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 mom canned all of our jelly from produce on our small farm, wild grapes, chokecherries, plums, currants and high bush cranberries. No store bought for us.
I just love making strawberry jam in the middle of a winter Nor'easter... or cracking open those pickles months after you slaved over canning them. Apparently I'm all about delayed gratification :)
Its official - I really need to check out her books!
My Grandmas and Mom inspired me to can, I learned at a young age and then took it to another level when I started putting up my own food! :)
For me, the biggest inspiration is still the fruit itself. I have so much respect for Linda's work and it is a real treat to get a peek into her larder. Thanks for the giveaway, Kate!
My mother was Iranian and was always making quince jam or pickling veggies or garlic. We always had something preserved on hand for meals as is tradition. Her culinary skills have inspired me to try things and to begin to teach them to my 3 year old daughter.
I just found your website today and it looks like so much fun!!
I have never preserved or canned foods yet. I have my own garden growing this year and my 77 year old neighbor is going to teach me this summer!! I can't wait to learn to can and preserve!!
I learned to make jam from my mom who grew up during the depression. Since I grew up in Northern California and had close family friends who had an orchard (apples, peaches, pears, plums, etc) I have been canning as long as I can remember. I left California for 11 years, and have been happily back, and back to my jam-making and other canning, for two years. I love it!
It was Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that first inspired me to try pickling. We've since tried to make an annual event of our pickling day!
My inspiration for preserving came from the MPLS food swap where I saw so many great ideas for cannig/jamming/pickling. I also got to meet you there Kate while you were on your book tour! I was also inspired to create healthier versions of some of my family canning recipes which so far has gone pretty well!
Holy crow, I have both books and they are so good I want them again! Linda Ziedrich totally inspires me, and I am completely, let's face it, jealous of your visit! I'd have to say that the other Joy (Joy of Cooking) had originally inspired me to preserve. And still does!
I never even knew about preserving at home until I met my uncle-in-law, who makes all sorts of neat stuff. He taught me!
Carol Wasik of Wasik's Cheese Shop in Wellesley, MA inspired me. I worked for her and her husband for many years and she made the most delicious beach plum jam, pepper jelly, and peach chutney. Joining a CSA and getting loads of strawberries and sour cherries prompted me to try and make jam. And now I have become addicted to the Blue Chair Jam Cookbook and am working my way through it!
I am inspired by my mom -- she taught me to can jams, and she's my most appreciative audience.
I was compelled to learn to preserve and can because of what factory farming has done to our food. I wanted clean and pure food for my familly and to be honest, we couldn't afford much in the way of organics, so I determined to learn to grow my own, and to learn to preserve it without depending on the power grid.
my grandmother's strawberry jam! i LOVED it as a kid and when she was very sick and dying i breathlessly asked, "gma! how do you make your jam? can i have the recipe?" she replied, "it's on the back of the sure-gel box honey."
i miss her and her jam.
I got nspired by taking a jam-making class at Oaklans's awesome Institute of Urban Homesteading...I was hooked, and now run a jam and pickle business out of the SF Underground Market! My favorite recipe I have developed is pear, honey & lemon verbena...I love playing with flavor combinations!
my fiance's mother and grandmothers are/were avid canners. i had always wanted to learn how to can and seized the opportunity to learn from these smart ladies.
first inspired to can by the old-school box of pectin, the allure of clean glass jars, and an abundance of such and such fruit or vegetable.
I love creating jams, pickles, and preserves mostly just because I love to eat them, but I'm also inspired by the philosophy that shadows the practice. Preserving your food makes the most of your bounty. Preserving provides a great way to live by the creed of "Waste not, want not", and attitude that I'm happy to embrace.
My husband and 5 children have inspired me to can. That is a lot of people to feed on a small budget :)
My grandma was my inspiration for my canning. She made the best strawberry preserves. I try every year to duplicate her recipe and fail miserably! I wish she were still alive so she could tell me what I'm doing wrong.
I was actually inspired by Eli Sandor Katz to start fermented pickling, then moved onto other preserves as well.
No one taught me to can, but instead it was something that I chose to learn many years ago. I was perhaps, inspired by my slovak grandma who canned but for some reason never taught me. I would sit with jars of canned cherries (pit intact) and eat the whole jar every time. One of the MANY fond memories of that wonderful woman who fashioned my life by living her life her way; my Aunt Mary always said she was ahead of her times.
my paternal grandmother & a growing awareness of the fragility of our urban food-supply distribution chain is what inspired me to start canning. i remember as a young girl going into g'ma thelmas' basement & seeing rows of bright fruit & green beans. when i finally got a to a place where i could can, garden a wee patch, & help take care of my grandchildren, canning is the way to go.
My grandmama always picked food from our backyard garden to preserve. Peaches and apples for pie filling, tomatoes for cha-cha. She, of course, used big quart jars and had a stove that could support a water bath cauldron, while I fuss over pint jars, and freeze more than can.
She knew what hard work it was, to feed her family; mine is a hobby, but I'm grateful to her for showing me what it was like to preserve a taste, and a way of eating. Thank you, Mama.