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 love pretty much anything in jars, but I could eat through a jar of pickled squash at an alarming rate. Congratulations on your beautiful book!
homemade jam! good for so many things, PB&J, mixing with yogurt, adding it to coffee cake, so yummy.
I use jars for everything … flowers, tea bags, left-overs, jam, jelly, etc.
Cheers!
JAM!!!! I loveeeee raspberry jam!!!!!
I love making chutneys–sweet, spicy, hot–what’s not to like?
Pear honey! I make it using my grandma’s recipe with pears from my own tree!
pickled red grapes
I’m a huge jam fan, and your recipes are always amazing. I’m so excited for your beautiful book!
My favorite food in jars is, hands down, pickles. I love dilly anything.
Congrats and best of luck with the new book!
Canned peaches are the most amazing thing in the middle of winter. It’s like eating summer.
Definitely tomato jam. The whole family is addicted!
Jam & Jelly!
I love coffee in a jar, especially since discovering the “cuppow”! But I’d say my true love in a jar is salsa, for it’s endless possibilities and versatility : )
Homemade jams and apple butter! YUM!
I love canning my spiced peach jam that has cardamom in it.
Pickles, hands down. But I do like a jar of tasty canned peaches.
Jam and pickles – not in the same jar.
Of all the things I have put in jars, strawberry jam is my favorite (and the simplest). Congrats on the book!
whole tomatoes!
Jam! Eating jam I made 4 months ago is like getting a hug from my earlier self.
That’s a tough question. I did a Boozy Fig last year that was really yummy. My dad loves my Dill Pickles, my mom loves my Bean Soup and Tomato Soup, and my sister loves my Chipotle Ketchup.
Congrats on your new book. My favorite to eat and to can is jam. In particular, my late Grandmother’s Fig Jam. It is different from any other fig jam I’ve eaten. It has orange pulp, juice, and peel which adds such a nice flavor.
It’s a toss-up between strawberry jam and iced coffee. I have been carrying my iced coffee around in a Mason jar to work because I can put a lid on it during my commute and it is the perfect size. My coworkers pointed out yesterday it looks like I am drinking dirty paint water, as their only experience with these jars is painting – ha!
My favorite kind of food in jars is definitely jam. And when I used to buy store-bought jam I always went for strawberry but now that I am making my own, I’ve found I love raspberry and blueberry more! 🙂
I love jams!
I love fresh tomatoes that I can open in December and smell the garden again!
Pickles. Far and away, PICKLES!
Anything strawberry or peach!!
The book is BEAUTIFUL! You must be tickled pink.
My favorite thing to put in jars is jam. It is the first thing I ever learned to can, and I have fond memories of watching my grandmother make it when I spent time with her in the summer.
Again Congratulations on the beautiful book! One of the favorite things I put into jars last year was pickled beets. I also love making homemade almond butter. As you know it’s hard to narrow down all the good things that can be put into jars.
Right now, it’s Kosher Dill Pickle Relish… so awesome!
Pears are my favorite at the moment! And I could really use some help from a canning cookbook as my first batch of blackberry jam turned out almost solid and very unspreadable. However, this morning I had the brilliant idea to add warm water and use an immersion blender to turn it back into something spreadable. Since it was so condensed when it was hard, the flavor was somewhat overpowering and now it’s more toned down.
I hated pickles until I made them myself. Now I can’t stop eating them! Definitely my favorite food in jars.
My current favorite is the balsamic strawberry jam I made last summer, but I’m always looking for new inspiration!
Fruit Butter is one of my favorites. I’m just starting to explore some fruit/savory jam experiments too, largely based on what I read here. Congrats on the book!
It would truly be an honor to have this book in my collection! Peaches, oh, peaches, how I love thee.
My husband and I absolutely LOVE your Unfancy Pickled Jalepeno Peppers. So much so, that we planted 12 jalepeno plants this year in anticipation of filling jars and jars with them!
Honestly my favorite? Milk – it’s the only container that doesn’t leak when transporting!! Besides that I keep all my seasonings in them……apparently, I really need this book 😉
Tomatoes and bread & butter pickles, definitely!
