Blue Mason Jar Giveaway Winner & One Final Giveaway

Can you believe four giveaways in four weeks? By the time the final winner is announced, Lawyer Boy will be married and on his honeymoon with Minnie Mouse in the Napa Valley Wine Country. I want to thank everyone for indulging me over the last few weeks – first it was Rocket’s Doljabi (Korean first birthday celebration to honor ¼ of his heritage) where he chose Lawyer and Artist as his professions – and NOT Athlete like I just KNEW he would! Here is the birthday boy in his traditional dress with my co-worker’s daughter Ashley (she competes in beauty pageants, can ya tell the she often wins?)

Now we have the wedding and all the fun that goes along with that. First we had the “Say Yes to the Dress” episode. Then Mr. Picky Eater, Lawyer Boy and Wonder Boy built two arbors that will be draped with yards and yards of peach broadcloth and placed at either end of the ceremony area – being held in a vineyard between sections of grape vines – one for the bride and her father to begin their final walk together and one for the bride, groom and minister to stand in during the ceremony. They are really more for the sake of the bride and her veil not to be blown away than aesthetics alone. The wedding is at 6:30 PM and we ARE in Oklahoma – “where the wind comes sweeping down the plain” especially between the hours of 4:00 pm – and 7:00 pm each evening. Of special note* we are in the height of tornado season so it’s anyone’s guess what will be happening Saturday evening with an outside ceremony and a barn reception – albeit a REALLY nice barn. Here are a few pictures of them building the arbors:

Just wood in a truck – They made up the arbor as they went! No plans!

Placing the top part on so I can see how it will look.

There will be 2, both draped with lots of beautiful fabric!

The TV crew from “Say Yes to the Dress” may be joining us for the ceremony. My dress FINALLY arrived and thank goodness it fits well and I won’t be damp with sweat – no kidding, this is something I worried about in an outside wedding!

Minnie Mouse’s segment:

Link so you can see a segment of the show – this bride is Minnie Mouse!

Lawyer Boy had his birthday and a medical concern all in the same week and June brings Top Girl and Wonder Boy’s birthday (born on the same day), Mr. Picky Eater’s Birthday and our anniversary – Whew! Our plate is always so full during the spring. It’s a good thing that Minnie Mouse and I share a birthday month in October. So thank you for being patient with me about recipes. I promise I’ll be back in full swing next week!
But I bet what you REALLY want to know is who won the Blue Heritage Mason jars, right? I don’t blame you but first, I must tell you about my fourth and final giveaway: A Goldtouch Non-Stick 6 Piece Essentials Bake Ware Set. Cost was $99.95 and paid for by me – or my designee – which in this case was Mr. Picky Eater. He needed me to be able to do several different things over the last few weeks which take away from my ability to cook and post, so he purchased all the giveaways – for a grand total of around $250. Pretty nice guy, isn’t he? The Bake Ware Essentials giveaway begins tomorrow night and runs through Tuesday May 21, 2013. Be sure to look for it!

FINALLY – the winner of the Heritage Blue Mason Jar Giveaway is: Kim @ Treats & Trinkets! Congratulations! You have 24 hours to contact me by email at Davidson.kelli@gmail.com or I will have to choose another winner.

Chocolate Pear Jam and Blue Mason Jar Giveaway

Have you ever been over to the Eliot Eats blog? It’s this wonderful mix of elegant and down to earth recipes, garden tips, restaurant reviews and narration of these wonderful cooking classes/demonstrations she and her husband take around the area where she lives. I especially like those. She lives in the same part of the country I do making the places and chefs she references very familiar to me. A while back, she and her husband took a chocolate class at the Canebrake where she told us about the most wonderful ways to include chocolate in recipes – very unexpected ways – and one of them was just too tempting for me to resist! The minute I saw the recipe I was in love and I think you will be too. This recipe also blends nicely with my next giveaway: one box of Heritage Blue Ball Mason Jars! I was lucky enough to get 2 boxes just prior to them going on backorder until June. I’m keeping one and the other could be yours.

