If you're a fervent canner and preserver, twiddling your thumbs until that next Master Food Preservers class begins, the plastic Re-CAP Mason jar lid (a pour cap lid for your Mason jars) might be just the diversion you need.

Bonus: While you're waiting for your lids to arrive, the website is filled with “wide mouth” jar lid updates and FAQs to get the ideas flowing (“My spout lid is tight, what can I do?”) as well as a brief history of the mason jar. And — Are you ready for this? — a link to the original patent documents for the Mason jar (inventor Karen Rzepecki is currently awaiting patent approval).

If you're still reading this, you are probably wondering if the lids fit both regular mouth Mason jars (70mm) and wide-mouth (86mm). Indeed, the lids indeed come in two sizes. Note that you can't actually use the lids for canning or preserving, but that's probably a good thing. You already have too many jars of Blenheim apricot jam on your shelf from last summer, and the plastic lids are on the pricey side at $6.99 a pop.

But the point here is to re-use them, unlike items in the Ziploc plastic bag vein, so you shouldn't need to replace them. Or so one hopes. Just screw a Re-CAP onto a Mason jar, shake up your salad dressing ingredients (Rzepecki's original intention), and you're ready to go. Other possibilities: Use them to store leftover stocks or wine for a quick pan de-glazing (and take up less fridge/counter space), store homemade vinegars for a quick sprinkle, or keep simple syrup at the ready for cocktails.

Speaking of, the lids are supposedly “spill proof” (we did a vigorous water-shaking test and had no leakage), so you could use them to make an adult-version of a sippy cup. As moonshine and Mason jars “cups” are both so hip these days, you'll fit right when the Hollywood Bowl rolls back around this summer. And if anyone asks, you'll have an arsenal of trendy buzzwords to toss out: The lids are made from recycled plastic, BPA free, made in the U.S.A. Imagine the late night drinking game possibilities.

ReCAPs can be purchased at www.recapmasonjars.com.

More Product Review Fun:

The “Rose Double Boiler” From Rose Levy Beranbaum's New Cookware Line

Mercado, A Social Media-Designed Farmers Market Bag From Quirky

The New “Ninja” Slow Cooker Put To The Banana Bread Test


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