So I discovered this recipe on an obscure recipe sharing site. Some guy named Ed shared it and one of the people who made it says it is ... "Real jelly, not the gelatinized stuff other recipes call coffee jelly - this is something to use with PB&J. Not an easy recipe for the preciseness of measuring and rigor of following instructions. It's got to be done this way or it will not work, at least by my experience it will not work. Experience and/or knowledge of canning is required if the jelly is to be stored at room temperature.Observe the precautions, or keep all the jelly in the refrigerator"  Well, I figure if you are reading this, you have a working knowledge of jelly making and canning. If you are a first time canner I recommend you make a few easier recipes to get some experience and then come back to this one later. That way you can store it on the shelf and not have to eat coffee jelly every day for the next 6 months to keep it from spoiling. Ed's Re...

Did you know? According to the USDA Yearbook of Agriculture; " American housewives canned more than four billion cans and jars of food in 1943, and nearly three and a half billion quarts of food in 1944. The latter represents nearly one-half of the canned vegetables and two-thirds of the canned fruits that were available for civilian consumption that year." That's a lot of canning! Did you know? That during WWI the US government  promoted the cultivation of “war gardens,” and later changed the name to “victory gardens” after the war was won and in order to maximize the utility of war gardens, the Federal Government emphasized a number of food preservation methods, namely canning, as a patriotic venture.  Numerous posters were produced during WWII emphasizing the correlation between canning and victory. Like the example below found in the public domain and courtesy of University of North Texas digital collections. Did you know? That in 1943 the USDA ...

When you hear the name Napoleon Bonaparte the last thing you associate it with is home canning. But actually he had everything to do with the development of food preservation. In the late 1700s when he noticed the high number of his soldiers that were suffering and dying from malnutrition, Napoleon offered a prize of twelve thousand Francs to anyone who could come up with a practical way to preserve food. The call was answered by an innovative chef name Nicolas Appert in 1810 when he presented Napoleon with his method of bottling fruits, vegetables and meats using heat to preserve them by boiling the sealed bottles in water.  He used his reward money to establish a cannery and later changed his preferred packaging container to tin cans. This was the beginning of commercial food  canning which has become commonplace to us. Home canning did not become a common practice in America until later in the 1800's with the invention of the screw cap mason jar and the needs of a pop...

I've been designing a lot of things with lemon patterns at my Zazzle stores lately and it has really gotten me in the mood for some lemony goodness.  So when I tripped across this recipe I knew I had to share it.  The spring of 2020 has been the longest spring I can ever remember in my 58 years of life and it is not over yet. But maybe this summery recipe will add cheer to our taste buds while it helps us hang on through another few weeks of the new social distancing we are having to endure. I can't wait to try this one! Let me know if you did and how you liked it.  Honey Lemon Jelly Ingredients: 2-1/2 cups honey 3/4 cup lemon juice 6 tablespoons grated lemon zest 1 pouch (3 ounces) liquid fruit pectin Directions:   In large non reactive pan, combine honey, lemon juice and zest.  Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Stir in pectin.  Continue to boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from...