I just picked up two new cookbooks on preserving and thought I would share. I started a garden this year and would like to put up some of of my veggies. I also want to make use of all of that lovely farmers market produce that I'm always afraid to buy since I wouldn't use it fast enough.

Eugenia Bone - Well Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods (Touchstone wont work on title... but title pulls up on author *sigh*)
and Karen Solomon - Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it

Both books deal with canning, pickling, smoking, freezing, etc.. Different ways of preserving seasonal foods. So far they are visually quite nice and the information on canning is in depth. I remember canning with my grandmother when I was younger and it seems about right. Since it is strawberry season I'm going to put them to the test and try out the recipe for Strawberry Balsamic Jam. I made pork chops with a strawberry balsamic reduction once and it was quite tasty so I have high hopes for this one.

Sorry to babble I haven't bought a new cookbook in quite some time and now I'm all exited!

I have been using Well Preserved by Eugenia Bone since I bought it this summer, and I love it. The small batch ethos got me past my trepidation and right into it. I also follow the author's blog now and I highly recommend it, too.

Hope your preserving is going well!

Sounds exactly what I want too. I don't grow anything except herbs and some strawbs and tomatoes, but like Emi, I sometimes pass up bargains on market produce because it would spoil.

I do preserve lemons when neighbours give me some and would like to do more in that field.

Off to follow your link and add yet another book to the wishlist. Damn growing up and not believing in the Wishlist Fairy!

The Jam didnt turn out so well... the strawberries I got from the farmers market were extremely watery... needless to say If I had used some pectin I would have had perfect jelly and not a runny sauce. Lesson learned!

I also made some Ketchup from my own tomatoes from the second book... ( Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it )much tastier than the store bought stuff and an excellent base for BBQ sauce!

Have also made butter from a recipe in the second book, its pretty fun shaking the jar and watching the process happen. You start out with a half a jar of liquid which rapidly expands to fill the entire jar then all of a sudden it compresses back down and exudes liquid (sounds gross huh?). I mixed the butter with parsley and garlic and have it cut into pats in the freezer for garlic bread. I also did a thyme and orange zest version which I use on chicken and the occasional muffin.

I wish I had more time for this sort of stuff... my work schedule makes it hard :(

Sorry about the jam, but now you have what is probably wonderful tasting strawberry syrup to be used for all manner of toppings. In addition, you might want to use this as a substitute for sweetened applesauce in a recipe for cake or breads. These "disasters" are often the start of great new recipes, so have fun experimenting.

I bought two new preserving cookbooks this year, but they are both Austiran ones (in German) so might be hard for most of you to find and to read. I enjoyed reading them. I am really looking forward to trying the gingery pickles I made with our tiny cukes.

I broke my jar lifter a month ago, and I couldn't find a new one in Vienna. Nor could my husband find one in Florida, but a huge country store in Ohio had one. What a relief!

Is the Ball Blue Book still around? My grandmother, mother and I all used it.

TLCrawford, that is the Bible of preserving in our family, too.

I use it, too, but the Bible is Putting Food By.

#9

I had forgotten about that book. I bought it when I got my first house and used it to decide what equipment to buy and what to plant in the garden. I decided to do without a pressure cooker and freeze anything that needed to be canned under pressure.

I have a copy of Stocking up and Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook but I have not been able to try them. The new house has deer. Lots of deer.