365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Jar Music
Day 314: Plink! Plink! Plink! That's the sound of lids sealing on jars fresh from the water-bath canner. Plink! And it's a music unlike any other. It made me dance into a batch of gingersnaps and a changeout of old liner paper in the baking cupboard, and then urged me to organize the oils, vinegars, syrups and sauces. That done, I tidied pie tins and colanders, sifters and sieves. The sound of plinking continued as I washed dishes and put away the wares of cannery: jar lifter, food mill, pot, pan and pouring cup. The glittering brass smiles of the jar rings teased me as I boiled berry stains out of brand-new washcloths, rinsed sticky spills of jam from well-seasoned towels and threw the lot in the washer for a final treatment. Through the months of winter and spring, I tend to forget how much I enjoy the act of canning even as I savour its results.
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