CAPSULE COMMENTS

May 17, 2007

Canning and Preserving

Soon there will be a variety of fruits and vegetables in grocery stores and farmer’s markets. The following books give many ways those foods can be enjoyed all year.

STOCKING UP III by Carol Hupping and the staff of the Rodale Food Center

This book covers the preserving of fruits and vegetables and other foods such as dairy, meats, grains, and nuts and seeds. It is a comprehensive volume that highlights freezing and canning, and other storage methods such as drying, underground storage, and juicing.

In addition to the how-to steps for preserving all the different food areas, there are sections with recipes, lists of suppliers, and other books that would be helpful to use when preserving this year’s harvest.

CLEARLY DELICIOUS: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO PRESERVING, PICKLING & BOTTLING by Elisabeth Lambert Oritz

The author has created a volume of step by step instructions and recipes that can be used for storing food. Helpful additional features are the photographs on every page that are used to illustrate the directions. A section on finishing touches presents a variety of ideas for how to decorate and label the bottles and jars so they can be used for gifts.

PICKLED, POTTED, AND CANNED: HOW THE ART AND SCIENCE OF FOOD PRESERVING CHANGED THE WORLD by Sue Shephard

This is an interesting, historical look at how people have preserved their food throughout the years and how some of the methods we use today came into existence. It is a story about food, but it is also a story of how people have lived. The book is divided into chapters that cover preservation methods such as drying, smoking, salting or canning. Within each chapter a history of how that method has been used is given.

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF YEAR-ROUND SMALL-BATCH PRESERVING: OVER 300 DELICIOUS RECIPES by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard

This selection focuses on the area of preserving fruits and vegetables to make jars of marmalades, pickles, salsas, and flavored oils, in addition to the jams and jellies that are popular. Also included are recipes for meals and desserts that can be used through out the year using the preserves highlighted in the book.