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I’m not sure if this happens to anyone else, but things my chef/husband uses in the restaurant and menu items he’s developing end up in our kitchen.  Sometimes it’s a salad dressing I wonder how I’ve ever lived without.  Sometimes it’s cheesecake in a jar with lemon curd which I could eat 10 of in one sitting.

Lately, it’s been mason jars.

I’ve become obsessed with mason jars and I totally blame it on my chef/husband.

And while I love mason jars, I think I might even love the plastic screw on lids even more!

You might laugh and think I’m crazy, but can I tell you that I have spent entirely too much money this month trying to find the PERFECT pen to use when labeling a mason jar.  And still haven’t found one that works perfect with condensation.

My husband and his crew at Palisade make a lot of sauces and preserves in house for their City View Brunch every Sunday.  He decided to paint chalkboard labels on mason jars to label them and they look AMAZING!

So of course I decided I needed to do this at home with the million mason jars we have (see below).  I attempted the chalkboard label, but failed.  So I just label the jars with a sharpie chalk pen in hopes of not annoying my chef/husband when he tries to find something in the refrigerator.  Maybe one day I’ll attempt it again, but if it’s working, why go to the extra work?  🙂

I think my obsession with mason jars really started last year when my chef/husband filmed a Dare to Cook video on Canning Basics and Gourmet Food Preservation.  It was 2 full days of filming which resulted in lots of canned and preserved items for us!  (Nice perk for me – great food, no work!)  As we began to enjoy the different items in the jars, the mason jars started to take over our house!  (OK, not really, just the kitchen and extra storage shelves in the garage.)

So we use them for everything.  My favorite use at the moment is as a cup with a straw in it.  A few months ago I found this great DIY post on how to make Mason Jar Straw lids.  I loved this idea!!

I was all ready to head to Home Depot and get my supplies when my husband suggested just drilling a hole in one of the plastic Ball Storage Caps that I already had so I wouldn’t have to worry about the hole and grommets being food safe.  Brilliant!

So within a few minutes I had a lid to hold my cute polkadot straws and a cup for my kids that won’t dump everywhere when they knock it over (because you know it’s going to happen.)  I’m loving using these with the girls now that we are past the sippy cup stage, but still tend to knock things over a lot!

So today, I sit and enjoy my iced vanilla latte in a mason jar, with a cute pink polkadot straw while sitting on the deck enjoying the SUN!!  (Sorry, when you live up in the pacific northwest, it’s very exciting when the sun comes out and it’s in the 70’s.!!)  The only thing that’s missing is my chef/husband . . .

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This post is happily shared over at Christian Mommy Blogger.