We’re jammin’

I wanna jam it wit’ you.

High-five to Re-Nest for this Bob Marley-meets-Queen Mum party theme: jam. Yes, jam! We’re talking jam tasting, pals — a party bursting with the bite of summer fruits:

canned with love (or, perhaps, purchased at the farmers market) by the host. Just add toast and a jamband playlist (I’m thinking the Grateful Dead and the Hampton Grease Band), and you’ve got yourself a simple, Small, and cheap night in with the gang.

In these belt-tightening times, an inexpensive evening with friends is certainly Small, from both a community-building standpoint and, in the case of a homemade jam tasting, a locavore one. And, if you’re into tipples with your toast ‘n’ jam, take a tip from cheapskate extraordinaire Kingsley Amis:

The point here is not simply to stint your guests on quality and quantity — any fool can pre-pour Moroccan red into burgundy bottles, or behave as if all knowledge of the existence of drink has been suddently excised from his brain at 10pm — but to screw them while seeming, at any rate to their wives, to have done them rather well.

(Or, if you want to keep your friends, just serve tea.)