Friday, July 29, 2022

Canning

 It is that time of year, when fruits and vegetables are in abundance and canning is in full swing.  To help you with all of your preserving projects, we've created a list of books on the topics of canning and preserving fruits and vegetables.  If you are looking in our online catalogue, use the search term canning to find even more titles.  As always, click on the book titles to place them on hold, or contact your local branch for more information. Happy canning!

More Put A Lid On It!

Sticking with the "small batches + year round" formula introduced in their bestselling first book, Put a Lid on It!, Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard once again venture into the wild world of preserving. More Put a Lid on It! shows how to make such delicious and thrilling combinations as Peach and Lavender Jam, Sour Cherry Gooseberry Jam, Blood Orange Port Marmalade, and Australian Spiced Dried Fig Jam.

But there's much more than just sweet spreads. Inside you'll find daring butters (Spiced Squash Butter), unusual pickles (Fire-Roasted Sweet Red Peppers), piquant sauces (Asian Whisky Sauce), sassy salsas (Peach Mint Salsa), and choice chutneys (Hellfire Chutney).

Recipes for microwave and freezer jams, low-sugar spreads, specialty oils and vinegars, baby food, and recipes kids will enjoy making round out this must-have addition to your cookbook shelf.

Saving the Seasons

You can’t get much closer to the source of your food than canning or preserving it yourself, and Saving the Seasons shows you how through clear instructions and step-by-step pictures. Loaded with helpful tips, charts and user-friendly recipes for beginners and experts alike, you will enjoy the season's bounty all year long!



The Canning Kitchen

A modern take on a beloved tradition The Canning Kitchen blends the traditions of home preserving with the tastes of the modern home cook with 101 simple, small batch recipes and vivid photography. Fill jars with canning classics such as Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and Crunchy Dill Pickles, and discover new classics like Salted Caramel Pear Butter, Bing Cherry Barbecue Sauce, and Sweet Thai Chili Chutney. With fresh ideas for every season, you'll want to keep your canning pot handy year-round to make delicious jams, jellies, marmalades, pickles, relishes, chutneys, sweet and savory sauces, and jars of homemade pantry favourites. In addition to year-round recipes, The Canning Kitchen includes all the basics you'll need to get started. Boost your canning confidence with straight-forward answers to common preserving questions and find out about the canning tools you need, many of which you may already have in your kitchen. Get tips on choosing seasonal ingredients and fresh ideas on how to enjoy your beautiful preserves. Use the step-by-step checklist to safely preserve each delicious batch, leaving you with just enough jars to enjoy at home plus a little extra for sharing.


The Homestead Canning Cookbook

Certified master food preserver and cooking enthusiast Georgia Varozza wants to show you how safe and easy canning your favorite foods can be. She will teach you the basics, including how to fit the process into your busy life, the equipment you’ll need, and step-by-step instructions for both water-bath and pressure canning.

Enjoy wholesome recipes for canning fruit, vegetables, meat, soups, sauces, and so much more. Save money by preserving your own food and gain valuable peace of mind by knowing exactly what’s going into the meals you’re serving. 

Join the growing number of households who are embracing the pioneer lifestyle. It’s time for you and your family to feel good about food again. This cookbook can help.

Well-Preserved

A simple and accessible guide to canning and preserving meats, fruits, and vegetables in small batches year-round includes “low-tech” methods like oil-preserving, curing, and freezing, as well as traditional methods like water bath and pressure canning.





Preserving

Have you always wanted to learn how to preserve your own jams, preserves, and chutneys, but don't know how to get started? More than 70 step-by-step recipes, taking you from complete beginner to being able to freeze, bottle, and pickle with confidence. Mix crunchy pickles, store luscious fruits in alcohol, and simmer spicy chutneys; build on your skills by boiling jams bursting with fruit and bottling vitamin-rich cordials; and show off by stirring fresh fruit curds to smooth perfection, curing fish and meat, and fermenting your own delicious wines. Packed with advice, reminders, and help when things go wrong, Get Started: Preserving will soon have you filling your pantry with delectable preserves.

The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving

From the experts at Jarden Home Brands, makers of Ball canning products, comes the first truly comprehensive canning guide created for today's home cooks. This modern handbook boasts more than 350 of the best recipes ranging from jams and jellies to jerkies, pickles, salsas, and more-including extender recipes to create brand new dishes using your freshly preserved farmer's market finds or vegetable garden bounty.

