Author: byjoella

I ♥️ Mason Jars

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Do you?

I have a ♥️ for Mason jars. It kinda happened subtly, not intentionally. Before I knew it, I had several here and there in our home.

I’ve lived and traveled Mason jar heaven; from the midwest to the east coast. My grandparents used to have Mason jars filled with canned goodness. My aunts used to serve fresh milk from a Mason jar and make homemade, canned jams and jellies.

While on the east coast, I found some Mason jars that were different from the norm I was familiar with where I grew up, and I found some old zinc lids, including some milk glass and transparent glass liners.

Blue Mason Jars…

  • Our drinking glasses…
  • Coffee Storage.
  • Used in a vignette.

I especially loved the blue glass Mason jars, so I bought some remakes to use for drinking glasses. Slowly I replaced broken drinking glasses in our home with Mason jars from sauces we bought at the store.

When we started Rustic Country Market, I hooked up with Mason Jar Lifestyles, a small, family based business located in Colorado. I started carrying various Mason jar accessories. Oh, but it didn’t stop there. I started to sell our fresh roasted coffee beans in Mason jars.

We recently acquired a couple old, dirty Mason jars, which inspired me to do some history digging. To my amazement, Mason jars play a huge part in the history of the U.S.A., and since I’m a patriot (and veteran) I decided to share what I learned.

I was taught we are supposed to give citations for our sources, but this info is quite common if you spend time doing the internet research. Let’s face it, all information is passed down one way or another. I’ll use my own words based on all the info I gathered…

How Mason jars got their name…

John Landis Mason was born in New Jersey. He was a tinsmith in New York. At the age of 26, he invented the screw on lid, and then patented the Mason jar and screw on lid in 1858. It is my understanding he did not patent the rubber seal under the lid that provided the airtight seal. He attempted to patent the rubber seal, but he was too late. Other companies were using rubber seals with their jars. After his patent expired (1878), Mason was unable to protect his patent via the court system, opening the way for new, “Improved Mason Jar” patents.

Sadly, Mr. Mason died poor in 1902, but his Mason jar legacy lives on with his name.

Mason Jars are a collectible and a common household item today…

Ball started using Mason’s design in 1880, branding it the “Improved Mason Jar.” Blue Ball Mason Jars were produced the late 1880’s – the late 1930’s. Ball’s “Perfect Mason” was produced circa 1913 – 1922. “Ideal” Mason Jars were produced circa 1915 – 1962.

Royal Square Fruit Jars, made by A.G. Smalley Co., Boston and New York, were patented in 1896. The company closed circa 1918.

Atlas Mason Jars were started 1902. Atlas EZ Seal were produced in the early 1900’s. Atlas Strong Shoulder Mason Jars were produced circa 1920’s – 40’s.

Drey Mason Jars were made in the late nineteen hundreds to 1925, until Ball bought them. Ball continued to make Drey Mason Jars for a few years.

Did you know…

  • Mason jars (Patent 1858) were originally made of handblown glass. They can be identified by the air bubbles in the glass jar.
  • Circa 1908: Mason jars were machine made and will typically have a mold seam (line) in the glass and a glass mold and/or production mark on the bottom.
  • There were 2 common types of Mason jar closures:
    • The wire bail and glass lid that clamps down (Lightening Seal) common prior to the 1920’s.
    • Screw top jars which became more popular after the 1920’s.
  • When aging your Mason jar pay attention to the glass quality, closure, jar shape, color, logo, brand name, and base/mold/production marks.
  • Ball Mason jars were popular in eastern USA.
  • Kerr Mason jars were popular in western USA.
  • The brands Ball, Kerr and Golden Harvest Mason jars are all manufactured by the same company since 2022.
  • MARK YOUR CALENDAR: National Mason Jar Day is November 30th.

I think John Mason’s descendants should be proud that today we use their namesake “Mason” jars for endless purposes.

Until next time…

We aren’t just a market, we are Rustic Country Market Living.

Inspiring Home Life ♥️,

THE RELENTLESS REDECORATOR

Backyard Wood Fired (Pizza) Oven

Published on by byjoella1 Comment

We love pizza!!! Especially NY style pizza. In fact, we took our grandsons on a Pizza Tasting Adventure a few years ago. We visited 4 build your own pizza restaurants. We watched them build and cook our pizza, which created an inspiration in us to do it at home.

We decided we wanted a wood fired outdoor brick oven, so we started to research how to build one. There’s a lot of oven options out there. Gas, wood, metal, brick, premade, or build. We decided to buy a DIY wood fired pizza oven kit from The Fire Brick Co.. The company is located in Australia. We purchased their D105 Oven Kit. Their attention to detail and support was phenomenal.

The process of building your own pizza oven is time consuming. If you prefer instant gratification, you may want to purchase a ready made metal one. We wanted one that looked authentic and we could use over and over again. We wanted to be able to see into the oven from our hot tub we installed in fall of 2022, creating a resort like atmosphere in our backyard.

  • Leveling the ground.
  • The foundation.
  • Mixing the cement the old school way.
  • Letting it sit.
  • The oven kit arrived!
  • Moving the kit onto our trailer.
  • Parking the kit in our front yard.
  • Concrete.
  • Making the concrete block support walls.
  • Pouring the upper base.
  • Leveling.
  • Letting it sit.

