Yesterday evening, as I was washing and putting away dishes, I started thinking about how much I love mason jars. Honestly, next to good knives, my stainless steel cooking spoons, my food processor, and my mixer, I can’t think of an item in my kitchen (or around my house) that works its way into my daily life as much as a mason jar does.
Note that I’m using the term “Mason jar” generically to describe all brands of canning jars. Common brands include Kerr and Ball, and the jars are usually sold in packages of twelve. They come with lids, but replacement lids can be replaced down the line since, unless they’re dropped and they break, the jars live forever.
In the kitchen, they’re indispensable. I throw my salad dressing or marinade ingredients right into the jar…
Then screw on the lid…
And shake it up. Done!
You can use mason jars to store extra pasta and beans, after you’ve opened and used half a bag.
You can use them to catch stray coins in your kitchen, laundry room, or bedroom.
Then you can hold a contest with your kids, asking them all to guess the amount inside. Winner gets the jar!
Mason jars make great holders for pencils, markers, and pens.
And don’t get me started on paper clips, buttons, and hair accessories for the girls.
The small half-pint size jars can double as juice glasses. And in my kitchen, they do. My glassware cabinet is filled with them.
And guess what? Since a mason jar is designed to withstand the high heat of canning procedures, you can use it as a coffee cup. (Just add enough cream to cool it down so it won’t be too hot for you to handle. And that’s an order.)
The quart jars can double as big tumblers for ice water or lemonade.
You want to feel like a country girl? Fill a galvanized steel tray with a bunch of lemonade-filled Mason jars and deliver them to the sweaty cowboys working outside.
Wear a tiered prairie skirt. Curl your hair so that tendrils fall down your shoulders.
Stick a pansy behind your ear. Call yourself Daisy Mae. Whatever works.
Then—lookie here! Go outside and gather up some wildflowers or tallgrass…and use a Mason jar as a vase.
Cute Central: This Labor Day, adorn your picnic or patio tables with flower-filled Mason jars. Casual, charmingly old fashioned, and practical.
Then let ’em live on your kitchen window sill till the flowers die. After that, you just rinse the jar, throw it in the dishwasher, and put it in the cabinet till you need it for something else.
And that is the beauty of a Mason jar.
Ree Drummond is the founder of The Pioneer Woman and a lover of butter, basset hounds and life on the ranch! Ree started her blog in 2006, and now millions visit ThePioneerWoman.com every month for her trusted recipes and fun family stories. Here’s what she has been up to since it all began:
New York Times Bestselling Author
Ree has written two memoirs (Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, and Frontier Follies) plus nine bestselling cookbooks:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (2009)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier (2012)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays (2013)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime (2015)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! (2017)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier (2019)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Super Easy (2021)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinner’s Ready! (2023)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The Essential Recipes (2025)
Food Network Host
Since 2011, Ree has been sharing simple, family-friendly recipes—and the occasional kitchen prank!—on her award-winning show The Pioneer Woman, filmed right on Drummond Ranch. Ree is also a regular judge on Food Network competitions, including Christmas Cookie Challenge.
Founder, The Pioneer Woman Collection
Ree has been creating and selling kitchen and home products at Walmart since 2015 and she’s involved in designing every piece and pattern. The line now includes best-selling appliances (you have to see the floral blender!), plus hundreds of pieces of cookware, tableware, and more. Ree doesn’t like to play favorites but the Agatha print has a special place in her heart.
Restaurant and Hotel Owner
Together with her husband Ladd, Ree has opened several bustling businesses in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, including The Pioneer Woman Mercantile—a bakery, restaurant, and general store that draws visitors from across the country (many come for the biscuits alone!), P-Town Pizza, Charlie’s Ice Cream Shop, and The Boarding House, a charming hotel with eight different rooms decorated by Ree and Ladd.
Media Personality
Ree appears regularly on national TV shows like Today, Good Morning America and more—all while managing to keep flour off her shirt.
Wife, Mom and…Grandma!
Ree’s kids (daughters Alex and Paige and sons Bryce and Todd) are all grown up, and as of December 2024, Ree is the proud grandma of the cutest baby ever, Sofia Scott, born to Alex and her husband Mauricio. Ree still cooks for Ladd (and the kids when they’re home), and she also looks after a few mischievous ranch dogs.
