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
Coming in just under the wire. Jams! Congratulations Marisa on your book, it looks beautiful!
Oh, and I love anything involving raspberries! Jams, jelly, butter… anything.
I am new to canning and this book would be so very helpful. My mom cans and I love her dilly beans, apples, and salsa! Yum! Nothing like canned summery goodness in the middle of winter.m
Watermelon rind pickles. My grandmother taught me how to make them, and we would collect the rinds after BBQs in her backyard, do the necessary trimming, and I’d come visit each day to re-boil the syrup and pour it over the pickles each day for five days.
Pickles!! I can not wait to check out your cookbook!
Hi,
I’m so excited about your new cookbook! I’ve been following your blog for over a year now and your articles have helped me a lot in my canning adventures. I’ve been canning / preserving for about 4 years and I’m still learning! Please enter me into the drawing.
Thanks,
Emilie
I am just beginning to learn about canning food and I love doing it! I can’t wait to learn more and make this a regular in my household!
Pickles!
I love strawberry jam and jalepeno jelly.
chutney!
I love peanut butter in jars! I just learned how to make my own.. I would love to learn how to jar it! Your book looks amazing! Congrats!
My favorite? Definitely strawberry jam.
Mustard and Chutneys!
Cherry jam
I have been canning for years and I am always looking for new recipes but my favourite two things to make every year are red pepper jelly and spagetti sauce. Last year my 32 litres have just about lasted me to the next harvest!
you are an inspiration! can not wait to check out your cookbook!
one in 1211 chance to win, i’m feeling lucky.
my favorite canned food is the one i’m about to open at any given moment.
what a great looking book!
Hi! This will be my second year canning and I’m looking forward to doing it again this year. My favorite thing to can was green beans. This year, I’m going to try beets for the first time, which I think will be my new favorite.
I love Kombucha in jars…it is a fermented beverage. Applesauce and Tomatoes run a close second.
I just started canning this year and my favorite is a toss up between pickled cauliflower or pickled dilly carrots. My kids ask for the pickled dilly carrots in their school lunches. They have both become family favorites and a pantry must have for us.thanks for all of your inspiration! I found this blog while researching how to can. Love it!
Srrawberry jam is my fav at the moment, cuz I’m up to my elbows in it as I type!
Pickles! Sweet..sour.. you name it.
Jams and salsas!!! Going to try pickling this year!
Soup!
My favorite food in a jar is spicy apple chutney with raisins! I love indian flavors like cumin and lots of cinnamon- both can be found in my favorite chutney recipe which I put on pretty much anything nowadays!
WE LOVE pickled carrots! Well, pickled anything, but our family favorite is carrots. =]
OMG..I have to pick just one? Ok ok….chutney, because it goes good with so many different things!
Pickles, with jam a close second.
Congratulations on the book, can’t wait to read it.
Pickled green beans have to be my fav!!!
Olives. Green, purple, black; love them all.
i love fruit butters and preserves 🙂
My favorite food in a jar is pickled WV ramps~
Pickles and Tomatoes seems to be what I put up the most.
Love to can salsa, fill pickles, pickled okra’
I just finished making apple butter again- not the season but my friends and family run out! So- between the apple butter and apple pie in a jar, I could peel apples and cook 12 months/year- love it!
Grape 🙂
My favorite thing I’ve canned so far is apple butter made from my mom and dad’s apple tree. 🙂
I really love strawberry jam. One of these days I am going to try and make some – the book would definitely come in handy.
Thanks for the chance to win a copy
Strawberry Freezer Jam is my favorite food in jars!
My favorite kind of food in jars is jelly! My grandmother made incredible jelly and now my daughter makes very nice jelly. I gave your cookbook to my teaching apprentice a few days ago, and it is indeed a beautiful, well written cookbook. Congratulations on a wonderful publication!
I love concord grape jelly. yum!
I love canned fruit. I am trying not to use sugar anymore, so I need to find a substitute for the sugar for this summer/fall. The book looks absolutely LOVELY!
I have made a variety of jams over the years—strawberry, blueberry, peach & ginger—but my favorite thing to make that has gotten the most enthusiastic response is called pear honey.
Congrats on your cookbook! It is beautiful!
I love your pickled asparagus recipe from Grid magazine!
Tomatoes. Simple and maybe boring, but such a staple of my pantry.
I love jams and jellies to can as my fav. Keeps a family tradition alive . Thanks for the
Peek into a now must-have book!
My absolute favorite jam has to be plum, with some savory spicing. Concord grape jam is a close runner-up.
My favorite is granola!! Absolutely love it!!
Pickles! Most definitely pickles. I make many different types every year.
Congrats on the publication! I’ve got copies on order for my shop. My favorite thing that you’ve put in a jar is inspiration! oh, and jams and chutneys, too!