I’ve gotten terribly practical.  If you’d have told me as I registered for wedding gifts, that I would one day squeal in Kroger because they got a new color of Mason jar, I wouldn’t have believed you.

We once had every type of bar glass for every type of drink.  We still do, somewhere, but it takes some serious company to bust them out when there is a Mason jar within reach.

These days, I have a thing for versatility.  It’s not that I know how to decorate for a wedding with Mason jars and burlap or that you will ever receive a candle in one from me.  (More on my disdain for faux-farm decorating another time, I’m certain)  No, I like the practicality of them.

I grab them for so much more than steamy canning sessions after a long day’s harvest.

While I’m not a millennial, I do appreciate how well suited canning jars are to overnight and grab-and-go foods.  In a world where the battle cry of the fast and industrial food chain is a whine that says, “But, I CAN’T eat healthy.  It’s too expensive/hard/time consuming,” layering some inexpensive grains and fruits in a jar, putting it in the fridge and grabbing it on your way out is a practical answer.  It takes more effort to get the smell off of you and out of your car after a drive-thru order than it does to put three or four things in a jar.

We also pack fresh herbs or garlic in olive oil in them when the season nears its end.

They serve as drinkware, are handy vases (especially for herbs to make your space smell great), and are great storage for pesky little things, like say, your kid’s bead collection.

Mason jars seal tight and are dishwasher safe.  They are available in several colors now so we have assigned one to each child to limit the confusion about whose glass is whose.

Does cab taste better in a proper glass?  At our price point, it doesn’t matter.  

And these don’t break as easily in the barn.

Love from the farm

Happy eating, katy