Organized by technique, The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving covers water bath and pressure canning, pickling, fermenting, freezing, dehydrating, and smoking. Straightforward instructions and step-by-step photos ensure success for beginners, while practiced home canners will find more advanced methods and inspiring ingredient twists.

Thoroughly tested for safety and quality by thermal process engineers at the Fresh Preserving Quality Assurance Lab, recipes range from much-loved classics — Tart Lemon Jelly, Tomato-Herb Jam, Ploughman's Pickles — to fresh flavors such as Asian Pear Kimchi, Smoked Maple-Juniper Bacon, and homemade Kombucha. Make the most of your preserves with delicious dishes including Crab Cakes garnished with Eastern Shore Corn Relish and traditional Strawberry-Rhubarb Hand Pies. Special sidebars highlight seasonal fruits and vegetables, while handy charts cover processing times, temperatures, and recipe formulas for fast preparation.

Salt Sugar Smoke

This comprehensive book takes a fresh look at preserving, offering all the basic information you need, but also featuring inspirational recipes from the store cupboards of the world. It covers everything from jams to cures, and shows you that you don't have to have lots of kit and produce to make delicious preserves - or wait forever before eating them.

There are sections filled with expert advice on choosing ingredients and cooking every type of preserve, from marmalades to jellies to relishes to foods preserved in oil. All the classic recipes are included and Diana often gives tips for how to make a version of a classic that suits your palette. For example, she includes a sweet and sticky strawberry jam, a more-fruity and less sweet version, and a Swedish 'nearly' strawberry jam (which is more like a conserve and keeps in the fridge for only a couple of weeks).

But this is also a treasure trove of recipes taken from the world's store cupboards. And most of them are luxuries that can be made from cheap ingredients - such as Thai spiced rhubarb relish, Alsace pear and Riesling jam and tea-smoked trout. Many recipes will also offer alternative ingredients - for example, make sloe gin with cranberries or plums.

Preserves

Snacks, condiments, pickles, jams, jellies, sauces and more-- Includes baby food recipes.






Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning

Typical books about preserving garden produce nearly always assume that modern "kitchen gardeners" will boil or freeze their vegetables and fruits. Yet here is a book that goes back celebrating traditional but little-known French techniques for storing and preserving edibles in ways that maximize flavor and nutrition.

Translated into English, and with a new foreword by Deborah Madison, this book deliberately ignores freezing and high-temperature canning in favor of methods that are superior because they are less costly and more energy-efficient.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

  • Preserve without nutrient loss
  • Preserve by drying
  • Preserve with oil, vinegar, salt, and sugar
  • Make sweet-and-sour preserves
  • Preserve with alcohol

As Eliot Coleman says in his foreword to the first edition, "Food preservation techniques can be divided into two categories: the modern scientific methods that remove the life from food, and the natural 'poetic' methods that maintain or enhance the life in food. The poetic techniques produce... foods that have been celebrated for centuries and are considered gourmet delights today."

Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning offers more than 250 easy and enjoyable recipes featuring locally grown and minimally refined ingredients.

The Preservatory

A short drive from Vancouver, and an even easier trip over the border from Washington, The Preservatory is located on the bucolic ten-acre farm and winery in South Langley, British Columbia, Canada, and is home to a growing international brand where the star of the show is the in-season, locally grown fruit. At the Preservatory, Lee Murphy and her team create delicious artisanal preserves in small batches using copper pots for locals and visitors alike.
     In The Preservatory, Lee demonstrates how to create your own unique preserves and how to use them in delicious recipes (preserves are not just for toast!). The creative options are truly endless, and this book will make jam masters out of everyone. Organized by season, the book features 55 recipes for preserves, such as Strawberry with Rose Petals, and Banana Passion Fruit & Rum; and 45 recipes using preserves, among them Gorgonzola Gougere with Pear; Indian Spiced Meatballs with Green Tomato & Garam Masala; and Pan Seared Scallops with Green Walnut & Grappa.
    Filled with luscious, vibrant photography, The Preservatory is both an inspiring combination of traditional techniques and creative ideas and a celebration of locally grown food, seasonal cooking, and enjoying life with family and friends.


Preserve It!

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 to 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.

The Complete Preserving Book

Preserving is in vogue again, thanks to the recent gardening renaissance and a worldwide fascination with local, organic and heritage foods.

To celebrate this renewal, Canadian Living has combed through more than 35 years of its classic canning recipes to find the best jams, pickles and preserves to share in The Complete Canadian Living Preserving Book.

