I lied
I thought that I need never buy a canning book again, but then it got popular and tonnes of them are being published.
“Put a Lid on It: Small Batch Preserving for Every Season” by Ellie Topp & Margaret Howard (Recipes from the TV show). Published in 1997; this one was in a clearance bin at Zellers for $4.98 but they republished it in 2007 as “The Complete Book Of Small-batch Preserving: Over 300 Recipes To Use Year-round.” No need for duplicates. The most useful recipe was homemade apple pectin (page 35). Their recipes are well categorized by type with entertaining commentary and great tips. It was an obvious buy because of the price.
Putting Food By, 2nd Ed (revised & enlarged) by Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan and Janet Greene. First published in 1973, mine is a later print from the 70’s that my Mom gave me with her canning pot, funnel and ladle. It has some excellent information on canning, freezing, drying, cellaring, curing, sprouting and some interesting end notes: rendering lard, making soap, making sausage, pasteurizing milk, making cottage cheese, re-canning maple syrup into smaller containers and waterglassing eggs in sodium silicate. Who knew?!
Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving. I truly thought I need not search again online for canning recipes, and that is true. What I didn’t anticipate was buying more books, lol! I also picked up the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving because it was only $8 and actually has some different recipes. Also, it’s a soft cover and quite thin, so the pages stay open with more ease.
I just couldn’t help it! I went to the bookstore and spent too much money on these two new books for my collection
Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan has beautiful pictures, clear and easy to follow recipes and a spiced blackberry/apple jam that peaked my interest. The recipes are categorized by type.
We Sure Can: How James and Pickles are Reviving the Lure and Lore of Local Food by Sarah B Hood is another adventure in easy to follow instructions. It has a lengthy introduction and conclusion, info around the basic need-to-know of safe preserving because it’s written by an author, not a cook. However, there are a good chunk of recipes in the middle (the publishers demanded at least 100 from her). Some of them are really interesting and unusual, such as violet or lilac jelly. The book is divided into seasons of harvest.
