Book tour: segment 7!
Oregon is where it’s at.
;)
Mountains (and volcanoes) galore, the Columbia River gorge, the Willamette Valley, the Pacific coast. Ah! Descending upon Portland OR always takes my breath away.
Oregon is where Linda Ziedrich lives, too. Earlier this year, Linda took the time to review my manuscript (and blurb my book!) before we went to print. A few weeks ago I was writing out a mailing label to send her a copy of the finished product and realized we’d be driving near her home en route from Portland to San Francisco during the first portion of my west coast book tour. (I’ll recap Portland events next week, since I’m returning to Portland for the PDXSwappers event this Friday.)
She invited us to stop in for tea…;)
which turned into a garden tour…;)
;)
(Yes, she is that awesome, solar panels. They sell energy back to the grid during the sunny months.)
;)
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And, of course, I asked for a peek at her larder!;)
Ah-maaazing…;)
Wandering around her fruit- and vegetable-filled estate then turned into a homegrown lunch. Lucky us!
It was such a delightful afternoon, and, what’s more, it was an honor to meet in real life such an inspiring author and all-around resourceful woman. Her years of research and testing have made such an impression on so many people, myself included.
As a thank you for keeping track of my travels, and for trying new things (having a go at those beginner-friendly, home food-preservation projects in Chapter 9 of my book), I’m pleased to announce a giveaway made possible by Linda’s publisher, Harvard Common Press. Linda’s Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves and Joy of Pickling books are the first books I consult when I have any amount of local produce. I gave away her books last spring; and now, on the second day of summer, HCP has allowed me to offer up the set of both books to two lucky readers. Yes, you get the Pickles and Jams book together!
To enter: Post a comment below describing who or what has inspired you to try preserving food at home. Books, people and/or other reasons all accepted and welcome! Be sure to leave your email address in the specified box on the comment form (so I can contact you if you win). Random.org will select my two winners after entries close at midnight on July 5, 2011.
To close this up, four hours after eating a delicious lunch with Linda and her lovely daughter, Rebecca, we were back on our way, heading west to the coast and then south to eventually stay the night in Crescent City, CA. Stay tuned for Redwoods detouring and California book party adventures in the next tour post.
(Disclosure: I’m doing this giveaway purely because I think Linda’s books are the bees knees, and a great addition to any experience-level preserver’s library. I actually purchased my own copies of the Joy’s with my own money.)
Book Tour
Reader Comments (151)
My Grandmother making jams and butters when I was young. When first married, I spent a weekend strawberry picking and once returning home, we made strawberry jam together - over the phone - back in the days of long distance bills. I'll never forget it.
Wow! I have serious "larder, inadequacy syndrome" from those photos!
I would have to say that my Grandmother (an Ottawa Valley farmer's wife) was not only my ispiration for preserving food but to grow and appreciate food and life as a whole.
This is a woman who every night had her bit of port and a piece of really good chocolate while she read the paper.
I was inspired to start canning by my Grandmother. My Grandfather was a butcher and she made everything from scratch. I inherited many of her old kitchen utensils and have since made a concerted effort to return to the "old ways" of doing things.
I was first inspired to start preserving when a friend gave me a copy of The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. To say that that book changed my life would be an understatement. But since my first batch of pickled peaches two years ago, I've been hooked. I have 15 quarts of freshly crushed sour cherry juice straining in my sink right now, waiting for me to come home and can it.
My best friend's mother made strawberry jam every summer when I was growing up and it was always delicious! She inspired me to give it a go and it makes wonderful gifts that are always received with excitement.
I've been inspired to do home preserving because I love kitchen projects, I love the way my jars of jam look all lined up on the shelf, and I love having things I made to give to people as gifts! I suppose I also got fed up paying $8 for a jar of dilly beans at the market when I knew I could do it myself for much less money and more fun.
My mother's Aunt Hope (my great Aunt) canned. I remember walking into her small pantry for the first time and seeing a wall full of glistening mason jars, full of wonderful things. To this day I remember how awe struck I was. When I can, I feel Aunt Hope's presence. Thank you for a great give away.
The Homesick Texan blog has inspired me to learn canning, for sure.
