The blueberry preserves are gone. All that remains of my summer discovery is one frozen pint of berries. So reluctant was I to let go of this last jar that I let it linger next to the kitchen sink until the traces of preserves had hardened like purple superglue. Screw the wildflowers and firefly lanterns - my summer memories will be of mason jars filled with homemade jam. All in all, last season I made 10 pints of Blackberry Plum Jam, 5 pints of Peach Preserves, and 6 pints of blueberry. Like a pitcher reporting to spring training, I am already looking forward to the upcoming season. I now claim jam-and-jelly-making as an official hobby. As in, "I like to read history, run, sew, and make jams and jellies". I think my claim would be greatly substantiated if I had a label. One of my near term goals is to come up with an EllieRichellie label for this season's preserves. But this is tricky because I, of course, reuse the jars and rings, so I can only label the round lid (which is discarded after one use). I have considered sponsoring a label competition where the winning entry would receive a few 1/2 pints of homemade jam and other little gifties. Implicit in this idea is the assumption that more than one creative person is reading Cabin Life. What do you think? Would you like to participate in a Cabin Life Label Jam?
Anyway, today I feel a little like the mid-February pioneer whose larder was down to only a few potatoes, some cornmeal, and maybe a salted ham. You mean I have to subsist until spring on only one 1/2 pint of peach, and 4 of blackberry plum? It will be a meager winter.
ERB
8 comments:
I want in on the label jam!
Put the dam (you) ON THE jam? I'm so in. I may not come up with anything good, but it'd fun anyway.
And, in the off chance, I won...mmm, El's jam. If it's anything like your finals week biscotti, it's so worth the effort!
I like the label jam idea too. Then perhaps I'll be inspired to create my own as well.
Oh the rest of your winter is going to suck without that blueberry jam. I'm out of peach, but still have a few blueberry. I'd mail one to you, but mine are freezer jam. Unless, do you think it would make the trip, cause i could put one in your pif. I've got strawberry too - my personal fav.
I think I might be able to come up with something creative, especially with that prize as motivation. . .Let's see. . .
Oh, I am so in. Two of my favorite things--homemade jam and crafty-goodness.
You can count me in on the competition. However, I don't feel that I would adequately represent the jams or jellies in a label without first sampling them. You know, to really get to know the product.
Yahoo! A label contest! Whoopie! Let's do it.
And we just ran out, too. Strawberry preserves... gone. It was a very sad toast and peanut butter day.
I do not plan to compete in any label-designing competitions, as my skills are not technological in nature, but I think you should design both a label for the top and one for the side. If you give them away as gifts, slap the side of that sucker up with a bigger version of the winning design! I know I appreciate some pretty packaging as a consumer, so I imagine your friends and family would too. (Plus, labels aren't that hard to peel off once they've soaked a little while.)
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