12/16/14

Christmas Candle Pedestals

 
 
 
My wonderful husband made these candle pedestals for me in only a couple hours. I found something similar on pinterest and thought it would be the perfect fit for my mantle this year.
 
I love that he painted and then distressed. The black didn't scream Christmas so I added some rafia and red berries and now it is perfectly Christmasy!
 
I love them so much I'm not sure I will take them down after Christmas.
 
 
 
Jessica
 
 

1/24/14

Jam vs Jelly

This past weekend my husband and I were shopping at the supermarket. He suggested we buy some jam. We don't buy jam or jelly at the supermarket often. We have been fortunate to have some expert jelly-makers in our contact list.  But nonetheless we opted to take a look at our options.

This led to an indepth discussion/friendly argument as to what is the difference in jelly and jam.

So what is the difference?






According to wikipedia:
 

Jam

Jam typically contains both the juice and flesh of a fruit or vegetable, although some cookbooks define it as a cooked and jelled puree. In the US, the term "jam" refers to a product made of whole fruit cut into pieces or crushed then heated with water and sugar to activate its pectin before being put into containers

  

Jelly

In the U.S. and Canada Jelly refers to a clear or translucent fruit spread made from sweetened fruit (or vegetable) juice and is set by using its naturally occurring pectin, whereas outside North America Jelly refers to a gelatin-based dessert. Additional pectin may be added where the original fruit does not supply enough, for example with grapes. Jelly can be made from sweet, savory or hot ingredients. It is made by a process similar to that used for making jam, with the additional step of filtering out the fruit pulp after the initial heating.
 
 According to wikipedia both of these are variations of "fruit preserves".
 
So it seems the primary difference is the existance of the flesh of the fruit. Simple enough!

In the end we agreed it depends on how you intend to eat the "fruit preservers" but most often we prefer jam. The more complicated decision is which flavor.
 
Which do you prefer?
 
And what is your favorite flavor?