Canning-tacular giveaway: Food in Jars book & Ball Canner Kit
Summer just snuck up on me, and I feel sort of unprepared. Spring lingered longer, rains fell. Blueberries came and went (already).
I live in Texas and it’s summer for about 9 months of the year, so summer isn’t usually a surprise, but that’s enough about my confounding climate zone. It’s nearly officially summer, which means the possibility of preserving wherever you are.
First off, I’d like to start this giveaway out with a small quiz:
This year’s July 14 is a special date because:
A. it’s Bastille day, vive le France!
B. it’s the 100-year anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth, vive le revolucion!
C. it’s National Can-It-Forward day, where canners across the country will seal some jars in solidarity, vive le Canvolution!
D. it’s my birthday, vive le cake!
E. all of the above
You got it right. The answer is E.
I’m so jazzed for this giveaway, a can-tastic (yes, I just went there) prize pack from Ball Canning paired with my good friend Marisa’s first (and very fine) book, Food in Jars: Preserving in small batches year-round. This is the perfect prize for newbies and old hats alike. And if you already have a canning set-up in place, then wouldn’t the Ball kit be a nice prize for an aspiring canner in your life?
You’ll get this 21-quart canner pot that includes the rack:
;)
And this utensil kit (half-filled jar of jam not included):;)
Aaaaand a copy of this great book:
The Food in Jars book is every bit as delicious as the blog by the same name, but tactile, with a sturdy hard cover and beautifully printed pages to turn. I had the pleasure of seeing the galleys for this book when Marisa visited in November of last year, and I must say, Running Press did a lovely job putting this book together. Moreover, Marisa’s recipes are simple and straightforward yet incredibly inventive with flavors. This book reads like afternoon tea with Marisa, like you’re sitting at her kitchen table and she’s pulling out jar after jar and telling you about each of them.
I’m especially excited to make her cranberry ketchup (must use last year’s fruit in the chest freezer!) and intrigued by the cantaloupe jam (hello exotic Creamsicle). I like the inclusion of other recipes, the non-canned goods and gifts you can put in jars, too. There’s a cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter that sounds delightful!
I just love how Marisa reminds us that canning is totally on our terms, that you don’t need tons of produce (and a car to drive it all home), a fancy kitchen or much equipment to make things you and your family like to eat. I hope with this giveaway you’ll find a way to make preserving your own, to wrap it into your life, whether it’s a small batch of dilly beans or a few jars of fig jam, or an entire closet tiled in the bounty of the seasons.
In order to get you your Canning-tacular prize pack in time for July 14, we’re running this giveaway through midnight CST, July 5, 2012. Enter by leaving a comment on this post, telling me What’s your favorite thing to put in a mason jar? Don’t forget to add your email address to the box on the comment form where I ask for it. No email address, no winner (because I can’t reach you).
Hey, while you’re at it, pop on over to Local Kitchen (through June 22) AND Punk Domestics (through June 20) for another couple chances to win Marisa’s book!
Canning, Cookbooks, Giveaways, Small-Batch Canning
Reader Comments (328)
My Mother, Grandma and Aunt always got together and canned everything you can grow in a garden. Now I'm a Grandma and want to start making memories with my family. We are all trying to be healthier and be a good influence on the kids. Would love to win this so I can start making canning memories!!
My chutney recipes such my gingered cranberry chutney.
We had gag awards recently at work, and my award was "Most likely to re-use a jar" as my lunch/snacks for work are always in my various sizes of canning jars. And when I'm not using them for work lunches, my personal fav is probably a jar of my Black Bean Corn Salsa.
Rhubarb items - I love anything made with rhubarb :)
I have not done any canning. It is all new to me, but I would have to say my Mom's peach preserves top the list.
To sip...wine in a jelly jar is the best! To can...jam & pickles. My kids eat them all up so fast and it makes me a proud mamma!
...you mean besides urine? i kid, i kid. though that might come in handy next time i'm camping and need to pee in the middle of the night. mason jar....? or get eaten alive by bears.....? hm,,,,
seriously though, i love bringing my tea to school in a mason jar as well as bourbon soaked cherries. hm. no wonder i have to pee so much.
kristygardner (at) gmail (dot) com
thanks for hosting!
I'm using canning jars for making yogurt right now, but I'm hoping to work on some jams this season.
Other than everything (and tonight it was strawberry jam!), my salsa has been my biggest success so far -- especially compared to always having to buy it, which is never as fabulous. But jars make me swoon: homemade granola, beans, applesauce, pickles, iced coffee...
I have to pick just one?? I can't ...My favorites are Wild Plum Jelly, Crabapple Jelly & Vegetable Beef Soup. What I really want to try is Elderflower Jelly.
My favorite thing to can in blueberry jam. It sounds simple, but it is so comforting all at the same time. It brings me such great memories of picking berries during the summer, I love the deep blue color of the cooked berries and the smell is just amazing (oh yeah- and the eating part is okay too).
strawberry freezer jam and tiny pies.
Asparagus pickles (spicy), vanilla-pear jam (sweet), & brandied cherries (boozy). Good times!
Other than the obvious foodstuffs, I store various and sundry supplies in my quart jars.
Strawberry Vanilla Jam!!
I need that book! :)
PS. I like to can peaches, fig jam, and mmmMMMmmm applesauce.
Sasha
So hard to choose! One is apple butter--it's like autumn in a jar.
Lemon fig jam!! It is the recipe that pushed me over the edge to start canning, and once I started I can't get enough.
Curry pickle chips! (Yup, I did it. I actually chose just one thing....)
Feijoas, also called pineapple guavas. Our backyard tree threatens to bury us in them every year!
Banana Nut Bread Jam
Favorite thing- Homebrewed Kolsch Beer. Usually guarantees that I get the jar back! Hoping that beets from this years garden become the next favorite thing.
Sour Cherries! My hubby requests blueberries every year, and I finally came through. So I can now put whatever I want in jars, guilt-free, for the rest of the summer! Nothing against the blueberries - they're awesome.
Blackberry peach jam!
Pickled Okra hands down... Though I'm slowing working my way through Canning for a New Generation in its entirety, and I might soon have a few more favorites to add to the list:)