Whether you're a novice or an expert at the art of preserving, this book has something to offer you. An in-depth introduction covers the most up-to-date canning techniques and offers a visual guide to the equipment you'll need. Helpful advice on selecting and preparing fruits and vegetables is sprinkled throughout to help you make the best of the harvest.

A broad selection of recipes - both sweet and savoury - are the backbone of this edition. Traditional jams, jellies, marmalades and conserves are well represented, as are good old-fashioned pickles, relishes and chutneys. To keep things interesting, there are also plenty of modern takes on these and other classic preserves, including salsas, sauces, syrups and flavoured vinegars. There's even a handful of recipes that show off your preserves in delicious ways.


In the world of preserving, Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison are the masters, the authority. Batch packs everything you'll ever need to know about preserving into one cohesive bible. Joel and Dana's passion project takes a deep dive into the fundamentals of preserving and offers both simple and adventurous, and totally flavor-forward recipes.  Joel and Dana's journey into preserving began with an innocent lesson in making jam. Almost a decade later, WellPreserved.ca is an extraordinary resource for both beginners and experts alike. Their much-anticipated first cookbook showcases seven different preserving techniques; waterbath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, fermenting, cellaring, salting, smoking, and infusing and takes readers on a trip to the market in twenty-five ingredients. Within each ingredient chapter, you'll find multiple preserving recipes using the different methods. From apples, pears, peaches and rhubarb, to asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes, and covering a variety of meat and fish, Batch teaches you everything you need to know to get the most out of your kitchen. With their signature approachable and fun style, Joel and Dana showcase techniques for a variety of skill levels, explain how to batch your recipes to make two preserves at once, give you multiple options for preserving in ten minutes or less, and serve up mouthwatering center-of-the-plate meals that take your preserves from the pantry to the table. With personal anecdotes, creative and incredible recipes, and beautiful photography and illustrations, Batch will show you how to incorporate preserving into your life and your community.


A guide to preserving fruits ranging from apples and oranges to quince and rhubarb offers recipes for canning, refrigerating, freezing, drying, and infusing the fruits as well as ideas for cooking with the preserved products.


Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Mudbound

 By Hillary Jordan

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Michelle from the Altona Branch

    Based in 1946, in the Deep South of the United States, Mudbound is a heartbreaking story that is told from the perspectives of a large cast of characters.  From a farm wife, her husband's family members, African American sharecroppers, and two war heroes, the story intertwines them all and gives light to the struggles of being Black in Mississippi. Ronsel, once a hero, returns to America to be with his family, only to be treated as less than a man.

    I enjoyed reading the different voices of the characters. The writing style helps you truly feel like you are in their families.  This was a good book to offer insight into what life was like as a young Black man in the 1940's.

To put this book on hold, click here.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

The Last House on Needless Street

 By Catriona Ward

Adult Fiction/Horror

Reviewed by Rachael-Altona Branch Administrator

    If you read the synopsis of this book, it tells you this is a story of a serial killer, a stolen child, revenge and death.  But it also tells you that even though these things are all true, they are also all lies.  This was intriguing to me and made me want to read this book.

    Most of this story revolves around Ted.  Ted lives a solitary life in a boarded up house and his only company is his Bible loving cat and his out of control daughter.  Eleven years earlier, a child went missing not far from Ted's neighbourhood.  This results in Ted's house being searched, which causes him to become a suspect in the eyes of the community, even though he has been cleared by the police. People start taking their anger out on him by throwing rocks at his house and breaking his windows. Ted becomes fearful of the outside world and he does everything he can to limit his and his loved ones exposure to any outside influences.

    Things are not what they appear to be in this story.  The farther in you get, the more you begin to understand what is actually going on.  I really enjoyed this story, and if you like novels of horror, you may want to give this one a try!

To place Morden's copy of this book on hold, click here.

To place Altona's copy of this book on hold, click here.





Friday, July 15, 2022

Author Spotlight: Dr. Seuss

    Dr. Seuss was one of the world's most beloved children's authors, known for such works as The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. He published over 60 books throughout his lifetime, many of which were turned into movies.  In this post we're going to take a closer look at Dr. Seuss and learn more about the man behind the books.

    Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904 in Springfield Massachusetts to Theodor Robert Geisel and Henrietta Seuss Geisel. His father managed the family brewery and later went on to become the Supervisor of Springfield's Public Parks.  Seuss studied at Dartmouth College, where he became editor of the humor magazine, Jack-O-Lantern, but was later kicked off the magazine due to a drinking infraction. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1925, Seuss went on to study at the University of Oxford in England with plans of becoming a professor, however, he dropped out in 1927.  Seuss then returned to America where he began his career as an illustrator, finding success in  advertising, most notably for the Flit insect repellant company.


