So often over the life of this blog, I’ve written about beautiful cookbooks. These posts are fun for me to write because I love any excuse to sit awhile with a new cookery volume and explore what it has to offer. Many of you take the time to write me an email or leave a comment, to tell me how useful you find these cookbook pieces, because they give you a chance to peek inside a book in a way that’s different from the experience on Amazon.
Today’s cookbook feature is a particularly unique joy, because this time, I’m sharing my own book
To my mind, the book is a tangible embodiment of this website. It brings together the most popular recipes from the archives as well as a number of new recipes you’ve never seen before. All the previously-published recipes were retested and rewritten before being included in the manuscript to ensure that they were the best versions of themselves. Many were also scaled down to yield just three or four pints, to keep with the small batch theme.
It includes detailed canning instructions (with helpful instructional pictures!), tips on how to determine whether your jam has reached its set point, a guide for adjusting processing time for altitude and all the best safety practices.
The recipes are sorted by genre, so that all the pickles are in one chapter, jellies in another and so on. Within each section, the recipes are arranged by season, so that each spring, you can start at the beginning of the jam chapter and then work your way through to the end.
The book is also full of really gorgeous images. Truly, my jars have never looked better. The photography was done by Steve Legato, at his Philadelphia studio, and it was such a pleasure to watch him work. Also, I made all the canned goods pictured, so you can trust that your finished products should look pretty darn close to what you see.
Another way I tried to keep the book tied closely to this site is that it’s not just about canning. Towards the back of the book, you’ll find sections devoted to nut butters, granolas, bread and scone mixes in jars and even flavored salts. There’s also information about how to best freeze different fruits and vegetables, and some details on pressure canning low acid foods.
Finally, the reason I think so many of you will like the book is that it’s me. It’s my voice, the same one you read here day after day. I’m always working to write about food preservation in a way that conveys the fact that it’s a joy, not a chore. That feeling ribbons throughout the book. I love joining so many of you in your kitchens through this blog and I hope I’ll get to do the same through the book.
Thanks to my kind publicist at Running Press, I have three copies of the Food in Jars
- To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post and share your favorite kind of food in jars. Jam? Jelly? Pickles? Chutney? Canned peaches? Granola? Iced coffee? There is no wrong answer.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Sunday, May 27, 2012. Winner will be chosen at random (using random.org) and will be posted to the blog on Monday, May 28, 2012.
- Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian readers.
- One entry/comment per person, please.
If you can’t bear to wait and see if you win the giveaway, you can always order a copy by clicking here: Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round
I’d pick corn relish–because it’s so good!
Anything fruit jam- yum yum!
Hands down my grandmother’s canned peaches. A close second would be her strawberry jam.
Oooh…. just one favorite? I have to say that I do love a good jam. Even the peach jam I screwed up last year turned into a lovely sauce (with balsamic and garlic) over pork tenderloins.
My favourite food in jars (that I’ve made myself, at least) is a combination that I made and gave out as christmas presents this past holiday season – homemade ketchup, mustard, and dill relish. Also: homemade vanilla extract! I guess that’s four things, but it’s hard to choose just one. Congrats on the book coming out!
Pickles are probably my favorite! Especially spicy pickled green beans. Yum!
I hope I win! My favorite food in jars is jam.
The dedication to your mother is sweet. She must be so proud of you!
I love making my morning oatmeal in a half pint jar. It’s the perfect serving size, and with a reusable lid, it’s the best way to take breakfast on the go. Definitely my favorite!
Wow what a wonderful book.My favorite is homemade jam.
black plum and ginger jam! A-MAZ-ING with peanut butter!
congrats on publishing your first book! 🙂
My Favorite would have to be Chutney!
I love homemade jam!!! 🙂
My favorite kind of food in jars is jam-any kind. But I’ll always take chocolate sauce in a jar, too. Now you’ve done it! I’m heading to the kitchen for a spoon and then to the fridge!
My most successful food in jars are my serrano-dill pickles. I like them better than any other pickles. However the number of things I’ve canned is pretty small.
have been waiting for the arrival of your cookbook . My daughters and I can alot for our families.
Canned peaches are one of my very favorites! It was a specialty of my mom’s and every time I open a jar it takes me back to wonderful memories of her.
Congratulations on your book, and thank you for helping me remember a special part of my growing up.
