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Here's a quick tip to use at home and share with recipients of home-canned gifts:
Yes, this video was recorded way back in July at our old house and I did cut the video short at the end because a certain little girl and her little dog interrupted the last sentence during the umpteenth take. Making and editing videos is hard for me!
You've heard the most delightful sound in the kitchen - the popping of lids fresh from the canner - and your jars are completely cooled. Now what? Prepare Jars for Storage
Remove the rings and wipe down the outside of the jar with a warm wet cloth or sponge. Often a bit of juice, brine or jam escapes during the vacuum process. Being outside the seal, this can spoil and rust the lids.
Wash the rings by hand or in the dishwasher and store them in a dry place for later (see below).
Label each lid with the contents and date. You can do this with a sharpie marker or label maker. I love how neat jars look when labeled with my Brother p-touch label maker. Lil gets a kick out of making the labels too.
Where to Store
Home canned goods last longest when they are stored in a dark, dry place with cool and consistent temperature. My basement is great for this. A cool closet, root cellar, or cupboard will also work.
If you have them, I find jar boxes to be excellent for storage of filled or empty jars. The high sides prevent light from discoloring food and the cardboard dividers keep the jars from clanking during transport.
Empty Jars and Rings
In the fall, the larder is full of filled colorful jars. But as winter progresses and the contents are used, what do you do with the rings and empties?
You may reuse the rings for canning so long as they aren't dented or rusted. You also will need one per jar to keep home canned goods in the fridge after opening.
I store rings in a kitchen drawer with my dish towels. You'll note some lids in there too; I keep them around for when I want to store leftovers or dry goods. Lids cannot be reused for canning but they are fine for non-sealed storage.
I stash a small selection of empty jars in a kitchen drawer (with some other miscellany like our cider press bag) for storing leftovers. When this drawer overflows, I take the excess down to the basement and sort by size on a shelf. When I have a dozen of a given size, I load them into a box and stack these for use during the next canning season.
I'm sure that my system is not the only one that works. How do you manage canning jars?
Added to Simple Lives Thursday 58.
This post concludes my series on handmade holiday gifts. Previous weeks included instructions for making hand-rolled beeswax candles, hot cocoa mix, and spice rub. A list of other possible gifts in jars is at the bottom of the post.
I believe that giving a homemade or home canned gift in a mason jar is a true expression of love. A homemade jam contains peak of the season flavors and the gift of time spent preserving. Custom spice, cocoa, or baking mixes show genuine consideration for the individual.
To elevate the gift beyond everyday pantry fare, proper wrapping is in order.
First, label the lid to ensure the recipient knows what they are getting. I like to use my Brother Personal Labeler Machine to denote the contents and date/instructions as applicable. Writing neatly with a permanent marker works fine too.
Because the tops aren't all that pretty, cover them with something beautiful. Old maps and books make a cute topping, especially when you can match the paper to something unique about giftee. I used a discarded Tennessee map to create the top and gift tag cover for the spice rub I'm giving to a certain brother in law who now lives in Murfreesboro.
Fabric covers can be made from scraps or fat quarters bought at the craft store. Use pinking shears to cut the edges of a square or circle just a bit larger than the lid. Slip the metal ring over the top and you have a cute cover.
Tie a piece of raffia, ribbon, or twine around the ring. Attach a paper or cardboard gift tag to identify the recipient and giver. I adore the country chic letterpress gift tags from Igloo Letterpress pictured at left.
A big bow on top would be another lovely adornment. Condo Blues and How About Orange have step by step instructions for making your own from newsprint or magazine pages.
How do you adorn homemade gifts?
Other handmade food gift ideas: Liqueur Fruit Jam (apple pie, peach, or strawberry) Applesauce a loaf of bread (no-knead or cranberry) Sugared cranberries
This crate of jars was given to me by my mother who received it from my paternal grandmother. What does this look like to you? Trash?
To me, it was a box full of potential. I know Grandma Joyce is a collector of stuff. Out of the box of miscellaneous jars, I decided not to keep many of unknown origin or with chipped rims. After a little digging and sorting, look what turned up:
Nearly two dozen usable canning jars. Of course they will all need new lids, which I buy every time I can.
I found some of my very favorite jar style in that box. I adore these squat squared half pint jars. They are shaped differently than anything I can buy new and the flat back side gives a lovely view of what is canned inside.
Using inherited or thrifted jars adds a whole new dimension to the preservation effort. As I'm milling applesauce, coring tomatoes, or stirring jam, I often wonder what the life was like of the woman or man who used the jars before me.
Were they preserving out of necessity or hobby? Were they making a special family recipe or trying something new? Were they working alone with babes underfoot, alongside their teenage children, or with a group of friends as my mother used to do? Of course, I will never know the situations for most vintage jar in my stash.
I can guess with relative assurance that anyone who went to the pains of home canning some time ago would be delighted to know that someone is still using their jars and practicing the art of food preservation. This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.
I'm not a coupon blogger. I'm not even a regular coupon user. I don't subscribe to the newspaper and buy so few name brand products that searching and clipping is a waste of time to me. However, this week I was sitting around my parent's house on Sunday (6-27) and paged through the coupon inserts. In the Redplum insert, there is a coupon for $3 off 2 cases of Ball or Kerr Jars, any size. Another coupon is good for buy two get one free any size lids or lids and rings. The rings coupon has a printable version too.
When shopping at my local Kroger (another thing I don't do regularly) I discovered they had jars and rings on sale. Using coupons I saved over 30% off full price. This might not be the absolute cheapest you can buy jars, but it's a very good price. I noticed at Big Lots that their Golden Harvest brand half pints were 12 for $7, a bit more expensive than this coupon deal.
Here's the scenario:
2 x Ball jars, 12 half pints, at $7.81 ($1.38 off at Kroger) = $15.62
subtract $3 off coupon = $12.62, or 53 cents each
Regular price = 9.19 x 2 = $18.38, or 77 cents each
3 x 12 Ball lids, regular mouth size, at $1.78 ($0.31 off at Kroger) = $5.34
subtract $1.78 for one free = $3.56, or 10 cents each
Regular price = $2.09 x 3 = $ 6.27, or 17 cents each