It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers.
Hi Mavis, I canned my first tomatoes a few days ago and used fresh lemon juice. Even though lots of blogs say to only use bottled, I’m sure they’ll be fine! I do have a quick canning question, when I went to take my second batch out of the water canner I realized that the water had evaporated a bit, so it wasn’t fully over the lids. They were still submerged in a good boil and my lids sealed well. Would you still think they’re ok? Thanks so much!
~ Rebecca
I hope they are fine, but if you don’t want to chance it, refrigerate your canned goods and use them right away. In the future, you can quickly fix that problem by adding more boiling water during the process, if needed, to keep the water level above the jar tops {that’s a really important thing!}. Also, pour the water around the jars and not directly onto them.
Following your fruit butter recipe and I noticed you used Weck jars. I had never heard of them before. Looked them up, using your link. Interesting!
Why do you choose to use them over the “other” jars? Have you learned that you like them better? Did you start with them? Tell me, tell me 🙂 . I don’t know about the price, but if they are good forever, no lids, and such, maybe they would be worth it? I am curious to hear what you have to say about them. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
~Tami
The funny thing about Weck jars is I get about a question a week regarding them. I would say I’m not sure what the fascination is, except I think they are so awesome I get it. Now back to your questions. First, it comes down to aesthetics. I just love the way they look. Second, the jars are thicker, so for some reason I just think all my goodies inside will keep even better. And did I mention they look so cute! Here’s a quick tutorial on How to Use Weck Canning Jars.
Hi Mavis,
Just wondering how you ever have time to do the swagbucks thing. For me it is very time consuming. Any tips?
~Penny
Swagbucks can be time consuming if you watch the videos or do the surveys. Sometimes I’ll watch the videos while I’m rug hooking, but mostly I just search the web {and earn a few swagbucks that way} or shop online like I normally would. Select one of the partnering online retailers and earn 2 Swag Buck for every dollar you spend. I have used this feature several times.
Once I ordered a wedding gift online from Macy’s and scored 150 points. Another time I bought The Girl some running shoes thru Nike.com and the HH helped me score boo koo points when he ordered his new camera online as well. Basically you earn 2 swag points for every dollar you spend. Simply go to the swagbucks site first and click thru to the desired retailer and order as you normally would.
Do you ever get in a gardening rut? How do you snap out of it?
~Lisa
I really love to garden. It’s therapeutic for me, so it never really seems like a chore. With that said, once in awhile it does get a little boring. When that happens, I just try to switch up my routine. I plant something I’ve never tried before or I search for a new recipe to try so I look forward to my harvest a bit more. Or you can invite friends or kids over and give them a gardening tutorial or walk them through your garden plan.
Seems silly, but putting my garden plan on the site helps get me excited and renews my gardening gusto!
I have to make a birthday cake and I’m kind of the worst baker ever. I always just use the box cakes, but somehow I even mess those up. Any secrets to baking the perfect birthday cake? You would so be helping an avid reader out!
~Claudia
So those boxed cake mixes can actually be quite delicious. I have a few secrets on How to Make a Boxed Cake Mix Taste Homemade. Some people don’t think they are great bakers, but what I’ve learned is it really just takes practice, a great recipe and using other people’s trial and errors to help you on your way. Good luck with the cake!
Have a question for me? Submit them HERE and I’ll try to answer them.
~Mavis
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Carrie says
I would some day love to have/use the weck jars. In the mean time, due to cost and the fact that I have a huge supply of regular jars, I am trying out Tattler lids. They use a rubber ring and a plastic lid that are reusable and a regular metal ring. They take a little time to get used to but, I love not having to buy lids. Some day I’ll slowly start transitioning to weck as I love that there is no plastic
Barb says
Refrigerate the tomatoes or throw them out. Bottled lemon juice is uniformly acidified so the acid level is consistent. Fresh lemons vary in acidity. The USDA recommends bottled lemon juice for canning to provide a safe pH so bacteria can’t grow. You might not die this time, but I wouldn’t want to chance it.
I have used fresh lemon juice when I’ve made jam, but that is only for flavor–balancing out the sweet and tart–not to keep bacteria at bay.
Erin says
I love the look of Weck jars and decided to try them in my pantry. I have a deep pantry with rollout shelves, so I got taller ones for the back then some mid size and then kept some other smaller jars I already had for the front. I put labels just under the lids so now I can see what is in every jar I have and reach them without having to move jars around. It works and looks beautiful. My only complaint is that the rubber rings are very thin and flimsy and tend to fall in the jar if you’re a bit clumsy as I am, and if you’re not careful when opening the metal clips, they’ll go flying across the counter! They’re also just a little tricky to get on at first, but get easier as you get used to them.
KAthleen says
Well, Wednesday am, I see my tomatoes are just near ready, so I’m thinking Saturday I will be picking a batch for canning. Thursday am, look and see NO tomatoes except for a few small green ones and the plants eaten to nubbins in spots. 10 plants! DEER have returned! I now see the book The Yearling with different eyes…grrr….I wonder if I put out fed would the deer eat that and leave my plants alone? Apparently my DEER are gourmands as they seem to prefer only the tenderest and best of plants!