Product Description
The 18 recipes included here, each originally published in a turn-of-the-century magazine or cookery book, include fascinating anecdotes about Victorian cooking. Period engravings, menus, advertisements, and watercolors recall the abundant banquets that were routine for proper Victorians. Full-color photographs. ... Read more

Product Description
It's easy to concoct scrumptious spreads with this indispensible cookbook, featuring step-by-step tips and directions-and some unique flavors to make top-quality toppings and fillings.

€152 prize-winning recipes for jams, jellies, conserves, marmalades, fruit butters, and chutneys including no-cook varieties, and sugar-free varieties
€ Teaches how to prepare, set, and save preserves with the latest in canning equipment, techniques
€ Includes recipes for both traditional single-fruit flavors (Raspberry Currant, Apple Cider) and combinations (Kiwi Mango, Apricot Orange Butter) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Prizewinning results anyone can achieve!
I am the author of this book! Just checking to see if copies are still available as it is out of print in Canada where it was originally published as "Prizewinning Preserves". Was a 3-time Grand Champion Jam and Jelly Maker at the annual Royal Winter Fair, but made a comeback as recently as a week ago and it is now 4-time. :-) I love making jams, jellies, marmalades, conserves, fruit butters and chutneys that are in this book. The recipes are flavourful, easy to make and has the latest canning procedures plus lots of tips! The Complete Idiot's Guide here is also going out of print so grab a copy while they still have some and enjoy the delicious results. Even if you have never made jams, etc. before...let me be your guide.

An acceptable book on jam!
This book is an acceptable or average book on making jams.There are better preserving books. I think too many people purchase books based on their so-clever or cute name/title (like dummy or idiot). Better to look over the book carefully yourself and see what books the experts are recommending. I'd probably give this book a 3 1/2, but they didn't have that here and a 4 seemed too generous.

Full Pantry
After a frantic store search for canning books, I came to Amazon.com and found this treasure.I had bags, buckets and bowls full of homegrown produce and fruit and no idea of what to do with any of it since my only canning book was hopelessly outdated.This book was a gem.The recipes are easy to follow, require only a minimal of on-hand ingrediants and truly, any "idiot" can follow these directions.

So with the help of this book, I now have a full pantry and several beautiful jars of jelly, jams and preserves to give as holiday gifts.

By this way, this is the first time I have ever made jam and jelly that has actually "set".The directions were that specific.

Have fun with this recipes in this book.

My favorite cookbook
I cook quite a bit but have never made jelly.I only remember my mother's way with pounds of fruit, parrafin, dozens of jars and a mess for days.But this isn't it!!This is not your mother's jelly making book!I can't believe how easy it is -- and the recipes in this book all make small batches -- usually around 6 or 8 jars!My favorite so far is the port wine spice jelly but there are so many chutneys and jams I want to try.I can't believe how great this recipe list looks and in an Idiot's Guide!I'll start paying more attention to these smart little orange books now. ... Read more

Product Description
Great cookbook for canning, jellies, chutneys and more! Fill your pantry with the wonderful, fresh flavors of homemade goodness! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A real gem--a lost treasure.
What an amazing book. This is a taste of true tradition that isn't seen, or savored, any more. If you want beautiful images and recipes of jams, jellies and preserves, do drop in. Bringyour children and teach them how lovely it can be to spend the day in the kitchen with Aunt Freddie's wonderful recipes. C'est si bon. I sure miss her and love her. A fan. ... Read more

Product Description
Storing food can be a major challenge for any family or individual who wants to increase the amount of food available without spending additional money. With rising food costs, the advent of at home gardening and the potential represented in storing your own food, it is no wonder that freezing, drying, and canning are becoming much more popular. Freezing alone, which the National Freezing and Refrigerated Foods Association has stated can add as much as 600% to the lifespan of many common refrigerated foods, is an easy, available action to anyone, but only if it is done properly.This book will show anyone interested in storing food for future use how to do so to optimize the amount of money saved and minimize the risk of damaging food or spreading food borne illnesses. You will learn how to grow for harvest and how to subsequently handle that harvest with this book s crop by crop guide of everything that you might possibly want to store away. You will learn how freezing works and how to go about organizing your freezing. You will learn the various methods of freezing and why failure occurs. In addition to freezing, you will learn about canning and preserving and how each technically works and what problems you may encounter. All of the equipment you may need is laid out in easy to read charts and you will be shown the various final products you can expect. Experts in food preservation and storage have been interviewed and their commentary has been included here to help you understand what all you will be able to expect from your preserved foods. Learn how to create jellies and jams, pickle vegetables and fruits, dry foods, juice them after storing, and even how to create a simple root cellar for long term storage. No matter your situation, this guide will help you learn how to store multiple forms of vegetables and fruits and to understand how they perform, why failure occurs, and what you need to be successful. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive guide to the art of making jams, jellies and preserves. ... Read more

