Giveaway: Gloria Nicol's preserving book & Ball's vintage edition jars
Spring is here, for many of us (sorry snowy midwest!), which means fruit is on its way. I’m excited to offer up a preserving book from an e-friend in the UK, Gloria Nicol, whose lovely blog I’ve tracked for some time now. When browsing in a local shop for resources supporting my kitchen book research, I came across her book:
;)
And absolutely fell in love with the simplicity and style of her recipes.
They’re fruit-forward and elegant; I think this is another great book to have when considering what delicious end your strawberries or [insert fruit/veg] might face. Thanks to CICO Books, and her publisher’s US office, I have a copy to send you!
As a bonus, courtesy of our friends over at Ball, I’m also able to toss in a flat of their newly-released Heritage Collection jars. They’re blue, like the old quart jars I’ve been collecting from every antique shop I run across. These limited-edition jars come six to a case and match year-appropriate writing for the 100-year anniversary of Ball “perfect mason” jars. Read more about them here.
Ball also announced that their lids no longer contain BPA in the sealing rubber effective last fall. New packaging is rolling out this spring indicating the omission of the toxic plasticizer. Good news for us!
Back to the book and considerations for what you’re going to put in your brand new, not-chipped, old-timey jars.
Reading Gloria’s book is like going on a trip overseas and visiting your cool aunt. She takes you to the market (you probably ride cute, old bikes), she feeds you scones and lets you taste a bite from all the jars from the pantry.
Here are a few highlights from the book, which features lovely photography and a blend of unique and classic flavor ideas.
I made her strawberry jam last weekend with our stash of berries and it was a vibrant and dazzling spread.
I love the nectars section!
Yes, she’s in the UK, where preserving practices differ from our USDA-prescribed methods, but you need not worry about safety. Either reduce the recipe and stash your jars in the fridge, or (ever so blasphemously) just process the jams or chutneys according to waterbath times listed for other US-published recipes of the same fruit jam. (Pretty much any jam gets a 10-minute processing time…)
For shipping reasons, we’re asking for entrants from the US & Canada only. Sorry international loves. Please enter by Friday, April 5, 2013 at midnight CST by leaving a comment below telling me about traditions, anything large or small that you’re continuing or bringing back with your family or within your friend circle. Good luck! (p.s. if you don’t leave your email address in the little box where the comment form asks for it, you won’t win because I can’t track you down otherwise)
Kate
Congrats to Kymm, lucky number 117; please check your email. Thanks everyone for entering and sharing such wonderful comments about traditions.
Canning, Cookbooks, Food Preservation, Fruit, Giveaways, Pickling, Traditions, Vegetables
Reader Comments (224)
I got the canning and preserving bug when my sisters and I made 'yard jam' the year I was in grade 11. Our yard had a mix of things but we put together rhubarb and nanking cherries - soooo delicious!
Decades later and my new yard jam has gooseberries, raspberries, rhubarb and occasionally chokecherries. Of course, I did make sure to have a large rhubarb patch to can a goodly amount of rhubarb/strawberry sauce!
I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my sisters and mother growing up. That is the room that has the best memories. Reflecting on that now, it makes sense that I now like to spend time with my son in the kitchen, teaching him about food, showing him that I care, and creating memories with him.
The last few years we have planted heirloom beans to keep as dried beans. After the weather turns cool and most of the fall chores are done, we all sit around for several nights in a row shucking our beautiful beans.
I continue the tradition of jam making, and am always learning new tips from my mother and aunts. Also, attempting to cross stitch to add to the pieces on my wall done by my mother and grandmother! What a nice giveaway, thank you.
I do a lot of canning year round but one tradition is that my husband and I make pickles together every summer. It is something we both look forward to each year!
My boyfriend and I were just discussing the food traditions in our families. In particular, I'm bringing back the huge garden - and subsequent large amount of canning and preserving - that I fondly remember from my childhood. Seeds are started, compost will be dug in next weekend, and I always need more canning jars!
When i was a kid we spent many summer hours in the kitchen canning. One year my Mom went a little nutz at the farmers market. 300 lbs peaches. 200 lbs each pears and tomatoes, 150 lbs purple grapes. Us three teenage sisters spent every day in the kitchen from early morning to late at night till they were all processed. By the time we were done we were all swearing we never wanted to lay eyes on another piece of fruit.. ever. THEN, the apple season came around... do you know how MANY things you can make out of 300 lbs of apples?! Of course, there WAS 7 kids at home.. eating ALL those preserves, jams, jellies, syrups, juice, fruit roll ups. For years i didnt do much canning, but started again summer before last. Now i am looking at ways to preserve ALL kinds of stuff i never knew about.. like the watermellon recipies here!
