Q: "What is a Chutney?"
A: A Chutney is a condiment made up of fruit, sugar, vinegar, and spices. Much like a jam in consistency, chutneys have limitless possibilities for use in your kitchen. See our list of suggested uses for ideas!
Q: "What's the difference between jam, preserve, jelly, and conserve?"
A: Made with whole fruit, jam and preserve mean the same thing and we use the terms interchangably. A jelly is jelled fruit juice - we don't actually make any real jellies, but Hot Pepper Jelly comes close. A Conserve is a mixed fruit preserve. For example, Blue Razz Conserve is three parts blueberries and one part raspberries.
Q: "Are your products gluten-free?"
A: All of the ingredients in our jams & chutneys are gluten-free. Though, glutinous products certainly make their way into the kitchen on behalf of lunch, birthdays and tea time...
Q: "Are you Nervous Nellie?"
A: All the employees here get this one a lot. Some visitors express disappointment when they find out that there is, in fact, no real person named Nellie. Nellie is one of the many characters in Peter Beerits imagination. You've probably seen her on our logo and on every jar of jam where she's chasing Razzie the raspberry with a spoon, intending to make him into something delicious. You can also visit her in window of the Jam Kitchen on our campus. To find out more about Nervous Nellie, read of her many adventures in The Nervous Nellie Story.
Q: "Where do your berries come from?"
A: All of the fruit that we can get from Maine, we do. Our blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, most of our raspberries, and the apple cider we use in our chutneys, all come from Maine farms, some of which have been operated by the same family for multiple generations. The berries are all flash frozen - meaning we get high quality fruit at its peak ripeness for our cooking needs, and you get more flavor in every jar. All the fruit that we cannot get in Maine (pineapples, papaya, mango, etc.) we get from a food distributor.
Q: "Is that old jar of jelly I just found in the back of the pantry still good?"
A: Our products have a shelf life of about two years, unopened. The batch number on the bottom of the jar indicates when it was made. Look at the first three numbers. The first number is the last number of the year, then the month: 908. . . . was made in August of 2019. Old jam starts to lose color, nutrients, and flavor.
Also, if you open a jar and find mold on the top, this doesn't mean it has gone bad - it just means that the seal between the cap and the glass lid has a leak which allowed ambient mold spores to sneak inside. This can happen because of a flawed cap, or if the jar was dropped, dinging the lid. Regardless, please give us a call and we'll replace your moldy jar for free!
Q: "Dogs welcome?"
A: Your well behaved dogs are welcome to come with you to Nervous Nellie's. We do ask that you clean up after your pet (bags available) and keep in mind that our campus can be very busy at times and children are often present. Some people are very afraid of dogs (alas) and some may wish to pet your dog and take it home with them! Please be sensitive to others.
Q: What is Nellieville?
A: This refers to a life-size small western town village (jail, saloon, shyster lawyer, fortune teller) that Peter created. On our several acres, you'll also find a juke joint, old time garage, wizard's tower, castle and a peaceful church in the woods. If this is a first visit, please allow at least an hour and arrive by at least 3 PM for a prompt 5 PM closing. Visitors are welcome seasonally, usually mid-May to mid-October.