Love jam in jars! Especially homemade. Congratulations….your cookbook looks amazing!
Probly canned pears from our own fruit trees would be my favorite, but we got berry bushes that should be producing this year so that might change.
Pickles are my favorite — I have a recipe for bread and butter pickles passed down over a couple of generations, but only the spice mix, not the directions for how to can! I would love to win a copy of your book and try to do it justice!
Congratulations on the book! So exciting!
My favorite foods in jars are pickled veggies, bloody mary mix, salsas, and marinara!
Blueberry jam (using the blueberries from the PYO farm up the road.)
Geez thats a hard one to answer I love so many things in a jar. I collect rocks and such from trips and put them in jars so I can see them and be reminded of the fun I had. I LOVE a pretty fruity drink in a pint and a half jar, always makes me smile. Flowers..oh how love a big bunch of garden cut flowers in a jar, that makes me smile REAL BIG! lol and FOOD FOOD and MORE FOOD in jars. I’d say i get HUGE gratification from opening a meal in a jar, so my pressure canned stews and soups and beans and such make me very proud and feel super self sustainable. BUT my pickles and salsa are another of my favs in jars, not just for eating but looking at too 🙂 Id say im a bit of a jar ADDICT!!!!
I already have your book on my Amazon wish list but I would love to get it any way I can. I think my favorite canned goodie is your tomato jam (I will never buy ketchup again), the cherry tomatoes were just so easy and beautiful in this recipe.
Mango chutney was the first thing I ever made and then canned – it remains a nostalgic favorite. Will be making some of your small batch strawberry vanilla jam this weekend though – could be a new favorite! Would love to win a copy of your book, but would be buying it anyway. This website is such an inspiration! Thank you!
Congrats again on the book. I am partial to jam, particularly strawberry-rhubarb, but my favorite has to be the applesauce I make from the apple tree we have in our current yard. Yummo.
I love jam!! I want to do a variety of them this year!
Strawberry Jam is my all time favorite to make and eat 🙂
I CANNOT WAIT TO OWN A COPY OF THIS BOOK!! My favortie thing in a jar has got to be plain ole raspberry jam… mmm so simple yet so delicious
Beautiful book, congratulations. I love to put up all sorts of foods, but if I only had 12 jars, they would all be filled with jam, most likely apricot.
Pickles!!! All kinds! I get way too much produce from my CSA and this is how I use it!
Chutnies are my favorites! Sweet and sour, something for everyone.
I love iced coffee in jars! Also, orange marmalade!
My favorite food in jars is pickles! I especially love green beans with shallots
Jam! I just made strawberry jam yesterday from my own homegrown strawberries 🙂
I came for the dilly beans and stayed for the over-all fabulousness! I love your focus on small batches and creative updating of old standard recipes. Thanks for writing this book.
my favorite food in a jar is hot mango chutney…
My favorite food in jars is anything from my garden.
Vanilla peach jam. Can’t wait for peach season to happen this year.
I love canning fresh green beans. There is nothing like the taste of home canned green beans when the weather is cold outside! It also reminds me of helping my mom home can when I was growing up. Great memories!
Congratulations on a well-deserved triumph! Favorite? Anything home made, preferably by me! Jams, jellies, pickles, chutneys, vinegars, you name it.
I love strawberry jam, I’ve expanded into canning a lot more than that now, but strawberry jam will always be my favorite, it’s a comfort food.
Mmm, pickles! Pickled everything!
strawberry/rhubarb jam!!
Iced coffee!
Love raspberry jam. After making my own all the store bought stuff tastes over-cooked and bland in comparison. Also it’s great as a filling for cookies and toaster pastries. Yum!
Pickles! I love pickled foods, especially peppers. YUM!!!
My favorite is my homemade ketchup (recipe from Ball Blue Book), followed closely by Habanero Gold Jelly… love the jams and pickles, but the condiments such as BBQ sauce are sooo good, better than any storebought!
Mmmm. Any sort of sauce that I can use as a dip or dressing. Particularly a cheesy pasta sauce.
I would love to win a copy of your book. I have been anxiously waiting for its publication. I enjoy all aspects of canning and preserving, but I think jams, jellies and marmalades are my favorites.
My absolute favorite is the good ol’ dill pickle. Been eating them since I was a child when I’d buy them with my Sunday allowance from the neighborhood store; they sold them from the large wooden barrels!