My grandparents had 11 children on their farm in northern Wisconsin, and every year Grandma canned hundreds and hundreds of jars of vegetables, fruits, jams and pickles from their massive garden to help keep the family fed through the cold months. As a kid my favorite of all was Grandma's sweet and seedy strawberry jam. Their root and canning cellar was huge. My mother carried on that tradition with a somewhat smaller though very well stocked canning cellar room in our basement. The last couple of years I have ramped up my own canning efforts considerably, turning our yard into a somewhat sprawling garden and filling our shelves and cupboards with its bounty. I'm also a woodsman and forager, and a good many processed wild edibles also stock our shelves. I had not given much thought to our family's history of canning as a "family tradition" of sorts, but I believe that that is exactly what it is.
I make mustard! Lots of mustard for all my friends and family.
Advent calendars are one tradition we've continued even with kids now in the 20's!
I began canning four years ago this summer and through sharing what I've made, my friends have become interested in food preservation as well. My hope is that they begin traditions in their families involving food preservation and canning as I have in my own. Thanks for the giveaway!
I remember watching my mom make a huge batch of blackberry jam every summer with berries my siblings and I had picked. I'd love to bring back that tradition for my children.
I am excited to pass down all of the priceless information my grandma taught me about canning, to my son. I can't wait to teach him to make jam, and sauerkraut, and to can tomatoes. All of these are essential skills that are easily and all too quickly being forgotten.
Canning has become a new love in my life, a few years ago my son and I started our first vegetable. That first year we also tried our hand at canning and water bathing. I had inherited my mothers water bath, I borrowed a pressure cooker (super scary) and went everywhere buying up jars. The first pickles tasted good but where soft, that's when I learned about alum , but the first time I made a blackberry pie with blackberries that I harvested, canned and then had on hand when I needed them was very satisfying. I no longer have a grandmother or mother alive to pass on the craft but thanks to wonderful church friends and good books( hint hint) this is a talent I'm hoping to perfect and then pass on to my babies and grandbabies.
I started canning a little over a year ago. I really didn't grow up in a family that "canned", but food was very important to all of us. My grandmother's homemade tortillas and tamales always made us feel so special. She took so much time to make them and would make sure that we always had enough to eat. Her fresh hot sauce was so spicy! We came to appreciate anything homemade.
Canning has really helped me take the tradition of home cooking and pass it on to my children as well. They are starting to appreciate food that is not "fast".
I was inspired a couple of weekends ago to make jam, when I spotted some ripe strawberries at the market. I bought two pints. I really like the fact that Kate has stressed that you don't always have to make a huge batch of anything you are canning. I was nervous, but used her recipe to make a small batch of strawberry jam. The smell was intoxicating! The jam turned out great! We can't get enough. I can't wait to try strawberry fruit leather next..yum!
My family is from southeast Alaska, where the weather is very temperate, but cool. We had an apple tree, and for some reason, it gave fantastic yellow transparent apples. My friends and I all loved Laura Ingalls Wilder, so, come autumn, we would channel the pioneering spirit, pick the apples, and make applesauce. I was able 12 when I learned how to can applesauce for the first time--my mother was great, she let us completely take over the kitchen and make a mess. A lot of trial and error. Now, I live in upstate New York, and autumn is my favorite time, especially with the pick-your-own apple orchards around the area. Making applesauce at home brings me back to those happy times!
I'm working on my grandmother's tradition of growing my own and putting it away. Still a gardening and canning novice, but loving it!
My, it is that time again. My great aunt used to make fig preserves and chow chow to give away every Christmas. After she passed away there were several years with no canned goods, but the family declared my spiced strawberry jam to be a suitable replacement. I've been making it for several years now. I also usually do canned tomatoes, and this year I can't wait to try my hand at apple butter!
Canning! I am definitely bringing this back in my family, and hopefully it is here to stay.
We have so many traditions built around holidays. So hard to pick a favorite, but this is one I do with my Dad each year. He and I go out for breakfast sometime over Memorial Day weekend, then we visit the two cemeteries where his sister and parents are buried and leave flowers. We then drive through a very rural area where he grew up. It's a walk down memory lane and a way to honor the past. It means a lot to both of us.
we're teaching our 7yr old the benefits (locally & globally) of composting, knowing your farmers/food, gardening, canning, sharing what you can't yourself use, etc. :)
I lost my dad last fall and as we've helped my mom go through stuff we have remembered a lot of traditions and things from when we were all younger. This has inspired us to try things we haven't done in years, gardening, canning, cooking some of his favorite recipes from my grandmother's old cookbooks. My daughter even joined the local 4H shooting club so that she could learn to safely use the rifle he left to her. It's hard sometimes but it's nice to find ways to remain connected to him.
I used to can like a crazy woman when my kids were little. Grape juice, tomatoes, etc. But I stopped as they got older and I started working outside the home. Last year I started up again. My husband retired and we resurrected and renamed our "retirement garden" and have been excited to grow our own vegetables. We have come full circle, as I have been making as much as possible from scratch again. Replaced my sewing machine and have been sewing again. We are enjoying this stage of our life.
My mother does a lot of canning and I want to continue that tradition. I have made jams and pickles, but I have been wanting to make sauerkraut and can other vegetables
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