It all began quite innocently, insists Rachel Saunders, when she stumbled across a recipe for jam in a book more than nine years ago and decided she had to try it. It was good enough, but not exactly what she had in mind, so she made some more. And some more. Soon she began to spend her spare time standing over a copper preserving kettle, experimenting with different fruits and flavorings. It wasn’t long until a few rogue jars began spilling into the marketplace. A knowing handful of jam fans have been buying Saunders’ preserves at Berkeley’s Sweet Adeline Bakeshop, and her wares have been featured on Pizzaiolo’s toast-and-coffee morning menu for the past year—but this month marks the official launch of her Blue Chair Fruit Company. Local fruits and flavorings in surprising combinations (brown turkey fig jam with sherry and fennel, dark plum jam with bay laurel, and citron marmalade with lavender) are her signature. I’ll be hoarding the bergamot marmalade. A relative of the sour orange whose oil gives Earl Grey tea its distinctive taste, bergamots have a can’t-quite-pin-it-down flavor of citrus and spice. Saunders balances all her preserves with just enough sugar to keep the fruit front and center. They’re the best thing to happen to bread since butter. BLUECHAIRFRUIT.COM