It is stunning to me how much the world of information around canning, preserving and DIY food arts has expanded in the last couple of years. When I first started this blog in early 2009, it was so easy to be familiar with the canon of books on the topic. I had them all and they took up about 18 inches of space on the bookshelf.
Then suddenly, a new wave of books started to flow onto the market. One of the best of this first round was Karen Solomon’s Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It. It offered instruction on canning, easy home dairy items and a variety of other projects that were universally welcomed by home cooks who wanted slightly more control over their food.
Karen recently published a follow-up volume called Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It that is just as delightful as her first book. It includes a handful traditional preserves, as well as instructions for homemade cereals (cornflakes! puffed rice!), miso, rice milk, smoked nuts and so much more.
For those of you who were intrigued but overwhelmed by Charcutepalooza and its many meaty challenges, you’re going to want to take a peek at the Hunt It section of the book. Karen has included a series of accessible, easy to follow recipes for corned beef, pastrami and hot dogs (as well as instructions for how to transform those hot dogs into corn dogs.
Every time I sit down with this book for more than a few minutes, I start to itch for the kitchen. The urge to cook become irresistible. My apartment has seen her Sesame Rosemary Granola, the Basic Barbecue Sauce and the Pickled Grapes (so good).
Last fall when I was in San Francisco, I got to meet Karen. We were both judges at the Good Food Awards and during a break in the tasting, she bought me a cup of coffee and we shared tales of obsessive preserving and cookbook writing. Somehow, that led to a request that I write a blurb for the book’s back cover. Entirely flattered, I was thrilled to do it.
All that said, here’s the point I really want to make. Even if I’d never known the first book, never met Karen and never spent hours pouring over a xeroxed galley copy trying to concisely say why I thought it was so good, I would still like this book. The recipes are super solid. The head notes are full of personality. And the pictures are pretty. It’s definitely a buy it, use it, love it book.
My kitchen project for next year is to grow and dry my own herbal teas: especially chamomile, which is my mother-in-law’s favorite, and some of the older, “forgotten” medicinal herbs.
And canning! I really want to be able to can produce from my own garden!
Recently I’ve started making my own yogurt in the crockpot. Now for my next project, I want to start making and canning my own flavored syrups to add to mocktails or even to my yogurt for sweetener and flavor.
Really though before I start that, I need to finish my project of getting some kitchen cabinets installed so I can have some more space to store the lovelies that I make! :0)
My project…ohh boy. I’ve been waiting to learn how to make this fabulous apple pie filling that my mother cans every year. We eat the jars up as fast as we get them but lack of supplies and knowledge is a hold-back!
One of the days, I’ll finally finsihing stripping the wallpaper, paint the walls, and then finish the curtains I started. But, if I keep finding more jam to make, it’s never going to happen.
I want to try my hand at canning savory, non-jam foods, such as relishes or pickles.
Homemade ricotta!
Just want to master jam making!
I want to learn to make ketchup. I probably can’t make enough to keep my family in ketchup but I’d like to try it!
Im willing to learn how to can anything, but i need to figure out something to do with alllllll of these tomatoes!
I just purchased Wild Fermentation and I’d like to try my hand at making some kimchee.
Making croissants is on my list of things to conquer this year.
My kitchen project is to build a pantry and storage area that accommodates the jars and canning equipment I’ve collected. The Ikea cabinet just doesn’t cut it anymore.
The kitchen project I need to tackle is learning how to make myself use the kitchen now that I’ve moved in with my husband and mother-in-law. It’s very weird, after living by myself for several years, being in an already established kitchen, using mostly their stuff along with a handful of mine, and having to coordinate dish-washing (no dishwasher here except the human kind), counter-cleaning, enough room in the fridge (for both storing ingredients till time to cook, and for storing finished products), and just plain use of the kitchen (being in the middle of three delicate & messy projects as someone decides they want a sandwich – bad idea). Never mind tripping over the assassin-ninja cat who continuously wants to “help” cook. On top of this, the pantry is not where I’d like it, and is organized far differently than I’d like, but at this point is not a… conversation I’m ready to have (much less push), and the only storage for my mason jars right now is down in far corner of the basement (the dehydrator is in the garage, and the only place I can use it is on the dining table). Not looking for sympathy… unless it’ll win me a book 😉 Mostly, I need to just suck it up and quit whining about it, and learn how to get comfortable with the new digs.
Ooh, the book looks awesome, my project is simple – but time is slipping away, I need to can my tomatoes soon.
It sounds silly to say with all the years I’ve been canning – but I’ve never made pickles! So far so good on our wee little pickling cukes in the garden, so I’ll be tackling dill pickles for the very first time on Sunday. Can’t wait!
I really want to make pickled zucchini slices to have on sandwiches. I have peach butter on the stove right now!
I am tackling my dilly bean project this week…. starting today if you do not count the garden piece. It has been at least 11 years since I last canned and 10 years since I have been able to really garden, I am so excited. I was equally excited when I found this blog thanks for taking the time to share all this greatness with us.
I want to learn to can so that I can preserve the abundance of tomatoes I have growing in my backyard. I want to learn to can tomato sauce.
I am looking forward to can a caponata recipe and pickling some root vegetables.
I would love a copy of the cookbook but just in case I am not the lucky winner I am going to put both of her books on my wishlist right now!
The project that I am hopefully going to tackle this weekend is pickling some okra! Hopefully they turn out, really yummy.
Well I wanted to tackle Pioneer Woman’s sweet roll recipe and I did last weekend.I am not a huge baker and definitely not during the summertime,just busy canning.But I made the cinnamon rolls from scratch and had enough leftover to give as “happys” to friends and family.So on to the next task to tackle…don’t know what that one is yet.
Cheese! I must tackle more cheese. Charcutepalooza took care of the meat thing. Maybe I need a Cheese-apalooza? Or this book. Whichever.
I can make jam, I’ve made various flavors and they have all been great. I just made bread and butter pickles for the first time and now just need to taste them to see if I was successful. They are the first veggies I’ve put up, so I would like to try more!
Last year I started canning…this year I want to get serious and can enough to last us at least through late fall for things like pasta sauce etc.
Thanks for the opp. to win!
I have a small patch of wild black raspberries growing on my hillside. I’ve been picking them as they ripen and freezing them until I have enough to make a few jars of jam. It had better be good because I took a surprising little tumble off that hillside this week! I’m fine, just scared the cat.
I have been spending the weekends in the kitchen lately having a blast canning and preserving. My “next” projects include: Fig, Lime & Thyme Confiture, Indian Pickles and Chile-Tomato Jam. I love to cook and find that canning and preserving is a great creative outlet!
I’ve smoked bacon but I would like to try curing and smoking hog jowl. I also want to try making sauerkraut.
This weekend I’m hosting a canning party for Can-It-Forward, but even before it happens, I have so much to do. I need to be sure the recipes are prepared and copied, jars are ready to go, labeling stuff, and then clean my home so that folks don’t think I’m an overwhelmed working mother of a two year old. Oh! and I want to provide some food while we’re canning, so I have to think of what to make!!
Canning, bottling, smoking (the healthy type) and sharing has become my new found passion. Can’t wait to check out this book. And I truly enjoy your blog too. Thanks!
I want to tackle canning chicken. I have canned beef with help, but I have never canned poultry.