Blueberry Jam and yard sale treasures

Hello, everybody!

 The Fresh Pioneer is back and I'm hoping everybody's having an awesome summer! We've been... Weird, I can't seem to think of anything really amazing we've been doing. Every day feels packed and full and we're exhausted at the end (and some of us are usually covered with ice cream and dirt) but there's not much to really point to as 'big projects'.

 

 

So, I was going through some boxes of jars I'd been given (they were going to be donated) I saw some interesting jars. Lots of wide mouth, zinc lidded, half gallon, Ball and Kerr, vintage stuff. I was sort of looking for blue glass, but no luck. But in one box, I saw some nice pint jam jars for a friend. And with the jars I saw:

I knew they were old. But... what were they exactly?

Edna was very interested as I brought them into the kitchen. She needed a closer look so I washed a few and brought them for inspection. She declared them to be vintage jelly jars but it was hard to tell from what era. The angel and crown imprint on the bottom is indented. Edna said it makes a nice mold detail for aspic that could be set on a plate at the table.

 

 

 On Food Network I found a great article about glass and canning and vintage stuff.

This here's a hand made  jar which you can tell by the pontil mark on the bottom, which made me think of all those hand-made marbles we have somewhere and then I wondered where they were and if they were in a box or if the kids had rolled them under the couch and the Edna whirred her beaters and I remember... CANNING JARS. Yes, back to what we were doing.

"Purple jars (the color is the result of sun exposure to the manganese dioxide in the glass) were made prior to World War I because during the war manganese dioxide, which was scarce, was replaced by selenium."

 

 These are the precursor to the two-part lids. Hm. Definitely old. It's even sideways.

 This was a very COOL nifty little time line for Ball jar marks. I didn't see one for Kerr, but it did help me sort a bunch of jars from the ten boxes and set them aside. They can be shown off instead of ending up holding nails in hubby's shed.

"Thumb Screw Clamp  During the Civil War and later some manufacturers used a clamp and glass lid design. The jar has a cast metal wire that clamps down on a glass lid and holds it tightly in the neck of the jar. These were used with round gaskets to create the seal. "

 

I have to say, if I saw jars like this I would pass out. That's some OLD STUFF.

 Ok, so now that we knew WHAT they were, we decided to make some jelly! So, pectin (by the Ball company, don't tell the Kerr glass we were using).

 And then I thought, wouldn't it be neat if those extra lids fit on one of my Fireking teacups??

 Oooooo! Perfect! Now, usually there would be a layer of wax of the jam, but we're just going to eat it (like in a day or two) so I didn't bother worrying about keeping it sealed. If I was going to give this away, I would definitely do the wax step. Maybe I'll hand some out next time. *Remember to buy wax!!

 Blueberries from the store that really don't taste like blueberries so they've been sitting in the fridge. Three cups of blueberries. 1 cup sugar. I know that's a lot of sugar. It's TASTY. A few TBs of lemon juice.

 I turned around to see the vintage percolator had joined the party. They were all have a great time reminiscing over breakfast brunches from the forties. Mr. Perky had been used for a camp coffee maker for a while. He told a roaring tale about nosy bears drinking from his spout which had Edna shrieking with laughter and poor Kerr jelly jars shivering under their lids. The Fireking teacup was cheerfully enjoying the tale, as always.

 Before boiling the fruit, I stirred in 3 TBs of pectin. When it cooled, some of the jam went into the teacup.

 Two jams, and one jelly, for the child that prefers no chunks on her toast.

 I think these lids are so elegant. There were about 5 extras and I'm wondering what to do with them. *Must search internet late at night for crafting ideas when I should be writing!

And a jaunty bow, because the jelly jar had been in storage for (according to the donor) about 25 years. After that long in a cardboard box in the attic with the spiders, Edna declared sweet little jelly jar deserved some pretty in her life. When I tied it on, I think she blushed a bit and was feeling quite special!

 So, until next time my dears!