Canning Jars + A Story

Here are a few sites with canning jars and supplies, customized labels and such.

Here

I would like one of all of these.

This one is a goody.

A story:

Often I empty containers of products into a canning jar so the product will remain fresh. One day, I was looking for something and came across a blue, pint jar with something that looked like a powder. When I opened it up, it smelled immediately like chocolate. It tasted like Hershey's or Instant Breakfast.

Well, a glass full of milk later with the powder left me puzzled. It had a strange texture toward the end. Okay. I had another glass of the chocolate powder and milk later on in the day. Yuck...the texture was not right. It appears I was drinking a brownie or cake mix in my milk. I don't advise it.

I have a second set of coupons for canning jars that I will get today. WM does not have wide-mouth quart canning jars, so I will have to pay the price at Publix. This will make two dozen new jars and the swirly kind and sharing kind.

Some of the applications for canning jars don't suit me. Anything glass in my bathroom is a no no. So, I won't be making pumps for soap or using jars for storing cotton balls or Q-tips.

How do you use canning jars other than canning? Have you taken advantage of the coupons that come out each August for Ball canning jars?

Store Mistake aka My Good Fortune

After I got home from WM yesterday afternoon, I realized I had not gotten milk. So, I was back today after I drank the last cupful since I needed the Sunday paper.

Yesterday, as I perused the shelves, I noticed that 1/2 pint canning jars seemed really cheap. These are the squat 8 ounce canning jars that are usually about $6 or $7 for four, sort of expensive. However, they are good for storage. I can eat right from the little short jar if I wish. Yesterday, each pack of four had a sticker for $2.21. I got two.

Formerly, when I think something is really a good deal, the CMS tells me it just got put in the wrong place by an employee, that is not the right price, or a customer put it back in the wrong place. I have been infuriated because there may be a dozen of the item neatly stacked on the shelf. At any rate, I feel cheated. Even when there is a markdown sticker, I am told it is wrong if it rings up at another price!

A store former store employee told me that they are supposed to allow me to buy only two at the wrong price. Sooo, when the two boxes of jars rang up for more, I informed the checker I knew I was allowed to buy two at the wrong price and explained it again for the person who came to her aid. I had taken a picture of the shelf with two boxes left. An employee examined the picture, enlarged the price, and she concluded that was indeed the price on the shelf.

Today, I went for and milk and the paper. Feeling a little bold, I went back and the same two boxes of jars were on the shelf! I took those two to the checkout and told the person over the cashiers what happened yesterday, and the price was still $2.21, so I wanted these two for that price. No one blinked an eye. Knowing the rules helps lots. I have had as many as three CSMs and manager types come to bully me into accepting their word that things marked wrong, or on the wrong shelves cannot be sold for the wrong price. AHA!

I am not sure why I cannot open the internet when I have Blogger open. I was going to cut and paste the jars from Amazon). I am sure you have seen them--squat. 2 inches high, wide-mouthed, holds one cup.

My jars have increased by 16 half-pint jars for $8.84. That is still cheaper than the regular jelly jars that hold the same capacity. The price would have been more than $24, at least.

Did I really need these? Who passes up on canning jars marked so cheaply? Plus, I was air-drying Tupperware cereal bowls that I use mostly for storage, drying them on a cookie sheet in the cold oven and later turned on the oven. My storage bowls are severely depleted. But, like I said, these can be easily eaten from, unlike the taller jelly jars.

Your turn
Are you ever so lucky to find items marked wrong that should not be? Does WM or another store give you a hassle? What is your latest or best acquisition of item or items marked wrong.

Do you ever melt plastic on the stove or in the oven?

Remember when canning jars came in boxes?

1981 box and jars ready to go on a shelf

Those days are long gone. I still have a box from about forty years ago when I bought my first Ball quart canning jars. At a thrift store a few years ago, I found another sturdy cardboard box full of mostly Ball quarts. Today, as I was moving a box of half-pint jelly jars, I was longing for the days of the cardboard box for canning jars.

The boxes are sturdy, just fit the jars, have partitions, and make good storage. Nowadays, the jars come in a flimsy cardboard "tray" that has no flap/lid and is covered with plastic shrink wrap. Boo for plastic; yay for boxes with flaps. I don't have to worry about the jars full of jelly or empty jars clinking together or having to find a cushion to between each jar. When I fill 12 jars of anything, the box can be used to store canned goods.

After all, the canned food should not be exposed to light. THEN, when the jars are empty, the box makes excellent storage for those empty jars--no chipping, no dings, no breakage. No jars ever get jostled on a shelf or knocked off a shelf. I put the flat (you call them lids?) back on the jar held on with a ring so that I don't have to scrub spiders and dirt when I can next time. Ick for spiders, dead or alive in a jar.

The box pictured is from 1981. Despite 30 years of use, it is still intact. I take good care of boxes...lol...so I can store the original--toy, jars, small appliances.

It struck me as I took the picture that the box was quite artistic. Maybe the box is not artistic. Maybe I am just sentimental.

By the way, these dozen half-pint jelly jars cost $4.56 in 1981. The price label is still intact. The price of Ball canning jars has doubled.

(Don't you love the design element in my photos? LOL at me. Hey, it was sitting on the washing machine, ready to go on a shelf when I decided to write this post tonight. I quit what I was doing to write.)

Edited: I saw a box of Better Homes and Gardens canning jars in a box like I wanted. But, I want Ball jars. I only use those and Kerr.

Your turn 
Do you remember when canning jars came in cardboard boxes with flaps? Do you miss the convenience of real boxes instead of flimsy cardboard trays when you buy canning jars? Do you use the boxes to store the jars, full or empty?