@vacuvita <3

Posted on by mscellenea

Long ago, in a Indiegogo campaign beyond memory, I backed a project called Vacuvita. It was an integrated food storage system.

I moved twice during that time, and pretty much figured it was one of those lost things, like Atlantis.

But after three-and-a-half years, it rocked up this past November.

It was worth the wait. Continue reading @vacuvita ❤

Pennsylvania Dutch crack — red pepper jelly

Posted on by mscellenea
hot chile jelly

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

Pear, meet jar

Posted on by mscellenea
jam in jars

I’ve had a pretty crappy summer with some mishaps at work that made me stressed, overheated, and angry. So I slept most weekends, or sewed things to calm down. What didn’t happen was canning much in the way of jams and preserves. It’s a hot business that keeps you on your feet for a couple of hours. Was not in the mood, to put it mildly.

Now that the weather is crisp (finally) I got guilted into doing some canning.

Guilted by remarks like this:

“oh, my family really looks forward to those jams you make for the holidays”

“we save those jams you make for the weekend and eat them with cheese and crackers and a good wine”

“what flavors of jam are you making this year?”

I suspect a plot. Continue reading Pear, meet jar

Last weekend’s jam marathon

Posted on by mscellenea

 

My exhausting jam-a-thon. Totally worth it. This is Christmas in the bank.

It was a loooong weekend last week. A three-day weekend that felt like a week.

Every single pear in that blasted bushel (about 80 pears) made it into a jar. Continue reading Last weekend’s jam marathon