    Seuss' first children's book was not published until 1937 and was rejected by at least 27 publishers before a chance encounter with an old friend from Dartmouth finally led to the book's publication.  The book was titled "And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" about a boy who turns an ordinary walk home into a great adventure. Over time, Seuss' books became known for "their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures" (Dr. Seuss) Dr. Seuss went on to publish over 60 books throughout his career, including classics like The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as beginning readers like The Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. 
    
    Seuss married Helen Palmer in 1927 and they were married until her death in 1967. In 1968 he married Audrey Dimon who he remained married to until his death.  Seuss died of cancer on September 24, 1991 at his home in San Diego. He was 87 years old. Although never having any children of his own, Dr. Seuss is likely one of the most well known children's authors in the world.
-In 1984 Geisel received a special Pulitzer Prize “for his special contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America’s children and their parents.” The honour underscored the immense popularity of his works, which were perennial best sellers. According to various reports, by the early 21st century more than 600 million copies of Dr. Seuss books had been sold worldwide. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dr-Seuss/The-Cat-in-the-Hat-How-the-Grinch-Stole-Christmas-and-other-classics)




-Dr. Seuss promoted environmentalism before it was popular with his book The Lorax, where a businessman is destroying the forest of Truffula trees and the Lorax is forced to speak up on their behalf, as they cannot speak up for themselves.



-The Cat In The Hat is the book that helped cement Seuss' place in children's literature. He wrote it when Houghton Mifflin and Random House asked him to write a children's primer that used 220 vocabulary words.  The book was described by one critic as a 'tour de force'.

-"Dr. Seuss has been in Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid dead celebrities every year since 2001, when the list was first published." (Wikipedia)




Dr. Seuss Quotes

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

“It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.”

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”









Tuesday, July 12, 2022

The Starless Sea

 By Erin Morgenstern

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Cynthia from the Altona Branch

    In a library there sits a book that has never been checked out.  One day, the book is found by Zach, who finds himself wondering at the mysterious stories contained within.  However, this book, through no fault of its own, brings Zach trouble, and, along the way, he learns that the stories from the book might not be so fictional after all.

"Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does, somewhere, sometime. In on form or another."

        -Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea

    The Starless Sea is a book filled with whimsical tales, and as such, is written in a whimsical manner.  The stories from the book within the book are written in between the chapters of the main story, which is told from Zach's point of view.  I enjoyed this because it made the stories less bland and more alive. The stories popped out of the book and danced on the pages.  However, this also makes the book come across as somewhat cryptic.  The mysterious stories from the book combined with Zach's lack of knowledge about the situation creates a confusing tale at first, but, as the chapters go on, things begin to become clearer. I found it very rewarding to get to the end of the book and have everything make sense.

    Since this book is driven mostly from Zach's inner thoughts and the stories told in between, Zach doesn't interact with many other characters.  If you prefer dialogue heavy books, this might be a tough read for you.  Overall, The Starless Sea is a story built up of smaller stories, woven together to create a mystifying narrative.  I would recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy and mystery.

    If you've already read The Starless Sea or are just looking for something similar, here are some more books you can check out. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow, The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman.

To put The Starless Sea on hold, click here.

            

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Untamed

 

By Glennon Doyle

Adult Non-Fiction

Reviewed by Deb-SCRL Office Staff

    We are always told not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case, I would disagree.  The cover of this latest book by Glennon Doyle is gorgeous, which is what caused me to pick it up.  Untamed is mostly biographical with a dose of self-help and is a fresh summer read.

    In Untamed, Glennon Doyle talks about her booming career as a Christian mommy blogger and motivational speaker.  The turning point in her life came when her marriage ended and, after a lot of soul searching, she married female soccer star Abby Wambach.  Doyle also discusses her past in the book, including her struggle with bulimia as a teenager and how she got sober.  A standout quote for me was: "When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself."

    I enjoyed Doyle's formal style of writing and I found it thought provoking and relatable.  I highly recommend this book.

To place this book on hold, click here.

The Name Of This Book Is Secret

 Author: Pseudonymous Bosch (pen name of Raphael Simon) Junior Fiction Volume 1 in the Secret Series Reviewed by Mikaela-Summer Reading Prog...