go for one sample of each jar to start...Thai-Peanut Marinade, Mango Salsa, Southwestern BBQ Sauce...then hone in on my favorites, at which point I really go to town. Crumbs and tiny spoons fly amid gasps from horrified customers as I tear into all the savory flavors. I glance up every now and then to see what the others are doing, usually a somewhat toned-down version of the same thing I am. After I've had my fill of the salsas and marinades, it's back to the sweet side for some various jams and butters, followed up for dessert with a volley of lemon and passion fruit curd-piled wafers. This is the way to eat, if you ask me. And the price: free!

Ok, not free, for two reasons. Firstly, it costs a fair amount of pride. We must surely look like a big scary clan of the worst kind of cavemen in there, grunting, jostling over the best eating positions, scarfing twenty, thirty samples in a row with hardly a breath.

Secondly, we always buy something. This way, our guilt is assuaged. After all, now we're Customers. That nicely relieves us of our caveman status. And we get to re-live part of the experience when we get home with our "take out" jam.

But it's not the same as the real thing at The Spoon.