Brenda Strong, Proprietor
MeMe’s Jam ‘N’ Jelli
Cooked the Way Grandma Cooked

Cooking is in my blood. I come from a long line of great Southern cooks. My earliest cooking experience was making desserts for my Dad when I was 10. Since that time, I’ve always enjoyed being creative in the kitchen. It gives me great pleasure to see people smile when they taste my recipes. I know then that I have satisfied their taste buds and tummies. Now I’m creating dishes for my grandkids. To them, I’m MeMe. Hence, the name MeMe’s Jams n’ Jelli.

I’m a native Texan, living in Houston for most of my life. Five years ago, I moved to La Porte, TX to find a more relaxed pace of living. Our La Porte residence gives us the opportunity to garden. One of my prize crops is jalapeno. Since making jellies has always been a passion for me, I tried making a batch of jalapeno jelly. Through trial and error, I perfected my pepper jelly, a blend of two peppers that has a wonderful flavor but doesn’t have the super hot “punch”. In another creative kitchen moment, I decided to add cherries to my pepper jelly. What a surprise! This blend created a sweet jelly with a mild hot sensation. These two jellies – Hot Pepper and Hot Pepper with Cherries- are my signature jellies.

Encouraged by relatives and friends, I began to market my jellies. My jellies are made just like grandma did. I make them in small batches with no preservatives. Currently, I make my jellies on the Kitchen on Spencer. It's a licensed commercial kitchen, kept to Health Department standards. Here I can still keep the high quality of my jelly batches, but it gives me more ‘elbow room’ than my own kitchen.

My jellies and jams are not just for breakfast. The Hot Pepper Jellies can be used on brisket or chicken. My favorite is over cream cheese for a delightful appetizer. My wine jellies are perfect for creative cooking. Use them to marinade meats overnight. Then baste them while cooking. Your entree will turn out tender and tasty. Try my Blackberry Merlot Jelly on pork chops and slow cooking meatballs with any of my wine jellies.

Thanks for trying my homemade jellies and jams. I’m sure you’ll enjoy using them as much as I have enjoyed making them for you.

Brenda Strong
alias MeMe

UPDATE: January 2006

A Huge Thank You to all of our loyal customers!  Both our stores and individuals!!!

We bought 37-1/2 acres in Dayton, Texas and moved shortly after Rita in October 2005!  We love it!  The property came complete with plum, apple, orange, loquat,  cumquat and pecan trees.  We just planted blackberries and muscadine's.  We even think we have found a variety of raspberries that will grow here since we are in a different growing zone now!!  I am excited about the new flavor possibilities.  Yes that moan you hear in the background is my husband saying "Oh, no!!  More labels"!  Our commercial kitchen has been started but is not complete.  I am really looking forward to it's completion as it will be so nice to work in my own setting and own space!  When it is finished we will add pictures to the site for everyone to see.