July, 2023: Foundation & Base

We started to build the oven in our backyard in July, 2023. After we decided on which company to buy from, the next decision was yard location. We wanted it located near our back patio. We had to prep the ground before the kit arrived. The process of building it required a lot of concrete and rebar.

Point # 1: We recommend you have construction skills (or a friend with construction skills) to built a DIY wood fired pizza oven.

  • Adding color to the cinderblock base.
  • Future sidewalls.
  • Cover
  • Embellishing the front of the oven.
  • We will have a view from our hot tub.
  • Putting on the insulation.
  • It’s basically a stucco like finish.
  • Smoothing the dome.

August, 2023: The Dome

It’s been over 1 month into this project. It took 2 weeks to complete the brick dome. Then we had to build a cover over it to protect it from the elements so it would not crack. That took 1 day.

Once the cover was done, the next steps were putting the insulation over the dome, finishing the front edge, and attaching the chimney so we could test the oven. That took 12 days.

Pizza tools arrived! A must have!!
First Fire.

September, 2023: First Fire

A little over 2 months into this project we were able to build 4 major firings in our oven AFTER allowing proper curing time as per the instructions.

October, 2023: Final Touches

All that was left was painting the dome (had to pick out the perfect paint color) and adding side walls to the covering. Total project time was a little over 3 months.

Not just a Pizza Oven!

The key to good pizza is the crust, the sauce and the CHEESE! We needed to find a good recipe for pizza dough/crust and sauce. The sauce was easy, but finding a perfect dough/crust we like was trial and error. We finally settled on a quick, thin crust recipe. You can view some of our pizza crust ideas on Pinterest board named: Roll it and pat it, and mark it with a P. (For Pizza Dough & ME!)

In addition to making pizza in our oven, we’ve grilled steaks, baked meatloaf, baked lasagna in an iron baking dish, smoked peppers & tomatoes for our homemade salsa. The oven stays warm over night, so we can easily use it the following day.

I gotta ask: “What would you cook in a wood fired oven?”

The Relentless Redecorator

We love our wood fired oven. I kinda wish we had one inside our house! And yes, we have to stock up on the proper wood to cook with. Our #1 choice: Oak.

We aren’t just a market, we are Rustic Country Market Living.

Inspiring Home Life ♥️,

THE RELENTLESS REDECORATOR

Manual Coffee Grinder Instructions

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Did you purchase a manual coffee grinder from us at our local Farmers Market and now you wonder, how do I adjust my manual coffee grinder?

Your coffee grinding mechanism is ceramic burr and is set to a very fine grind; but what if you want a medium or course grind coffee?

Vintage Reproduction Manual Coffee Grinder for Regular Mouth Mason Jars

The plastic cover has a little tab to pull it open. Close it while grinding to keep the beans from jumping out. It also grinds hard spices like peppercorns. It does not work well with soft spices, flax seeds, or nuts.

To adjust the grind size:

Remove the top black nut, the spring, and the round piece under the handle.

Screw the hexagonal piece up and down the threaded rod. You will see the 2 pieces of the ceramic grinder moving closer or farther apart. Closer creates a finer grind, farther apart creates a courser grind. Reassemble and grind.

Coffee and Spice Grinder for Regular and/or Wide Mouth Mason Jars

To adjust the grind size:

Remove the gold nut, the handle, and the round piece under the handle.

Screw the gear shaped piece up and down the threaded rod. You will see the 2 pieces of the ceramic grinder moving closer or farther apart. Closer creates a finer grind, farther apart creates a courser grind.

It grinds hard spices like peppercorns. It does not work well with soft spices, flax seeds, or nuts.

Silicone Cover Now Available

Are your coffee beans jumping out of your grinder? We now offer a silicone cover. Simply slide the cover onto the grinder to keep your beans in place.

Wide Cover
Regular Cover

Cleaning Your Grinder

To clean the ceramic burr grinding mechanism, grind uncooked white rice.

And thank you for shopping local!

We aren’t just a market, we are Rustic Country Market Living.

Inspiring Home Life ♥️,

THE RELENTLESS REDECORATOR

Gourmet S’mores Kits

Published on by byjoellaLeave a comment

Update:

Sadly, 1927 S’mores in Portland, OR closed in September, 2024.

1927 S’mores Kits have arrived at Rustic Country Market from Portland, OR. Ninteen27 S’mores, LLC was started in 2015 by our good friends’ daughter and son in law (we attended their wedding). They specialize in locally sourced (Oregon based) partnerships to create their American treats. We had the opportunity to try their s’mores during a trip to Portland, and I gotta say, they are tasty!

Opening the box…

When you open your kit, 1927’s roasting instructions are included so you can enjoy your s’mores right at home. Here in the Arizona White Mountains, we prefer to roast our s’mores over an open fire whether it’s wood or propane (as long as there’s no fire restrictions).

Tasting…

Last night we roasted Cocoa Raspberry S’mores over our propane fire pit in our backyard. The marshmallows are huge! We lost half of one to the fire. We recommend spreading the raspberry preserve on one of the delicious, cocoa graham crackers, place a piece of the bittersweet chocolate on it, then roast and squish your marshmallow between the graham crackers.

Flavors we Offer at our Market:

We aren’t just a market, we are Rustic Country Market Living.

Inspiring Home Life ♥️,

THE RELENTLESS REDECORATOR