Random Thoughts

This is going to be a rather nerdy post. I have been busy keeping up with the house and the yard. I have been a bit overwhelmed and thought back to the time when I had four young children at home and wondered how I did it all. After a little contemplating I remembered that all my household chores were divided into 15 minute increments. Wow! You can get a lot accomplished in 15 minutes. I have organized closets and cupboards, scrubbed down bathrooms, reorganized crafts, weeded the garden, treated the grass for weeds and bugs and finally figured out why the grass is brown...not enough water! Amazing how it has greened up with more water. All of this NOT completed in a day or even a week. Just in 15 minute increments.

I have a plan for Christmas gifts where I need 150 pint jars. I have the jars-filled with salsa and spaghetti sauce and some empty. I used them for a secretary's day gift and it took me literally hours to get the labels off. So I went on line searching how to get labels off and found if they are water soluble to just soak them in water, If not to soak them in oil. Well I had tried the water and obviously after soaking and a razor blade they were not on with water soluble glue! So I went the oil route. I had some rather old cooking oil, not yet rancid, but no longer usable in cooking. I have probable had it since I stopped adding any fat to any food. Not good. Any way. After a week soaking in an oil bath the label still had to be scraped off. Then I got an idea! I filled a jar with water. Put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. The label peeled off in one piece! But there was still glue on the jar. I lowered the jar into the oil for 2 minutes and the sticky was off. I then rubbed dish soap all over the bottle, rinsed it and a sparkling clean, label free jar! You can do it, too!

Jar full of yummy salsa

 Empty jar with lid

 Fill with water and set in microwave on high for 2 minutes or until water boils

Remove from microwave with hot pad, set on towel and carefully peel off label

 Sticky glue residue left on jar

Pour oil into a container just bigger around than the jar about 1/3 up from the bottom.

 Carefully lower jar full of water into the oil. The oil will rise so make sure the container is not too full.

 After 60 to 90 seconds remove the jar full of water from the oil

 Rub the outside of the jar all over with dish soap and rinse. Voila! Label free jar.

If any of you have pint jars you are of a mind to throw away, I would love them!