I started canning out of a love for homemade food, and a desire to preserve some of my garden to eat during the long Minnesota winters. The book that I have used the most for canning is Put 'Em Up, by Sherri Brooks Vinton. But I am always looking for more canning books. I would so love to win these! Thank you for the chance.
My husband's uncle taught me to can - we made chutney from the pear trees he grows in front of his house. He's a true renaissance man!
Linda's book are amazing! I know whomever wins them will just love them.
My mother has always made jam, so it's just a natural thing for me to do. I've started trying to can other things (pickles, tomato sauce) so that I can avoid buying packaged food in winter time. I only started last year, though, so I have lots to learn and would love these books for inspiration.
I have begun preserving because I want to be more self-sufficient and depend less on others for our well-being.
That is quite an impressive stash!! And I LOVE her washline!! I have never had a dryer and in the past forty years I have never met anyone else who hung up their laundry to dry.
Many thanks for the splendid blog and pleasant visit to Oregon! Hope I win the books! xxoo Patty
I was first inspired to can when my mom and I went to pick delicious peaches and my mom pulled out a recipe that has been passed down in our family. Would love to learn more and refine and expand my canning skills!
My friends (several in fact) have some terrific gardens, and they just know stuff. They can make anything, cook anything, always have food; and then I read Radical Homemakers. The combination of those things/people led me to start trying to make/preserve more things. We're growing just a few tomatoes, herbs and chard, but it's going mostly well!
My paternal grandmother and aunt are my inspirations for canning and preserving. There was always a garden on the farm, plus loads of wild berry bushes in the pastures. I could help pick, but was always put out of the way of the boiling water in the canners (I was quite young at the time). Every summer while I was perched on a stool in the kitchen, they would peel and trim and tell stories. I would give just about anything to be able to be back in the kitchen with them.
I am inspired to preserve at home by my children so that I can provide them with the most nourishing foods available and show them the importance of utilizing tehir own resources and abilities!
Several women have influenced my home-preservation experiments. There is my sister-in-law who got me rolling over a decade ago with quart after quart of pickled beets (hands stained red for a good while!), but I was strictly a helper, not a preserver. Last summer though, my neighbors and CSA farmer provided me with more bounty from their ground than I could consume, so I dug out a copy of the "Ball Blue Book" to start putting up what I could. Kim O'Donnel (canningacrossamerica.com) and Marissa McClellan (foodinjars.com) were my primary resources for recipes, techniques and overall inspiration!
I have discovered that I love pickled anything, and I would enjoy putting up jam, too!
Well, I have two. First I came across dehydrate2store.com (Tammy) which I purchased an Excalibur & started me on dehydrating. Then, came across foodinjars.com (Marisa - who happens to be local & offers classes) who got me started canning.
My man - he taught me to garden, to can, and to make a home full of love.
I have a crabapple tree in my yard and my dad told me that his mother used to can crabapple butter. That sound fabulous. I don't remember my grandmother because she passed away when I was very small, but I'ld like to think there is some of her in me. She was a wife and a mother to 17. She knew how to cook and feed a crowd without batting an eye.
It's a combination - my grandmother, who always made the best mincemeat. My mom, who spent a huge portion of every summer working in the garden and preserving the produce (as well as freezing elk and venison and fish). And most importantly? My children, who will grow up learning where food really comes from and how easy (mostly) it is to preserve the good stuff instead of buying preservative-laden nonsense in a grocery store.
I've recently begun researching CSAs and preserving since I'll be transitioning to a stay at home Dad with the arrival of our first child around July 7th! I've enjoyed my Grandma's and my aunt's canned beets, jams, pickles, and beans over the years. Their jams are absolutely delicious! I think your book and Linda's will put me on the right path as I transition into my new role which I'm looking forward to after a job that required me to be away from home often.
My mother's tomatoes with celery and onions. Oh, they were so good and smelled so heavenly on a cold winter's day when it seemed like summer would never come again. She stopped canning when we sold our farm but the thought of those tomatoes have stayed with me for all of these years. I finally bought canning equipment and put up a few jars last year. I was so happy with that I planted 54 tomato plants this year and I plan to do up any number of jars that way. The tomatoes gave me the canning bug and now I can almost weekly. Last weekend was 14 quarts of pinto beans. The weekend before that - 11 12oz. jars of organic strawberry preserves. Next up are peaches and, I think, vegetable soup. This winter is going to be easy and awesome!