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.
Either sauerkraut or kimchi will be next on the list.
I’d like to replace cabinet doors in my kitchen so that they all match (100 year old house, 3 different incarnations of cupboards!)
Looking to make some pickled peaches soon!
I have homegrown tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers ripe right now. Sounds like salsa making time!
I am wanting to try my hand at drying foods. Beef jerky, dried fruit~I need another avenue for the buckets of blueberries I get each year, and all manner of delicious things.
I would like to try pressure canning. I have done lots of waterbath canning but I I’ve been browsing the selection of pressure canners online.
I want to make some Peach BBQ sauce and can it.
I would like to try making tempeh and eventually miso. I enjoy exploring thoe craft of frementation, with adventures in kombucha, kefir, water kefir, kraut, kimchi, ginger beer, and medicinal herbal beers. Tempeh and Miso are on the list as are some more interesting chutneys.
I have a basket full of cucumbers I’ve been meaning to pickle for the past week…
I just bought a pressure canner! I just hope I can figure out how it works :/. My first pressure canning experiment is going to be chili-it gets cold here in Wisconsin!
I have two projects in the near future– cleaning out my oven (yuck!) and canning apples (applesauce, pie filling, etc). I’m interested in learning about smoking, so I will definitely be adding this book to my wish list. 🙂
I would like to make sugarless jams and pastries. It’s hard, but I know it can be done!
Right now I love to make pickles and would love to try pickled asparagus! I am looking forward to trying my hand at more homemade eats!
Not that I want to but cleaning out the fridge is a priority!
This book looks fabulous! I’d love to tackle salt- cured salmon and some smoked cheeses. We do smoked cheddar a lot but I’d like to try some other varieties…
I have an old cast iron countertop stove that I want to get set up for propane so I can take it outside to can and not heat up the house! And also figure out a way to store my bulk spices from Penzey’s in a way that looks nice and is functional. Thinking pint and/or half-pint canning jars…
I just read this!! Great Book, indeed. I think my next canning venture is going to be trying to make tomato catsup. Although I’m debating on dipping my toe into the brining world and making lacto-pickles!
I would love to make all of my own condiments! I just made ketchup and pickles. I still need to make my own mustard, mayonnaise, and anything else that strikes my fancy.
I would love to tackle some kind of cheesemaking project–I’ve been thinking about making paneer.
I am looking forward to finishing the last of the apricot jam this weekend.
Also I want Heather’s (up there comment number 102) for “Wickles – wicked spicy pickles” that definitely sounds like something I’d like 🙂
Definitely making my own condiments is in my near future!
My new challenge is pickles as soon as they introduce themselves in my garden!
Mary
I would love to win this book! My project I would like to start is something (anything) with goat’s milk. I have a half gallon and need inspiration.
I have been around canning for years (married into a family that seemingly does it in gargantuan batches instead of sleep) and never did it until the notion of SMALL batches appeared. Now I am gonna do it! I have some assorted stone fruits that might be good instead of apricots in the rosemary apricot jam (got a sprig of rosemary & ripening fruit; what to do?) and I just did 8 (count ’em!) pint jars of my husband’s favorite sweet pepper sandwich spread.
The trick will be storage. hmmmmmmmm……….
I really want to paint my kitchen and add a bright back splash.
Im am going to pick huckleberries near Lake Michigan for huckleberry pancakes. If I get enough, I’ll make some jam, too.
I have been gone a lot the last two weeks and the CSA veggies are really stacked up in the fridge. So, my project today is to sort through everything and make a plan for it. Tomorrow, my neighbor and I hope to do some canning with a bounty of cucumbers she was given. I am calling this Veggie Weekend.
The book looks very interesting…would love the chance to check it out!
The shiny new 16 quart pressure canner that I bought last year and was too intimidated to try out is taunting me. I have been practicing with a smaller pressure cooker and now may be ready to tackle the big one.
This book looks amazing! I just googled it and sent a sample to my iPad.
I took this week off to work on the gallons of blackberries and raspberries from my garden. I am making syrups today, soups and curries to pressure can from items in my freezer, and jams the rest of the week.
…I have added this book to my Amazon Wish List and would love to win this! Decor’ wise in my kitchen, I need to repaint and restencil; cooking wise I would like to make use of a Pressure Cooker that I purchased some time ago and have never used. I dunno why that thing scares me so and I’ve heard they’ve come a long way since but nonetheless, I need to overcome my fear of it. lol… :o)
…Thanks for the giveaway and have a wonderful weekend!
…Blessings :o)
I’m thinking about trying to make tomato jam.
I should get my book on artsian breads this weekend — my project is to jump in and start making breads!
I started canning when I was little by helping my grandma, and it is something I’ve done off and on throughout the years. I’m really pleased to see a resurgence, because it means many great new ideas and recipes. The kitchen project I would like to tackle is actually a cooking project – I want to learn to make my own corned beef. 🙂
I confess… I’m in Canada but have a US address it can ship to. I thought I’d give it a go just in case that’s enough as I would LOVE this book!
My kitchen wish list includes the salsa canning for this year (need to quadruple the peach salsa output. Turns out we love it. Who knew?) And I dream of repainting and reversing the cupboard doors to hide that horrific 70s detailing. Ugh.
I’m going to tackle a cherry tree. My friend has a sour cherry tree that is loaded with cherries way up top. After picking, I will be in the kitchen pitting and freezing cherries.
I want to put up 1×1 boards across my open shelves of bottles fruit to prevent the bottles from falling if ever there is an earthquake.
I’ve been wanting to reorganize or rather, organize, the pantry for ages now. I need to get crackin’!
I would love to learn how to make my own rice milk! That stuff’s expensive!
This book sounds amazing. Thanks for the giveaway!
I’ve been telling myself to get over my fear of working with yeast, and my project would be working up some pretzels! LOL I will do this….sometime!
This book sounds lovely! What I’d really love to do in the kitchen is actually chart out how many jars of jams and of each tomato product (ketchup, sauce, paste, etc.) I use and/or give away throughout the year so that I truly know how many I should do in the summer.
I have a ton of kitchen projects on my “to do” list, but I would love to make my own pickles.
Just picked 8 eggplants from the garden this morning so putting up a few jars of Caponata is the order for the day! 🙂
I’ve made the strawberry jam and lemon curd and ginger beer and a few other things from her last book, but I’ve been meaning to try the graham crackers and marshmallows so I can make our own s’mores. I may have to wait till Nov now though, seeing as how it’s 110 degrees here. But if I get them right, that could be an awesome Christmas basket, coupled with quart jars of homemade soup and the smoked chickens and tiny jars of sweet hot mustard we usually do!
Ooooh I would love to win that! I’ve only canned jams and jellies and want to try pickled beets or just plain pickles this year.
I am in the process of trying to clean out a pantry closet to fit a small chest freezer. I have put a lot of food away this year in the form of canned goods and am hoping to be able to work on getting frozen meals (and parts of meals) put away in a deep freezer to make my cooking more efficient on those short winter days when all I want to do is come home and snuggle under a blanket.
My next kitchen project? Clean and organize the pantry!
Food-wise, I’d like to make a jam (any type) this summer.
Thanks for the opportunity.
dawn [at] sheistoofondofbooks [dot] com
love it! i have been sitting on a bookstore gift card for 6 mos — now i know why. thanks for the post.
I REALLY want to try making creme fraiche from scratch!