DIY French Mason Jar Gift {for a ball jar party}

 

Christine, of Fork Social Lab and Hungry in Boulder, is kind of obsessed with Ball Jars. You know, those classic mason jars that everyone on Pinterest is raving about?

Well Christine knows her way around many a crafty food project and invited a few Denver foodies over for a night of ball jar exchanging, sundae making, and girl chat.

 

We started off with some Bailey’s and coffee cocktails, made with fancy coffee ice cubes in ball jars. I admired Christine’s Eiffel Tower collection – which maybe had something to do with the Bailey’s since I’m usually anti-tower. I do think it looks much better as a pillow, though!

Jar Gift

More than Christine’s Eiffel Tower collection, I LOVED her bright red Le Creuset dishes. Perhaps she’s been taking notes on how to impress me in the kitchen.

After cocktails we gathered around for gourmet sundaes, toppings prepared by the lovely Christine. Untraditional toppings like Himalayan salt and candied ginger were just perfect for our foodie crowd and I personally loved the matcha green tea powder.

Chocolate

A ball jar party wouldn’t be complete without a jar exchange, so we lined up our goods and chatted about our processes. Grace, of Grace{full}Plate, made a delicious no-bake cheesecake in a jar, Jossie brought a homemade vodka sauce (made with crème fraîche!), Camilla made delicious hummus, our host provided a jar au fun, and Erin made a delicious bean salsa.

As for me, I wanted to do something Franco-foodie so I thought long and hard about what I could make and finally came up with…

 

If you’ve never read Swann’s Way, this may require some explanation.

You see, the madeleine is very important in Proust’s work. The narrator describes the sensation of food-related-memory as he tastes a madeleine with his tea and remembers his childhood instantly, as if transported by the cookie to the past. He recalls his aunt swirling the madeleine in her tea before giving him a bite, and the taste is transformative.

“Proust in a Jar” was my attempt at recreating this strong foodie moment from literary history.

If you want to make your very own Franco-foodie jar treat, I’ve got some easy instructions for you, too:

How to Make “Proust in a Jar”

You need: ball jars, cupcake liners, tea bags, excerpts from Swann’s Way, tea bags (I like Earl Gray), madeleine ingredients, cooking twine

1. Make a bunch of madeleines (2 per jar) – Recipe here.
2. Once cool, wrap one madeleine in the Proust excerpt and tie with twine.
3. Add an extra madeleine to the jar and top with a cupcake liner, facing upward so there’s a little “pouch” for the tea bag.
4. Seal the jar with the lid and add a gift tag.

 

What would you make for a ball jar party? Let me know in the comments!