More than a Jar

Recently pulled this out of my recipe binder and it reminded me of my early years of canning with my children, who are now all teenagers. And yes I got a bit nostalgic not that it was all calm & quiet as this picture.
Check out the children sitting at the kitchen table. There not overly happy to be sitting there but they are there, helping snap beans. Because after all putting food up in this instance is a family affair even in gender specific roles of 1940's.
Besides learning to can or at least food prep, these brothers are learning teamwork.
So did my children
They're learning the whole save for a rainy day theory. Put up while the putting good.
So did my children.
Family bonding.
K, corny but I can tell you that even my eighteen year old 6' son will ask me about my canning efforts, which leads him to asking me about the garden, which leads to us talking and sharing.

I can remember picking them up from the airport after their summer visit with Dad one year. As we pulled into the driveway I announced that I had bought them all something.
Really, what Mom?
Something you can use.
In unison - Sounds like socks Mom.
No it's a paring knife, one for each of you. I scored peaches at the farmers market. 3 bushels needed to be in jars yesterday.
Moaning, groaning, more moaning. We liked it better when you didn't let us use knives Mom.
Tell about your summer children. I missed you.


~~ pelenaka ~~

who still gets teary eyed thinking about the afternoon we all sat around a wash tub filled with ripe peaches in the backyard, the peach juice dripping down our arms as we talked and sliced in the late Summer sun.

Stacking the deals

Last month I ordered some items from YaySave for a few reasons even though I am generally not an online shopper for household & personal care products. Mainly because there are ever any good deals on items I actually use like vinegar or borax.

Normally I barter for these but my gf, the coupon queen is moving out of the city.. While it won't be impossible to barter with her @ her new digs it won't be convenient nor economical. Can u believe the price of gas now ?

Deal is that if I access the YaySave website thru Swagbucks I could get free shipping & 450 Swag Bucks which can be redeemed for a $5 Amazon gift card for ordering $45 worth of products. Yes, I know I automatically thought geez I bet all they carry is air freshener or hair products.
They do. But they also carry quite a few items that we do use.

Here's what I bought from YaySave -

Ajax dish soap 16 oz. bottles Lime with Bleach alternative, 97¢ each - 18 bottles.
Purrel Hand sanitizer with cleansing wipes, $4.80 each (3 pack) - 2 (keeping family healthy priceless).
Ivory bar soap - 3 pack for 99¢ - bought 24 packs (making laundry soap)


Disclaimer - yes I do know how to make plain laundry soap with store bought veggie shortening & lye. I even know how & have rendered lard. To be truthful I have yet to make lye although I do know how.
I just felt that @ these prices buying was the better deal. Oh I should also say that I have done dishes with Ivory soap - use a vinegar rinse.
K, now we are all set on cleaning dirty clothes & dishes, not to mention removing heebiejeebies on our hands.

Debating on another order. Thinking along the lines of toilet paper.
No I won't discuss homemade reusable personal cleaning wipes in daily applications. Apparently I'm just not that fugal.

I've got $45 sitting in my Amazon account a.k.a. my Birthday/Christmas/Emergency fund just by using Swag bucks website. It's for real and it's no skin off my back using it as a search engine or watching the video clips while I do kitchen chores, knit, or read.
I've even taken a few surveys.
I doubted my barter buddy gf for months until she showed me a book that she ordered free from Amazon using her Swagbucks. There's also a referral earning program.




~~ pelenaka ~~

TOM

Tin of Meat in this case Spam for medium to long range food storage if it lasts that long. Made children swear that they won't pop open a can. K, to those of u who are making a face @ the thought of SPAM on your plate all I can say is the we enjoy it fried up with scrambled eggs. It's also very packable and needs no refrigeration until opened well even after it's open because there won't be any left to refrigerate.
I've had SPAM $1 off 3 coupons for over a month waiting on a good sale. Finally CVS had tins for $2.50 each, I actually had $6.50 in quarterly bonus bucks = 3 tins free & 1 @ $2.50.
Went back four days later since I had another bonus buck and coupon bought 3 tins = 1 @ 50¢, two @ $2.50.
BTW SPAM if you didn't already know stands for Specially Processed American Meats, just ask any WW2 vet.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Rubber Bands

Our 16 daughter main mode of transportation besides walking is her bike. Last week her front tire popped so we were left with an inner tube that was in fair shape. Before hubby could patch it though I cut it up for rubber bands something my mother use to do. Yes, before rubber bands were commercially offered in colors this is what she used to put my hair up with. She had a personal vendetta not to leave my long hair free so we went thru allot of bands.
Depending on how thick u cut them is how much give u will have.
After cutting toss them in a dishpan with a bit of soapy water and swish them around to remove that white powder residue that is inside the inner tube.
Hang to dry.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Mrs. Kravetz

Recently a more famous urban homesteader I has had some tribulations due to her farming activities.
She got popped for selling ... wait for it, let it simmer, exhale ... selling chard.
Seems that her raising rabbits for food may have sparked the dime being dropped to Oakland's code man.
An act of food terrorism.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Put ah Lid On It

The following blog post is 2nd in a series of fugal home food preservation  for the novice.

Pictured are examples of what is left of my meager lid stash hovering some where around 200 maybe a bit more. More than likely a bit less.
The wide mouth lids are only used on the half gallon mason jars that are used for dry storage/vacuum sealing. I made a decision years ago to only stock regular or small mouth canning jars, so then I only needed one size lid - regular. Others will disagree as wide mouth is nice when your trying to stuff a chicken breast into a jar but, generally speaking regular canning jars tend to show up in the second hand market more often. Regular lids tend to be on the store shelves longer.
The Ball box with the yellow graphics is pre-Internet. On the back is a mail order form to send away for a Ball Blue Book 32nd ed. $3.50 check or money order. Top tab reads,"Thank You for Buying This American Made Product".
Remember what I wrote about not using wire bail canning jars (jar rubbers), and how I had even bought a few boxes. Apparently I own allot more than a few boxes.
This box has a date of 1975 which brings to mind just exactly how long are jar rubbers good for ? What exactly is a split tab & why was it needed.
Side of the box advertises the 29th ed. of the Ball Blue Book for $1. The back of the box gives directions for use with zinc caps.
The next box of regular dome lids dated 2002 and except for the box graphics is unchanged from what is sold today. Besides the helpful one eight hundred help line the company's website is listed. And as before a canning recipe (freezing & dehydrating) book is offered for $ 4.95 + $1 for postage & handling. We bought these thru eBay 4 or 5 years ago worked out to 12¢ or 14¢ each.
Lat Summer I was able to score new Ball lids using coupons that were doubled due to a Tops special promotion.

Years ago I use to buy American Harvest or Golden Harvest brand lids for 99¢ per 12 or 8¢ a piece @ stores like Family Dollar and Big Lots. Last year when I checked they were $1.69.
This brand is my favorite to use for the simple reason that the lids are blank. No graphics no logo just a blank lid ready for a quick scribble of date & contents in marker.

Wish  I had some sage advice on buying lids for pennies but I don't.
Just know what prices run so you can spot a deal, keep checking eBay for case lot sales, and if your in a $ store and lids are under $2 a box grab me ten.

Paraseal Wax, W.&F. MFG. Co., INC., Buffalo, New York 14240 net weight 1 pound - 25¢.

Produced wax novelty candy such as those wax lips and coke bottles we all loved as kids.

~~ pelenaka ~~