Hello, and welcome.

I read a lot of blogs. I have an RSS aggregator app on my iPod, which currently updates me on the latest posts from about 50 odd websites. They are a diverse group, these sites, reflecting my changing interests. When I’m really stoked about a topic, I track down blogs on that issue and add them. As time passes and my passion wanes, I begin deleting them from my list. The ones with poorly written posts go first, then the ones that aren’t updated regularly. Some I keep, regardless of these two criteria, if I simply like the writer & hope they’ll improve. Some I keep because they are so well written that I would probably read anything that the author published.

The result is that I regularly read about a lot of things that aren’t otherwise part of my daily life. I keep no bees, I am not an expat in Dubai, I don’t sew every article of clothing I wear, my child is not autistic (that I know of), I do not struggle to get by on a disability allowance, and I am far from being a professional chef. A good blog can do that: bring you in to a small understanding of what it is to be someone else. My favourite blogs are the ones that are serious yet a little whimsical, with a kind voice and lots of stories, as well as good solid information. I love learning about how others live their lives, how they do whatever it is they do.

So. That is my goal, here at Jar Star. To share with you, what I do, how I do it. It’s mostly about preserving food, because that is what I love, and what I think about, and what I talk about, more than just about any other thing in the world. Welcome.