canning – crossgrained

Pennsylvania Dutch crack — red pepper jelly

Posted on December 11, 2016December 20, 2016 by mscellenea

Red pepper jelly is a staple of the classic PA Dutch repertoire. Sweet or hot. Clear with a reddish tint to it.

On cream cheese with crackers, oh my. These days I have it on cream cheese on a red pepper square.

The old Ball Jar canning book — the BLUE one–careful how you say that — which everyone had when I was growing up, had a good recipe for this, so I went looking. Continue reading Pennsylvania Dutch crack — red pepper jelly

Bah, what’s up with jars these days?

Posted on March 19, 2016March 19, 2016 by mscellenea

I remember as a kid the main screaming-point where the mother met the fridge was the fact that I didn’t screw on the jar lids tightly enough. Well, I expect the first few decades of that horrible behavior was laziness. Anything after about age 25 was probably MS.

These days, I can’t open some lids, and I struggle to close them. Small ones, like water bottles, I close and can’t open again. Hours of fun there. Continue reading Bah, what’s up with jars these days?