Jam Book Giveaway!

This is the Big Birthday Week and to celebrate, I'm giving away 3 copies of this terrific ebook all about making jam with low sugar pectin.

You might recognize it.  I wrote it myself!  [It's a really good book!]

It's a collection of the jam recipes [and marmalade recipes, and sauce recipes and marinade recipes and glaze recipes...] from the first couple of years of the blog.  Plus, there are sections on troubleshooting runny jam to firm it up, lists of high pectin and low pectin fruit, a whole section on why low-sugar pectin is my pectin of choice [including comparisons of different brands of pectin, etc.], and even a section on how to get that sugar burn off your nice Le Creuset pot.

It's an ebook - 7.7M interactive PDF file, which means you can click on stuff in the Table of Contents and Index and go right to that page in the book.   Handy!!   Plus, you can add your own bookmarks to make it even easier to zip around to your favorite recipes.

You can access the book in Adobe, iBook, and Kindle.  It works best in Adobe and iBook, so you can use it on your phone, or ipad, or laptop, or desktop computers. [Kindle lets you read PDFs, but they are not interactive.]

I know you'll want to look inside so take a look at the preview!  Check out that Table of Contents and then skim on over to the Tips list in the Index.    You need this book. 

To win a copy of A Simple Jar of Jam, leave a comment on the blog or facebook, or Google +, or Twitter telling me what your favorite kind of jam is. 

Giveaway ends at midnight EDT on Sunday, July 21, 2013.   Watch the blog next week to claim your prize.  I'll email you the file as soon as I get your email address.

Big Birthday Month Blog Celebration

Happy July, Everyone!    July is a big birthday month around here.  My mom's birthday is today - Happy Birthday, Mom!   Eric's is this week, along with one of my nieces and a nephew.   I've got lots of nieces and cousins with birthdays in July [Happy birthday, you guys!].  My uncle and I share a birthday in a couple of weeks.  My sister's is just after that.    Plus, there's the whole July 4th birthday-of-a-slightly-different-kind thing. 

Plus, the lavender is blooming.  Best. Month. Ever!

And to top it off, this year I'm having kind of a big birthday myself.  It's one of those that ends with a zero.   I've decided to spread the joy by packing this month blog posts with a lot of extra fun projects, pictures and recipes.

To start things off, here are a few links to projects involving lavender:

• Strawberry Lemon Lavender Honey Jam - Gorgeous color, truly delicious jam!
• Lavender Wands - You make these with fresh lavender stem.  They're great for kids and adults alike and they keep for a long time.
• Lavender Sachets - If you can't get your hands on fresh lavender for lavender wands, then get some dried lavender and make these.  You can use either dried stems or dried flowers.

Throughout the rest of this month, watch for giveaways and coupons to use in the Rurification Etsy shop and the RJE Etsy shop for discounts on all sorts of things from my new ebook to our gorgeous hand dyed yarns and handwoven towels.

Happy Birthday!

It's K1's birthday!

Lily is a writer.   She writes a series of books for middle graders called the Lizzie Evans Mystery series.   The first installment, Lizzie Evans and the Black Cat Diamond, is finished and will be published this summer.  We're sooo excited!  We'll let you know when we have the exact date.  We'll be having a launch party!

In the meantime, today is the launch of  her official website, so if you're interested in middle-grade mysteries, please go check it out!