Half Pint Canning Jars and a tiny book review of The Homemade Pantry

I have a peculiar delight for mason jars. I often think of getting a flat of them at the wrong time of year. They are seasonal where I live, and this is their season, harvest time. So yay! I remembered this year.

I purchased 12 half pint wide mouths, and the mister gave me a look like what the heck?!

I'm not much of a canner, you see. I'm a bit frighten of poisoning myself. Improper home canning is the number one cause of botulism, and botulism is kinda deadly.

But the way I see it, little glass jars have other uses.

Years ago I read about making cake-in-a-jar on Angry Chicken's blog. I still follow her. She comes up with some fun stuff. Not every single day. And not too over-the-top Martha-like that I need to go out and buy cake decorating tips or something. She gets excited and shares.

So I went back to her archives and found the post I was looking for - Cake-in-a-Jar! I did some googling too. So I'm sure baking is in my future.

Another favorite blogger talked about salad-in-a-jar for lunches, and said she could make up a whole week's worth and they would stay fresh. I thought I might try this for work days. I've slowly switched my fridge containers from plastic to glass, and I have to say everything stays fresher in glass. So I'm intrigued.

A third use for these little containers came from a book I came across and purchased immediately. That book is called The Homemade Pantry. I highly recommend this book. Since I depend on a well-stock pantry to inspire me and pull together a "there's nothing to eat for dinner" day, I was blown away with all the cool stuff I could make and, yes, store in my jars.

Norwegian Wood: Review

After I read Haruki Murakami's autobiography, I knew I wanted to read a few of his novels. He is a well-known Japanese novelist with a very modern approach. So a checked out a couple and started to read concurrently, but quickly opted to just one for fear of getting the stories mixed up. Norwegian Wood was the first one.

I had just finished Catcher in the Rye and was hoping for something completely different. Unfortunately Norwegian Wood is Murakami's Catcher in the Rye.

I didn't see that in the beginning. In fact, I was sucked in by a surprisingly wonderful first chapter. The best chapter in the book. The second chapter was the second best, the third chapter was the third best, and then the book sort of plateau and by the end, well the conclusion was foregone. The reader knows from the start what the end will be. Or maybe I'm just a good guesser.

Without giving too much away, this book was very much like Catcher in the Rye coming of age story, only the storyteller is a little older and in college. Short aside: I finished the book on January 9th. On the same day there was a Japanese holiday, but I hadn't a clue of what kind of holiday it was. (I have a Flickr contact who is Japanese and her photos show some kind of celebration.) So I Googled it of course, and guess what? Jan. 9 is The National Coming of Age Day in Japan, and the age in which they celebrate is 20 years old.

Anyway, the age of 20 figures prominently in this book. So weird how everything sort of interconnects.

Really, the strength of this writer is in his descriptions of nature and landscape, his ability to paint his characters unique, and the main character is far more likable than Holden.

I might recommend it, but first I want to read a few more of his titles.