I ordered mine on line but I was told by the folks at the company, many stores including Wal-Mart, Target and Hobby Lobby will be carrying these beginning sometime this summer so look for them there. As a side note, these are my new canisters:

I found them at Wal-Mart for $13.47 each. They are one-gallon size and great for almost 10 pounds of flour or sugar. As you can see I have – from the left: flour, brown sugar, powdered sugar, whole wheat pasta, granulated sugar and whole wheat flour. They are going to look fantastic with my new Kitchen Aid mixer – is there anything that doesn’t look great with one? Back to the recipe…..

I made my recipe a bit different than the one on EE because I don’t mind pectin – gives it that jam feel to me – and I have already worked up my pears. At Christmas, Top Girl’s in-laws gave my husband and I two very large Asian Pears. I had never used big Asian Pears before but my friends on Facebook assured me these are the Cadillac of pears. I washed them, cut them into big chunks, covered with water and brought them to a simmer. Then I turned off the heat and put the pot lid on allowing the whole thing to steep just like a pot of tea. After it cooled, I ran the fruit through my food mill and strained the pear water several time to get any sediment out. I mixed the clear juice and the fruit meat together placing in the freezer to a more convenient time. Somewhere along the line, Eliot’s Eats posted the Chocolate Pear Jam recipe. I picked up a bar of baking chocolate and I was in business! Of course, since I used pectin my recipe would have to be made completely differently. If you prefer no pectin, use EE’s by clicking on the link provided but if you don’t mind pectin, you can use mine. Here’s what you will need:

4 cups prepared juice (about 11 medium pears or 2 Asian pears)
1 lemon, juiced
6 Tbsp Classic Pectin
1/2 tsp butter or margarine, optional
5-1/2 cups sugar
4 oz. chopped milk chocolate

1 vanilla bean scraped
8 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

1.) PREPARE pears by washing outside well and cutting into big chunks. Do not worry about the outer peel or seeds – they all have flavor enhancing contributions. Add 3 cups water. Simmer 10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to steep until cool then run pulp through food mill and strain juice through several layers of cheese cloth.

2.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside. Measure juice and other ingredients. If you need more juice, simply add water to fruit pulp and extract.

3.) COMBINE prepared pear juice with lemon juice and vanilla bean in a 6-or 8-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.

4.) ADD entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve, Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Skim foam if necessary.

5.) LADLE hot jelly into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

6.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

If you just can’t wait to try it out, put a little dab of the jam in a saucer and put it in the freezer for a few minutes. It will gel and then you can take it out, let it come to room temperature and put on anything from toast to biscuits to croissants to pound cake!

As for the drawing, if you want to win the case (6) pint jars of Heritage Blue Ball Mason Jars, please comment below. Drawing will be held at 6:00 PM CDT Monday May 13, 2013 – so you have until 5:59 PM on that date to enter. Good luck!

***Kelly @ Eclectically Vintage is having a blue mason jar giveaway too!! Go visit her for another chance to win!!*****

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And the winner of the Le Creuset is……..

Will YOU be the winner this week?

And the winner is: DaAnn! You have 24 hours (until 5:00 PM CDT) Monday May 6, 2013 to contact me through either this blog or my FB page Kalamitykelli and then we’ll get together and I’ll get your address so I can send it to you. Congratulations!!

I had this entire post worked out today for my next giveaway but I have had company since about an hour after I got up this morning so cooking is not in the cards today. SO— I’m switching my giveaway this week because the post really needs to match the giveaway! And tomorrow’s recipe and giveaway prize will be posted and then I’ll draw the following MONDAY – not Sunday as usual.

Meanwhile: Mr. Picky Eater has been so sweet this week – just look at all the things he’s gotten me:
A Digital Thermometer so I can make Candy!

A new Pressure Canner so I can pickle beets and make pickles this summer!

A set of beautiful bowls to replace my really OLD ones – both made of recyclable materials.

A KitchenAid Mixer in the color I wanted!! Don’t you just love this Caribbean Blue? I’m so excited to make bread now~

Thanks for bearing with me folks. I know recipes have been few and far between lately but we are planning for Lawyer Boy’s wedding on the 18th – and he’s also had some health issues lately that we’ve been dealing with.

With all these new gadgets I’m going to be whipping up some incredible dishes very soon!

Thanks to you all and Stay tuned tomorrow night for the newest giveaway! KK