• 19 Posts
  • 1.79K Comments
Joined 3 years ago
cake
Cake day: July 12th, 2023

help-circle
  • It’s hard to “do good” while also making a profit. But it’s a little easier to not be evil, not support evil, and still be responsible about earning enough to support yourself when you can’t work (now or when you’re old) or have an unexpected need for cash. For instance there are socially responsible stock-market funds that exclude the worst companies, but you’ll want to check for your priorities like climate or worker exploitation because they vary in what they make compromises on.


  • No, in America we distinguish between “preserves” (berries left whole, except for those that fall apart by themselves, or big chunks of peach or whatnot) “jam” (fruit is mashed, usually has the seeds but can be pushed and scraped through a strainer to remove them, but the pulp remains part of the finished product) and “jelly” (fruit is either juiced and double-strained /filtered before cooking or afterwards, finished product is transparent).

    Marmalade is different because the pith of citrus fruits turns bitter with cooking, so you have to pare off thin strips of rind (the colored skin) and then squeeze the juice, and discard all the pulp before adding the sugar and cooking.

    I’m pretty sure those categories are legal, and probably include percentages of fruit to sugar and water for commercial products, because they’re consistent in labeling at the grocery store.

    Edit to add, jello is clear but gelatin not pectin and usually artificial fruit flavor unless you make it yourself from juice.




  • Okay that makes total sense then. The fruits you listed I have mostly seen as jam or marmalade or preserves rather than jelly.

    As a person who doesn’t like grape seeds or squashy grapes I don’t think I’d like grape jam. I wonder if a winery with extra grape juice made the first grape jelly?

    Concord grapes don’t make great wine, but their growers are probably doing better than the fine wineries right now with the wine glut and people pinching pennies with cheap food like PBJs for the kids.

    I grew up in a strawberry town and make my own strawberry jam using my mom’s recipe. So even though the “iconic American PBJ” uses grape jelly we always had strawberry jam in ours.






  • I too have had the experience of learning something I just never thought about from childhood on. And I will note that most jelly (and purple grape juice, and Manischewitz passover wine) is made from Concord grapes, which are not the same kind as are usually eaten raw from a grocery store. So no judgement, just curious: do you mean you never noticed the jar says “Concord Grape Jelly” or do you just not eat/encounter jelly?






  • One way to start could be to go to the Open Houses in the area you live as well as where you want to buy. You’re not just looking at the houses, you’ll also meet some realtors, and if there’s one you like, you can hire them to help you through the process. Be sure to check out the neighborhood at various times of day/night/week in case of red flags.


  • Y’know, I have a big squeeze bottle of ketchup sitting in the fridge unopened. Several times I have thought, “this dinner could use a squirt of ketchup to dip into.” But because it’s just me, and I only ever use a little squirt, I always decide it’s not worth starting the clock on that big jug. Probably silly because ketchup is famously long-lived, but better for me not to get all that sugar in my system anyway. Sometime when the kids are all home I’ll have to plan a dinner that justifies breaking the seal.