Preserve It!

Preserve It!
Published at DK Canada

About the book

Covering pickling, jam-making, freezing, bottling, canning, brewing, smoking, salting, drying, curing, sausage-making, and cheese-making, Preserve It! demystifies the processes and shows you how you can, with traditional techniques, preserve fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy without expensive equipment or training. From garden to table, every detail along the way is explained with clear, step-by-step instructions, guiding gardeners and cooks of all levels through the satisfying crafts of bottling jams, syrups, and chutneys, or even making sausage, cheese, butter, cider, and wine.

My Thoughts

Who doesn’t like preserves?

Well I like some and dislike some.  But since last year, we have taken the habit of making our own diced tomatoes and salsa coming the Fall season.

This year the tomatoes were later than last year.  But recently we embarked on a three day adventure with our kids.   They chopped tomatoes, I did the onions (someone has to do it!), the little one was giving tomatoes/onions to the designed people and hubby dealt with the boiling part of the job.

We stuck with tomatoes this year.  But my husband did look into the Preserve It! book to get information about how to can tomatoes.   I honestly think that this was a first for him as he took his time to go through the whole book.    Many recipes are mouthwatering and are interesting to do.   One of these days I would love to try out new sweet jams.

There are quite a few pictures in the book that will make you want to try the recipes.  However, not all recipes have pictures which I find sad.   I like to see what it would look like before I attempt a new recipe.  

The book is quite explicit as it will introduce you to the world of canning by presenting you the science of preserving, the natural preservatives, the equipment, the food safety tips, how to flavor your products, the natural storage ideas (which are fabulous if you have the space to do so…) and so much more.    If I had a garden with veggies to store for the winter, I would definitively use some of their ideas.   I particularly loved the tips on storing root crops in boxes.  Ingenious and yet simple.

We went through four and a half bushels of tomatoes (field and roma).  The result is numerous jars of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa!   I will be honest and tell you I stopped counting at 140 jars.   But I think we bought two or three more boxes in the end.

The experience of canning your own salsa is fun to do.  I have heard of some people doing it all by themselves but I believe that the kids can be involved at various stages.   My kids have participated to so many cooking classes that helping out in the kitchen it a given for them.  Besides, being homeschoolers it is the best way we can do home economic every once in a while.  *grin*

As for me – yes I cut some onions.  Yes I cried.   But I also too an idea from my oldest son when he cut onions once to do a meal…   Yes I wore some swimming googles…!

Preserve It! is packed with interesting recipes to turn some produces in yummy sweet or pickled creations.

Preserve It! is available at your favourite bookstore.

 

Disclaimer: I received the product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.