I’d have to say my favorite would still be in my mind…I’m thinking some kind of delicious rhubarb stuff. But I have used the meat I canned last year gratefully and often. My citrus marmalade experiment hasn’t been too far off favorite, either.
My favourite is definitely jam. Congrats on getting your cookbook published! It looks beautiful, and I can’t wait to buy a copy (assuming I don’t win the contest!).
I don’t know a favorite – my hubby calls me a hick cuz I put everything in jars, as a matter of fact I’ve given up on using the cheap glasses from Walmart cuz they just crack all the time, we use Mason jars for our dinner glasses – their indestructible!
Iced coffee, ice tea, smoothies, water (awesome in the car for the kids, they have lids!), spices, herbs, and other baking items – baking powder, baking soda, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. They also work great for craft items & decorations!
and of course canned goods 🙂
My favorite is straight up strawberry jam from my own strawberry patch. Simple, sweet, strawberry goodness! It doesn’t get much better than that!
Jams, applesauce, tomatos, all good stuff!
I’m so excited about your book – I LOVE your blog! And marmalade is by far my favorite 🙂
Pickled asparagus-YUM!
Anything pickled! Congrats on the book!!
Jam is my very favorite. I also want to experiment with pickles this year.
I love jellies and relishes in jars. I love looking at pantries stocked with food in jars…whether they are preserves or just everyday grains/nuts/dried fruits. Something about it is oddly satisfying.
Blackberry jam, for the win! Or maybe fig. Or raspberry. . . My mom and grandmother put plenty of jams and jellies away every summer- peach, plum, muscadine too! So, my young taste buds were spoiled rotten, and jams and jellies are still my all-time favorite food in jars. 🙂
The short list of food in jars that I like best is this: pickled beets, Canadian chili sauce, blood orange marmelade, and sun ripened tomatoes.
I love pickles! When i was little my cousin and i shared 3 jars for breakfast.
Homemade salad dressings! Maybe I just love to shake it up… 🙂
I love preserving sauces and salsa’s 🙂 and I am so proud of you for completing your book! It looks amazing!
I love jams. I’ve been making m own blueberry jam all summer and it’s ten times better than store bought!
My favorite is low sugar butters– close to pure fruit! So clean and healthy but deliciously satisfying!
I LOVE raspberry jam – I’ll eat it straight out of the jar. Your site is the single reason I started canning, and I love it (when I get the time! Mostly in the summer). I’d love to have a copy of your book in my home! It would make me so happy 🙂
I love having homemade parfaits in cans! It’s such a great way to transfer them for picnics or as a quick breakfast to take to work!
Right now it would be pickled asparagus as it’s asparagus season around here. Tomorrow, I am making tiny pies in jars for Saturday’s bar-b-que. I love jars and canning and storing food in jars, taking a morning smoothie in a quart jar as I travel to town. Thank you for entering me in your drawing.
I love making jams and marmalades and eat them daily. Thanks for all the inspiration and congratulations on this beautiful book!
I use my jars as if they were Tupperware so they’re always filled with leftover bits of this and that. And they’re way more trust-worthy than Tupperware because they don’t leak since the lid seals so perfectly!
My favorite food in jars are bread and butter pickles. They make me think of my grandmother.
I just love canning and using my canned fruits and vegetables. I began pressure canning as well a couple of years ago and that opened up a whole new world.
garlic dill pickles!
Favorite food in jars? Still has to be my raspberry habanero jam. Soooo good. 😀 The husband, on the other hand, is a big fan of your recipe for “fridge pickles”. 🙂
I love jam in jars, and I love to use jars for leftovers.
Pickles, all the way!
I’m still digging the carrot pepper salsa we put away last summer, but fresh pressed concord grape juice is pretty amazing as well! Congrats on your book!
I’ve been loving homemade granola lately, my next step is to tackle homemade yogurt to go with it…
I absolutely love any type of jam- I think Apricot is my favorite- and there is nothing like homemade Pumpkin Butter in the fall 🙂
Ramp pesto!
This looks like a beautiful book. You must be so proud! My favorite food in jars is elderberry jelly because my dad’s made it since I was a kid, and it tastes like home. This summer I’m going to force him to teach me the ways of canning and make my own jams and jellies.
Do I really have to choose? I would have to say the pickle family them, this girl right here loves here some vinegar, oh and things soaked in them!
