So Many Uses for Joyful Jars!

Well, it's been forever since I stopped by the blog!  I have been busy!!  Here are some pictures/ideas for you to use at your home with Joyful Jars products!

 

The first picture is Roasted Red Peppers stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with "Thattsa Hotta" Jam.

 

 This picture shows "Caramel Apple Butter" on warm brie cheese with slices of Granny Smith apples and melba toast!

 Here are cupcakes made from HOLY SHEETCAKE!, a local baker here.  She filled the middle with various flavors of my jams and they were simply fabulous!  Such as "Strawberry Lemonade Marmalade" in a vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting!  Or "Red Raspberry Spread" in a vanilla cupcake.  Also this was very good...."Chocolate Covered Cherry" in a chocolate cupcake!!

 Seasonal favorite "Snowstorm" or "Friki Tiki Colada" is wonderful as a glaze and dipping sauce for grilled shimp!

This is the best!  A "Spicy Bloody Mary Jelly" that can be used as cocktail sauce for shrimp....as a condiment on grilled hamburgers instead of ketchup...as a glaze on meatloaf! 

 

So don't just think of toast or a biscuit!  My jams and jellies can be so much more!!  And they are delicious!  I want you to THINK OUTSIDE THE JAR when you taste one of my jams.  Experiment.  Live on the edge!  Enjoy life! 

Have a great day!  I promise not to stay away so long before posting again!

I found a new passion!

     Well today was a great day!  My good friend, Dawna, owner of Holy Sheetcake!, delivered me a huge box of fresh cupcakes.  Not just any old cupcakes.  These are special because in the middle of each yummy cake, presented in an adorable holder, is a large dollop of JOYFUL JARS JAM!  
     As I carefully took each one out of the box and placed on a plate...I thought..please don't drop these!  I cut into each one that had a different wrapper and was not disappointed!  Lemon Drop, Bushels of Blackberry, Strawberry Lemonade!  Ohhh, they were delicious!   We make a great team.  Her wonderful, moist and fresh cupcakes with buttercream frosting and my Joyful Jars of specialized unique jams.
     And then I found a photo program that I have been wanting to try and I think I should have just stayed away.  LOL I will now spend time, I don't have, on tweaking the pictures till I think they are just right!
     Enjoy life friends.  It is way too short! :)

Snow Days and Canning

Well, it is winter in Ohio so that means "snow days".  In a perfect world, my storage area would have 1000 plus jars of jams and jellies put up! But this is not a perfect world and the days have come and gone.  Household chores, tax forms for four (no one knows how to read their W-2's but Mom!), lots of hand chopping and some kitchen mishaps, has kept my numbers down but I have enjoyed the new flavors I made over the weekend. 

Meyer Lemons and Clementines were the lead flavors.  Strawberries and blueberries, frozen fresh last summer for winter-time use, were added on the side.  Such wonderful blends of tart and tangy, sweet and yummy! I have creatively named them "Lemon Drop", "Oh My Darling...", "Zing in the Blues", "Strawberry Lemonade".

I also made Zucchini Bread Jam, a few new batches of Thattsa Hottsa and a chutney.  It is the first time I made a chutney.  It smelled wonderful cooking on Super Bowl Sunday.  A mixture of red and white onions, brown and white sugar, jalapenos, raisins...can you imagine that over a grilled pork chop?!  YUMMMM.  I can not wait to try it.  Here is a picture of my jars of joy that I made this weekend.  I hope you enjoy the picture!

Designing my Jars

I found a company, Online Labels, that I purchase my labels from.  I love them.  And the design download is fun and easy to use.  If you are looking for labels for anything....check them out!http://www.onlinelabels.com/

Happy 2013!

Hello Everyone!  I am hoping you are enjoying the year 2013 so far.  It has been a pleasant beginning for me. 
After taking time off during the holidays, I will be back in the kitchen this weekend making some unique flavors that will be excellent for Valentine's Day baskets!  I had a few recipe ideas that I didn't have time to make for Christmas.  I have been compiling a list of "year-round favorites" and the "seasonal" list.  I want my ingredients to be a fresh as possible, therefore, I will only use the best quality ingredients I can find.
Thank you for your support and I hope you will enjoy the new flavors headed your way!

ahhhh...Open House tomorrow night. 
Last event of 2012.  What an exciting, unexpected turn of life events for me!  I would have never dreamed that this "dream" would become a reality and it would grow by leaps and bounds so quickly!  I am truely blessed to have had such great success and support from family, friends and new customers that are becoming like friends. 

Hold on to your jars....I have more ideas "cooking" in my mind for 2013!

What a Wonderful Weekend!

Oh what a great time Joyful Jars had at the St. Edwards Catholic Church Bazaar on Saturday, December 1.  Wonderful people, great sales and lots of great compliments!
After the bazaar, my friend Bonnie and I went downtown and there was a celebration going on! An amazing amount of street vendors, horse drawn wagon rides, carolers and lots and lots of people.  It was a warm evening and felt great to be out walking in the crisp December air!