Tennessee Gun

Tag: mason

  • Recipe: Mason Lid Tart

    Recipe: Mason Lid Tart

    Mason Lid Tart

    52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
    Buy at Amazon

    Getting into canning means you end up with a lot of Mason jar lids, being a DIY orientated person causes me to look for solutions to problems using materials at hand.

    Now to be honest, making tarts is not a huge life problem for me, but after the tuna can cake I thought I would try a mason lid tart.

    I enjoyed making single serve desserts, and with my wife wanting me to “get healthy” she wants me to control my portions.

    This recipe is adapted from a 10 inch tart shell recipe, so it will make 15 or tarts – if you leave them in the lid for sturdiness, and wrap them they make good gifts.

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
    • 1/2 cup ice water
    • Pear Pie Filling (recipe below)

    Procedure

    1. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine.
    2. Add the butter and mix, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas.
    3. While mixing slowly pour the ice water into the bowl and mix until the dough starts to come together. .
    4. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball.
    5. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
    6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
    7. Spray your mason jar lids with nonstick spray.
    8. Pull clumps of dough (about 2 tbsp for each mini tart) from the large dough ball and smash them into each lid.
    9. Push the dough so it covers the bottom and sides of each lid.
    10. Refrigerate the formed shells while you prepare the filling.
    11. Set the mason jars on a cookie sheet
    12. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the pie filling starts to set.
    13. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out.
    14. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn’t stick to the edge of the lid. Push the bottom of the lid up, so the ring falls around your wrist.
    15. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

    Filling

    Makes about 28 ounces, enough for a regular size pie

    Ingredients

    • 5 cups diced pears (I kept the skin on)
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 2 tbsp flour
    • 1/2 a lemon juiced

    Procedure

    1. Toss all the ingredients into a large pot, mix until the flour is distributed evenly.
    2. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes.
    3. Turn the heat on medium-high. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.
    4. Bring mixture to a boil and lower to low/medium heat. Stir occasionally.
    5. Keep over the heat for about 30 minutes, until it begins to thicken.
    6. Pour into a container, cool, then store in the fridge until ready to use.
  • Mason Jar Straw Lid Review

    Mason Jar Straw Lid Review

     

    Gear Review: Mason Jar Straw Lid
    Buy at Amazon

    My wife got into a no BPA phase, and since I agree that BPA is bad when ingested, and I love buying new gadgets I jumped with her and landed with both feet in the gadget aisle of the store.

    We started using glass mason jars for all sorts of stuff, from salad containers, to salt shakers, to cup (well I am Southern so mason jar glasses is not new).

    One thing we found is a Mason Jar Straw Lid.  This was awesome as the boy loves drinking out of a straw.

    Actually, he mostly likes blowing bubbles in his milk through a straw.  However, the lid keeps the bubbles in the jar.

  • Mason Jar Infuser Review

    Mason Jar Infuser Review

    Mason Jar Infuser
    Click Picture to Order

    As you well know, my Genny is pretty serious in her quest to get healthy.  I never thought she would stop drinking diet mountain dew but she quit cold turkey.

    I figure that I should do something to support her, especially since I now know exactly how serious she is.

    I figure that the best way I can show I am thinking about her goals and how I can help her is to find a replacement for her favorite drink.  To do that I looked to infused waters.  Then I found this Mason Jar Infuser lid.

    The lid fits on a mason jar and has a compartment under it that holds fruit under the water so that you can infuse the water with some of the fruit taste without a lot of the sugar.

    Cucumber water has long been a favorite of many celebrities and now my wife can have the benifits of it without being too fancy.

    All she has to do is slice up her favorite fruit and insert a few slices in the Mason Jar Infuser, fill the jar with water, close the lid, and wait.

    She can do this before bed and have a drink ready to go in the morning.

    She loves it and I get supportive husband points.

  • How to Make a Mason Jar Lid Cut from a Orange Juice Container

    How to Make a Mason Jar Lid Cut from a Orange Juice Container

    Better DIY Mason Jar Lid
    Buy at Amazon

    I am always in search of ways to make food storage easier, recently I shared a tip for making a mason jar lid from things in the kitchen.  It was a good tip, but this one is a little better.

    Today we show a DIY mason jar lid cut from a orange juice container.  It makes poring simpler, and is an all around better tip.  As Genny says in the video, we saw this on survival blog and wanted to share.

    I tend to visit Survival Blog very often, and Rawles even wrote the introduction to one of my books.

    This is not the first mason jar tip we have shown.

    We also used the top of a salt container as a lid.  Something else that works well is the top off of a Parmesan lid.  It is interesting and useful to note that many grocery tops are interchangeable is you are paying attention.  Mayonnaise jar lids are also pretty close to the threads on a mason jar.

    We have also bought different types of lids from jars that had fruit infusers, to sprouting holes, places to hold straws.  The mason jar is an ingenious invention, and that product has been improved by all the different lids created for it.

  • How to Make DIY Chalkboard Mason Jar Lids

    How to Make DIY Chalkboard Mason Jar Lids

    DIY Chalkboard Mason Jar Lids: Great for Storage
    Buy at Amazon

    These DIY chalkboard mason jar lids are great for storage.  While it was designed for spices, it can work in the garage for nuts and bolts, or the reloading bench for small parts like shell holders.

    Simply take a baby food jar (or any other size you want), and paint the lid with chalkboard paint. You can then write whatever is in the jar on the lid.

    If used with spices, you can then easily store in a drawer beside the stove, rather than above the stove.

    However, the heat from the stove will cause a reduced lifespan of the spices.

    Like the other mason jar lid tips, your mileage may vary on how useful this is.  I used this idea for spices for about 6 months and then went back to my old ways.  It works, no doubt about it.  Unfortunately my handwriting is horrible.

    Besides on the counter I did not need a lot of labeling, as I could see through the jars.  However, if you used smaller jars and put them in a drawer so you could only see the top, then this would be an awesome tip for organization.

    Try it, you may find a use for it.