Absolute favorite: strawberry jam. With other jams and jellies following close behind. 🙂
My grandma’s strawberry jam. We’d go out and pick them ourselves and it was my job to wash (sneak eat) and hull them.
My favorite food in a jar is relish — I grew up with everyone gathering and G-ma and Bumpa’s house one Saturday to grind, grind, grind, cook and can. Haven’t had that amazing stuff in years!
Pickled beets, I am down to my last jar from last season and I am savoring it!
I have to pick one!!! I love all food in jars. I can’t make it through winter without lots of jars of berry vanilla jam. But then again there’s the lemon/apple curd that gets stirred into bowls of yogurt and granola. And the rhubarb infused vodka that waiting for Christmas… What’s not to love?
My favorite food in a jar is pickled red onions. I have been making the recipe from the Zuni Cafe cookbook and I can’t get enough!!
i love almost everything, but hard-pressed to choose one, i’d have to say salsas. no, nut butters. wait — jams. uh…..
Home canned tomato juice. Can’t match the flavor or the great results cooking with it. A little bit of heaven when you have a glass for breakfast.
I love the “gifts in a jar” – cookies, soups, etc – they are all so wonderful to give and to receive!
I love oatmeal in jars. Hot oatmeal with a little home-made jam on top is perfect for my commute into work on a busy, chilly morning. In the summer, a little yogurt, granola and jam is the perfect mid-morning snack!
To borrow another famous line, my favorite food in jars is always the next one I’m making. Congrats, Marissa. This is exactly the book we’ve all needed. So right for us urban canners and for newbies, as well. I hope it’s a wild, wonderful trip!
Whole fruit in syrup.
I am a jam lover and just made some tasty strawberry rhubarb jam. I’m wondering if your book addresses how altitude affects the set point of jam, as I live near the Mile High City. I know that processing time must be adjusted but how about the temperature of a jam set point?
Oh my…just too many choices. :~)
My favorites are jams and relishes, both are just so easy and wonderfully tasty! They also make great gifts.
My favorite kind of food in jars is a toss between BUBBLES PICKLES & FROG JAM (no, not made from frogs 😉 it’s a mixed fruit jam)… my kids vote for Bubbies Pickles 🙂 Thank you for such a generous giveaway, I hope I am a lucky one of three to receive one! 🙂
God bless you!!! Stacy N.
Yay, Marisa! Congratulations on your book. If your publicist is the person I know, she’ll do an excellent job of promoting your book. 🙂
My favorite food in jars has to be jam or fruit butter of any kind. We go through a lot in my house, with 2 kids eating peanut butter and whatever sandwiches daily. But I also just got the RE-Cap so I can drink out of my jars, and I’m very excited to be able to travel with fruit smoothies now. Does that count as food?
Pickles! Hands down my most fav food in a jar. Thanks for the giveaway! I’m really looking forward to your book.
Pickles, pickles, pickles. And sweet chili jam.
With fresh strawberries in season right now, I’ve really been enjoying making a yogurt parfait at home and bringing it into work for a mid-morning snack. Yogurt, Strawberries, Yogurt, Strawberries and some granola on top. Perfect pick-me-up.
Congrats on the book! I have to say my favorite FIJ is salsa. Its a lot of work making it, but all winter long when I grab a jar out of the pantry I am reminded how it’s totally worth it.
I love pickles. Cherry bounce was one of my favorites in college!
The only thing I’ve ever put in jars myself were strawberries from last year’s fields. I love homemade jams, pickles, etc. I’m hoping to do my very first real canning this year!
I just ordered my copy from Amazon but would love an extra one to give as a gift!
Beautiful book….already asked library to order….
Will be looking for any Chutney-like recipes…my favorite!
Congrats
Dilled Beans!! Yummy!
I found your blog in the winter and now I’m waiting for some fresh produce to put in cans. I’m thinking peaches, salsa, jams and jellies, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
Oh just writing that made me excited!
My favorite foods to can are jams – strawberry, raspberry, cherry, whatever! Jam makes the kitchen smell divine when you’re cooking down the fruit, and reminds you of the summer when you’re munching it down in the middle of winter.
can’t wait to read the book!