David Burtka on Holiday Traditions and Making Jam
David Burtka on Holiday Traditions and Making Jam
His Merry Winter Cherry Preserves benefits City Harvest
It’s December and we’re officially in the thick of the holiday season. For many of us, it means hosting parties, cooking with family, and exchanging gifts.
For actor and chef David Burtka, the holidays are all about making memories with Tony and Emmy-winning husband Neil Patrick Harris and their teen twins, Harper and Gideon.
Burtka and I caught up via Zoom to chat about the holidays and the new jam he and Harris have launched with Beth’s Farm Kitchen to benefit City Harvest.
“Merry Winter Cherry” preserves is a collaboration between Funhouse Farm from Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka and Beth’s Farm Kitchen in Hudson, New York. This limited edition flavor is a blend of New York sour cherries, grown in the state’s Finger Lakes Region and ground mulling spices to give it a festive warmth reminiscent of a Christmas morning.
Best of all, for each $12 jar sold, $6 will be donated to City Harvest. That $6 can actually feed 13 New Yorkers in need this holiday season.
Burtka says the jam collab came about in a story worthy of its own Hallmark movie.
The chef and actor explains that Beth’s Farm Kitchen co-founder, Jodie Emmett, and he grew up in Michigan together. “Her parents owned an apple orchard. We met probably when I was 11 and grew up together. When we got older we would party, drink beer, and shear sheep. She’s now a fantastic farmer and is the owner of Beth’s Farm Kitchen in the Hudson Valley. We were talking and trying to figure out ways to be able to work together and she asked if I would be interested in coming up with a collab. I said, ‘Done. Let’s do this,’ and we wound up coming up with a jam."
Burtka says the winter spiced preserves start with local New York State cherries, warmed with notes of clove and cinnamon. “It’s a good gift to give as a stocking stuffer,” says Burtka, adding, “not only are you getting great jam, but each jar feeds 13 New Yorkers.”
Burtka says the best part of the endevour is the fact that proceeds help City Harvest. The father of two says that supporting City Harvest and volunteering with the organization is a family effort. “I think giving back and service is the most important thing we can all do. We’re always donating our time.”
Burtka describes some holiday traditions his family enjoy: Discovering the daily surprises inside Advent calendars, baking cookies, decorating, and collecting nutcrackers. “Since the kids were little, we get them an amazing nutcracker each year. Kurt Adler makes these phenomenal ones.”
The holidays are also about enjoy time with family for the Burtka/Harris household. “My parents and Neil’s parents come in at the same time each year - -about a week or two before Christmas — and we paint the town red with all the awesome things to do here in New York.”
On Christmas Eve, the family likes to go out to dinner (“That reminds me to make reservations,” says Burtka), and Christmas Day is reserved for a feast at home. “ I cook a nice meal and we play with toys and chill. It’s nice. It’s really really nice.”
And, of course, no holiday is complete without volunteering. Burtka says he and his children, who are on the City Harvest kids’ culinary council, recently spent the day helping out. “We were filling up salads and packaging pumpkin desserts. I think it’s super important to take care of each other. We have a duty, as people.”
To purchase the Jam Sessions Merry Winter Cherry Preserve, click here. To find our more about City Harvest and how you can help, visit cityharvest.org.