Exalting the humble.
There is one kitchen item without which my kitchen wouldn't really be mine. I speak type of the Mason Jar.
I have a prodigious number of these. All my friends and family know to keep a sharp eye for these and to give them to me. Mostly I get the ones that are pasta sauce size (24 oz, I think), but about 25% of the time I get larger or smaller ones.
There is a reason why I love these jars and it has to do with one of those kitchen loyalties of mine: My Oster blender.
Y'see, dear Internet, upon the neck of the Mason jar, the base (containing the base, gasket and blade) of the Oster blender fits P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y. So, I often cram things into such a jar, thread on the Oster base, put it on the blender and -- zap!-- I have pesto. Or chimichurri, or soy/sesame marinade or roast vegetable salsa or whatever without getting the blender's jar dirty. I take the Oster base off, screw on the lid, and store. (Let the record show, your honor, that I have been doing this for decades before magazines aimed at stressed suburbanites who dress out of those museum/public television catalogs came up with the notion.)
Beyond this, I like the way the jar looks with other, non-blendered edibles. I just marinated a whole mess of Gaeta olives and stored some triple concentrated chicken stock. In the top shelf of my underwhelming, underachieving, came-with-the-house refrigerator I have over 15 different jars.
I also use them to store/show off bulk spices, give away assorted rubs and spice/herb mixes, store some kinds of dried pasta, etc.
But that Oster blender, that makes everything so.much.better.
-J.
Comments
Oh how I wish my own life were so beautifully coordinated.
Well, except just now.
-J.
Oh, and that magazine to which you linked? Waaaay back when it premiered, I got a free issue and hated it on sight. And I have never felt the need to reconsider that opinion, even though I think I'm the only soccer mom in town who doesn't love the thing.
Of course, I'm also the only soccer mom in town who lacks a fondness for Oprah, so what else is new?
-J.
I don't like Oprah, have only a vague notion of the garb you mention, but love mason jars and use them for all kinds of things.
You realize you ar hurting your blender's feelings, don't you? Here it is, 425W to 650W at the ready, eager to chop, puree, frappé and/or liquefy at your beck and call and you snub it?
One day you'll have need of a frozen tropical slushy beverage and it may betray you.
Repent! Repent!
-J.
P.S. Besides, the Mason Jar/Oster thing would be like playing matchmaker to two wonderful people. Only you can't with hot liquids, because picking glass shards out of your skin and hair puts a damper on kitcheny fun.
Apropos of nothing, did you get any helpful suggestions about your boys' bathroom?
I like the way it looks.
I haven't canned in a while so it would be nice to use them for something.
Do they fit just through happy accident or on purpose? Because if it's an accident you are a genius to have figured it out.
Then I come home, throw something in the skillet or the pasta pot, dump something from a jar and voila! yummy goodness.
I also learned that it takes 5% more effort to make a huge batch of something that will last forever, so I do that.
Wait until I get all bloggy about infused oils.
-J.
I use mine to store beans and rice and stuff, too. It's esthetically pleasing when I open up my cupboards and see rows of jars in them. I feel all frugal and housewifely and shit.
-J.