Product Description
Homemade preserves are the perfect way to enjoy a favorite fruit all year long. They're also inexpensive and, in this book, are made without commercial pectin or other artificial ingredients. For novices, a thorough guide to equipment, techniques, and safety is followed by essential recipes such as Raspberry Jam, Apple Butter, and Concord Grape Jelly. More experienced preservers will be delighted at innovative offerings including Blackberry Vinegar, Red Grapefruit Marmalade, and Brandied Peaches with Vanilla. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (100)

Sometimes slow food is just *too* slow (great flavors, but anti-pectin view makes many recipes time and energy hogs)
I was really impressed with the wide range of recipes and lovely flavor combinations--based on flavors and information, I would give this book 5 stars.

But I hate it when preserve books categorically snub commercial pectin, regardless of fruit. It's as bad as going the other route and putting piles of pectin and sugar in everything. I agree that commercial pectin is overused and often unnecessary (Ball would probably get you to add it to crabapples), but the alternatives here for preserving low-pectin fruits (that aren't preserved in combination with high-pectin fruits) are to either cook forEVER or to make your own pectin using high-pectin fruits--which you might not have access to in quantity, depending on the season or location. And so making a low-pectin-fruit jam becomes, in effect, making two complete recipes that require constant attention and a good deal more heating energy than just using commercial pectin in those recipes. A 30-minute canning job with a surplus of summer fruit becomes an all-day chore that uses 10x the energy.

I appreciate slow food and understand that it's important to know how to cook in the old way--but not for every fracking thing you make. If you only make one batch of jam a year, maybe that's fine. But if you really want to put up the maximum summer bounty, you just don't have time for making every batch like your great great granny did. Your great great granny probably didn't have a day job. You have to balance the result with the energy cost and pleasure of producing it. Personally, I'd rather be outdoors picking fruit than indoors watching it stew; in other foods, the pleasure is in the production and the tradeoff in time and energy makes more sense.

If there had been commercial pectin adaptations for only the lowest-pectin recipes, I would have given this book 5 stars, because the recipes really are lovely. But adding 10x the time/fuel energy inputs simply to slavishly avoid commercial pectin just strikes me as snobbish, and makes a good chunk of the book practically inaccessible to me.

Terrific recipes
Aside from the brilliant organisation where it is grouped by fruit and the abundance of information about each fruit, the recipes are outstanding. I just made both the apple butter and the caramel-apple jam since apple picking has begun a bit early this year and I was reminded I should submit a review since there are lots of new 'putting by' books these days, many of which aren't that good.

The caramel-apple jam recipe is worth the price of the book alone. Spread it on toast with a bit of peanut butter and it's even better than eating a messy caramel apple.

It's not for beginners or for those who prefer using pectin, but if you're looking for a bunch of recipes that covers a wide range of fruits that yield what the recipe states it will and really are delicious (I've made about 20 of the recipes so far and have yet to be disappointed), this is a stand-out collection in a growing field of disappointing books.

My thanks to the author.

A little confusing at first
I have an irrational love for this book. I've become addicted to making my own jelly and I think I'm developing a problem.

I'd never done any sort of preserving before I got this and now I'm getting pretty good at it. The downside of this if you're coming in with absolutely zero experience you're going to get confused. I had make good use of google at first to help me out- so be warned! You are GOING to screw something up and be left with a mess and a lot of waste.

Also know that this can be a lot of work if you're not familiar with the process.

Once you get the hang of it though it's pretty nifty! There's a lot of combos that I never even considered. This is not your straight strawberry/blueberry/peach- although to get more creative you may have to do some searching (rose hips? Where do I buy rose hips? I still don't know!)

Good buy
I am new to canning and needed some recipes and a little how to information.......this is a handy book.

