Not only are glass jars useful, but they make whatever I fill them with beautiful. If light is streaming through or just reflecting off the contents, the jar makes something merely functional into an aesthetic experience.
Sprouting seeds in mason jars in the windowsill in the winter brings a little summer into a winter kitchen.
Mason jars are great for making and storing salt. I collected salt chunks from the Great Salt Lake last time I visited. I had my daughter bring me some from an ancient Mayan salt-collecting vat on her vacation. I dissolved the salt in water, rocks and impurities were filtered out, and the salt water was evaporated out in a mason jar. Homemade salt.
Ginger ale needs to ferment for several days, and the bubbles can be seen through a glass jar to make sure the fermentation process is coming along.
Handmade hand scrub is beautiful in a glass jar.
I don’t know why the morning sun shining through this jar of tea struck me, but it did.
Mason jars and fresh picked apples go together like … well … apple pie and ice cream. Applesauce, apple butter, apple cider …. apple goodness.
And of course, refrigerator pickles with all those cucumbers taking over the garden.
What do you put in your jars? I’d love to know!