Brand Loyalty

I grew up with an extended family who did LOTS of canning and food preservation.  Both of my aunts and my grandma had huge gardens and eating everything fresh just wasn't feasible!  So they spent many days during the summer prepping and processing using both the hot water bath and pressure canner method to put fruits and veggies up to use all winter long.  I don't remember much about those days, other than I wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen!  Hot water.  Hot jars.  Hot food.  Not a place for little girls to be running amok! 

The summer before Matt and I got married I received a GIANT basket of canning goodies from my Aunt Pat as a shower gift and I'll be honest it's been the most used of everything we got for the wedding!  Canning requires quite a bit of stuff from jars and lids to can lifters, funnels and other accessories.  Everything in our basket was from Ball.  This company has been around for 125 years and they've got it going on!  They have anything and everything you could think of to help you preserve food!!


I obviously use my jars for their intended purposes of canning and preserving food, but I also use them to store items in my pantry and throughout the house as decoration!  Some of my favorites are the old hinge top jars or the ones with the zinc lids that you may find at antique stores or you might also acquire them from the basement at your parents house... wink, wink. 

Have you noticed that these mason jar type products are everywhere these days?  Walk through just about any store and you'll see a shelf of drinking glasses or travel mugs molded to look like a mason jar.  I love these just as much as the next person, but here's the issue... I already have hundreds, not even kidding, hundreds of these jars at home.  I don't really need another one just for the sole purpose of taking it with me in the car or when I travel.  Last weekend when I was home to see my parents we stopped in at the local farm store and the heavens opened up and the angels sang as I walked past these puppies...

I knew that if I waited long enough, Ball would make something that allowed me to roll with the in crowd and use what I already have on hand!  Halleluiah! 

Here's where I wax poetically about their products!  FYI.  This is not a sponsored post, but I'd be delighted to have them send me some products to review!  These are bangin'!  I've used them on several occasions for my morning breakfast smoothies.  The best part is the straw!  It's made of hard plastic, wide enough nothing gets stuck and doesn't collapse when my smoothie is thick!  I bought the regular mouth lids, but they also sell ones that fit wide mouth jars too. After trying out several jars, I've found that my favorite is the 12 oz. Quilted Crystal Jelly Jar because it's narrow enough to fit in the cup holder in my car, but large enough to hold my entire smoothie.

Have y'all seen these in the stores where you live?  Am I late to the party or is this the first you're seeing Ball Mason Jar Sip and Straw Lids?