Welcome!

My family in Panama City Beach last week
Left to Right: Hal, Me, Mike, Mikelyn

Hi, I’m Lauri Jo. It’s nice to meet you who are reading this. My company is called Lauri Jo’s Southern Style Canning (www.laurijos.com) and lately, some people have been calling me the ‘pepper jelly queen.’ That’s alright. It’s kind of stickin’ to me.

Here’s my story. It all began as a much loved hobby of mine at my high school canning plant. Canning is an art in the south, you know. It’s something I grew up with. But most people today don’t do it because it’s a lot of work – and hot and nasty. After marrying my husband, Mike, I found myself fixin’ holiday gift baskets full of canned goods each year for the customers at his trucking company. Everyone told me the produce and jellies I canned were so good, that I ought to start a canning business!

My interest in canning followed me through my years as a reading and special education schoolteacher and eventually blossomed into a full-blown business.  With a few of my great-grandmother’s recipes, mixed with some of my husband’s and my own, we offer products that have a true Southern taste and are now selling 32 different products to 41 states and counting!  This year at the 2012 Flavor of Georgia food product contest, my Blueberry Pepper Jelly won the People's Choice Award and my Muscadine Jelly won first place at the in the jam, jelly and sauce category.

I’m a southern woman through and through.   I love to do things for my family, help people in the community, cook a down-home style meal, work in the garden, be on just about every committee I can join ‘cause I love people, and I like to make things pretty and enjoyable for everyone.  You just can’t beat Southern tradition and hospitality. It makes us special.  I hope every southern woman out there is passing that down to their daughters and sons.  

Well, that’s a little about me.  Oh!  I almost forgot to tell you about my new blog.   I’m going to give you some great southern menu ideas and recipes (ya’ll are going to love this), ideas for entertaining and backyard family fun, canning tips, and share lots of pictures from our farm – we have produce coming out of our ears!  Summer’s bounty is a true blessing so we can’t waste it.  I’ll give ya’ll ideas on how to preserve produce now to taste and enjoy later when it’s cold outside.    

Signing off, because every day, we strive to “Preserve the South One Jar at a Time” by making fresh, all-natural, farm-picked products with our hands, our hearts, and hard work to share with our families, friends, and fans.   Oh, and feel free to comment anytime – I love hearing from ya’ll!