No Job? No Whining! Make jellies, says laid-off insurance agent

Carol Muldrow never wanted to become a statistic. Unfortunately, she was one.

In August, Muldrow lost her insurance job with Naught-Naught Agency and became one of the millions who felt the sting of the economic downturn in the form of a layoff.

It’s an all-too-familiar story. A person faces sudden unemployment, is unable to secure a new job, and eventually turns to wine – or, in this case, wine jelly. This, you see, is a somewhat different tale.

When fall turned to winter, and Muldrow found herself still looking for work, she also found herself looking at cookbooks and recipes that had belonged to her late mother-in-law, Mary Muldrow. A recipe for wine jelly, with a quaint photo of the jelly in a wine glass, caught her attention.

Lightning didn’t strike that day, with visions of a new business springing up and replacing her lost income. She just thought a batch of the jelly might make nice Christmas gifts.

It also happened that Carol Muldrow and her husband, Warren, are members of the Vino 100 wine club in Springfield, which holds regular tastings, so she decided to bring some jelly to share with fellow wine lovers. The jellies were such a hit that Vino 100 owner Matt Bekebrede told her if she continued to make them, he would sell them in his store.

With that idea churning in her head, Muldrow began the arduous process of contacting the health department, city zoning commission and other regulatory bodies to learn what it would take to go into the jelly business. Not long after, a license was secured and My Mary’s Jellies was born.

“My late mother-in-law was always lovingly referred to as ‘my Mary’ by her husband,” Muldrow says, and the name was chosen to honor that memory.

Mary Muldrow had a home on the lake in Shell Knob, and through her later years, the care provided by St. John’s Hospice-Shell Knob allowed her to remain in the home she loved with her family. As a sign of her gratitude, Carol Muldrow has pledged that a portion of the proceeds of every jar sold will be given to the St. John’s Hospice program.

“Our elderly have earned the right to die with dignity,” Carol Muldrow says, “and the care that Mary received meant so much.”

Her goal is to help others to be able to stay at home for as long as possible.

While Muldrow’s since been hired at Fortner Insurance, her entrepreneurial spirit is still at work.

“This is a day and age when you are starting a business, you can’t turn down sure money,” Muldrow says. “On the evenings and weekends, I’m cooking jelly.”

She and her husband – a retired Marine and full-time computer programmer – are the only jelly producers, renting the commercial kitchen at the former The Café on East Kearney Street.

Wine jelly tasting
All of the jelly is made in small batches to ensure consistent quality, and the flavors are as diverse as wine itself. I tasted some of the jellies and found, to my surprise, that they really do taste like wine.

The first thing you taste is the sweetness of the jelly, but the wine comes in behind it and lingers in the aftertaste. Some are more distinct than others, and the reds are much stronger than the whites.

I found the pinot grigio to be the mildest, and the petite sirah to have the boldest flavor. Muldrow also is making other varieties, including merlot, cabernet sauvignon and several types of chardonnay.

The flavor profile of each jelly is so specific that I was able to see an appreciable difference in one of the chardonnays that had seen a lot of oak and another brand that was fermented in stainless-steel. Although both labels says chardonnay, the two jellies were as different as two varieties of chardonnay wine.

Along with the jellies, My Mary’s Jellies takes special orders for any wine that a customer wants made into jelly.

They also will customize labels to commemorate a wedding, anniversary or other special event.

A sampler four-pack of 1.5-ounce jars is $16, and one four-ounce jar is $8, according to www.mymarysjellies.com.

The jellies have also made it onto the shelves at Vino 100, 2145 W. Republic Road, which will hold a kick-off fundraiser for St. John’s Hospice on March 6. There will be no admission charge, but donations will be taken at the door.