Classic Recipes, Good Basics
I am glad I bought this book. It presents you the good basics, as for instance how to make your own pectin. Recipes are mostly fruit, and not too much exotic preserves (even though 'exotic' preserves was initially what I was looking for). Good book to have. ... Read more

Product Description
Homemade preserves are delicious, easy to make and a delight for the whole family. They are increasingly popular today, with the current accent on real foods, the concern about the origin of what we eat and what has gone in it. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Great Preserves!
Most preserving books offer the same old recipes. This book has some interesting and different recipes. The recipe for the elderflower syrup is SUPERB! Had tried a couple of others and they don't come close to this one.Just wish the book were bigger and had more recipes.

Gorgeous & relevant!
I love the The River Cottage Meat Book so when I saw a recommendation for Preserves in the Guardian online (The Guardian, Saturday 10 January 2009, "Source It") I had to take a look. Pam Corbin has some excellent thoughts on growing and buying locally-sourced goods.

There are a good number of recipes for jams/jellies, pickled preserves and more. The first section runs through canning and processing in good detail, with hints on why preserves go bad and best practices to avoid it.

As this is the UK edition, most of the recipes use metric, but the last pages have direct conversion tables to Imperial (or US) measures for anything you might need. ... Read more

Product Description
The book includes over 150 different jams, jellies, marmalades, relishes, mustards and sauces. Each recipe is accompanied by color photographs and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions to ensure perfect results every time.This stunning book is the perfect companion for preserving and is a must for every kitchen and every cook. ... Read more

Product Description
With its variety of jams, jellies, chutneys, mustards, and syrups to choose from, "The Book of Preserves" provides a wealth of traditional country recipes. Illustrated in color with step-by-step pictures to guide readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Gifts from the garden, the store, and yourself
Go to the store and buy it. Why take the time and effort to create jams and jellies and preserves? Why indeed? For three reasons--and three very good ones at that:
1. Because you grew your own produce. Now you want to "put it up."

2. Because you enjoy doing so. It is a hobby. You don't even have to grow it. You can buy it somewhere, then "preserve it."

3. Because this sort of thing--preserves, jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, and the like make FABULOUS gifts.

As you can see by the picture, this is a long book, eleven inches high, and five and one/half inches wide. The paper is the slick kind and there is at least one large picture on each page of the 128 pages. Not only does author Mary Norwak promote attractive packaging of products, she puts them in an attractive book package.

Let's go inside. All needed utensils are pictured. If you are interested in preserving, you can lay out everything and know you have it. That's what I did.

Next the author describes ingredients, then preserving techniques and terms. Gift packaging and labeling are illustrated.

The first preservation is Jams, with steps for making it listed and pictured. A jam is made of fruit or fruit juices and is less firm than jelly. Then Mary includes fourteen different jams to make, including kiwi, apple-ginger, black cherry, and, of course, strawberry.

Jelly is a clear product that quivers. Jellies include blueberry-apple, black grape, and herb among the six. A marmalade is a sweetened jelly made from citrus fruit and its peel. An unusual blend is Oxford (bitter oranges, molasses, and whiskey). Interested in trying a combination of flavors? You can with these recipes.

As you turn further, more exotic products greet you. Remember that trip to England or inside an English novel being introduced to curds and butters? A curd is a thick, creamy fruit-flavored mixture of eggs, butter, sugar with a short shelf life. Butters are thicker than curds. Both are used as spreads or fillings. Spiced apple butter and lemon curd are two choices to make.

Amaze your family and friends with more and more unusual and creative items: Chow Chow, Pickled Peaches, Mango Chutney. Make your own Spiced Cranberry Sauce, mull your own peaches, make cherry brandy and coffee liquer. Create an herb vinegar. Before that, learn to dry your own herbs.

This book speaks to the creative and aesthetic in us. Preserving is a way of life, a joy, a means to an end. For those who appreciate this kind of endeavor, "The Book of Preserves" is highly recommended!

Nice Pictures...otherwise uninspiring
I have to start out by saying that I prefer to make spreads with added pectin.I don't have the time, or patience for the long simmering times required to make a jam or jelly without commercial pectin, and I don't typically care for the flavor that the long cooking times produce.
With that said, all of the recipes in this book call for the long-boil method of producing jams and jellies, so I didn't find this book useful.
The pictures are very nice, and the scientific information is accurate.She does list processing times for all of the recipes, my biggest pet peeve with any jam recipe is a last line that says "put into jars and seal", but a lot of the recipes call for ingredients that I have no idea where to acquire (crystalized angelica???), and cooking processes that can take days (mushroom catsup).
I would skip this book in favor of a more inclusive canning guide, or a few hours spent researching recipes and techniques on the internet.

Great introduction.
In its roughly 50 parts, all written by experienced cooks and cook book writers, HP Books' "The Book of ... Cooking" series takes you to the cuisines of various regions of the U.S. and around the world; all in easy to follow, well-explained recipes.

This installment, the Book of Preserves (Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies), starts with a brief introduction into the basics of preserving, including a glossary of ingredients and an explanation of the necessary equipment and utensils and all about setting, packing, sealing, packaging and labeling preserves.It then presents recipe suggestions for all major types of preserves, from jams and jellies to candied fruits.Special chapters are dedicated to marmalades, curds, butters, conserves, freezer jams, microwave preserves, pickles, chutneys, sauces and catsups, fruit in alcohol, liqueurs, syrups, flavored vinegars and mustards.The book closes with a short section on drying fruit.Classics such as candied apricots, blackcurrant jelly, black cherry jam, grape jelly, pickled dill cucumbers, dried apple rings, herb vinegar, mango chutney, spiced oranges, lemon curd, spiced prunes, rum pot, apple butter, cranberry sauce, strawberry jam and tomato sauce appear next to unique recipes such as dried apricot and pear jam, freezer nectarine jam, kiwifruit jam, lemon apples in wine, mushroom catsup, orange and apple jelly, peach and raspberry jam, pineapple harlequin, plum and cherry brandy jam and grape chutney.

From apple ginger chutney to walnut catsup, this collection of recipes is a great introduction to the endless possibilities of making preserves - and at a relative bargain price, to boot.Also recommended:this series' installments on chocolates and petits fours, ice creams and sorbets, cookies, and afternoon tea.

Also recommended:
Around the World Cookbook
Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery)
Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World
On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (4th Edition) Textbook only
Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006

Simple and delicious.
This book is full of easy to follow recipies that taste wonderful and look beautiful.Basic, easy to understand instructions on canning, labeling and gift wrapping are included on the first few pages.Most of the recipiesare for slightly different than your adverage preserves (You won't befinding the Pineapple-Orange marmalade on your supermarket shelves!).Recipies for pickles, syrups, mustards and liquors are included along withjams, jellies, marmalades and other preserves. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

A Major Disappointment
I am a very experienced home canner and I was not impressed by this book. It was written primarily for a European audience by a British author and many of the ingredients are difficult to find. There are also a number of unusual recipes - Carnation Liqueur, Elderflower Cordial, Goat's Cheese in Oil, Pickled Walnuts - that I did not find appealing.

A number of the jams, jellies and marmalades I made following the recipe directions set up too firm, while others failed to set at all. For most of the recipes, the author's instructions require the sugar to be warmed in the oven for 20 minutes, a tricky and time consuming task at best, before the sugar is added to the fruit. There are also a lot of recipes for fruits and jams preserved with alcohol.

A substantial number of recipes do not give processing instructions. Of the recipes that the author does suggest processing in a boiling water bath, many are too low in acid to be safely processed by this method. European canning standards differ from those of the USDA.

While the pictures in the book are pretty to look at, the flavor and texture of the finished preserves are not really all that good.

Amazing recipes
Having tried all the basic recipes in other books, I was ready to move up to some more creative and unusual recipes.This book fit the bill perfectly! Trying to limit which ones to try is the hard part!The pictures are very enticing, and the steps in the recipes are concise.

One of the most exhilirating books on preserving!
My husband purchased this book for me while he was on a business trip to Paris, France. It is an insightful volume with numerous unique, detailed recipes which contain metric andapothecary/troy measurements for cooksaround the world. This is a must for every serious american home canner whoseeks diverse, unusual and interesting preserved flavored specialties toserve their family. This is a real find! ... Read more

Product Description
Cooperative Extension is pleased to offer a new 5th edition of its popular book, So Easy To Preserve. This beautiful book contains the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations for safe food preservation. So Easy To Preserve is now a 375-page book with over 185 tested recipes, along with step by step instructions and in-depth information for both the new and experienced food preserver. Chapters include Preserving Food, Canning, Pickled Products, Jellied Fruit Products, Freezing and Drying. This 5th edition has 35 new tested recipes and processes, in addition to a new section with recommended procedures for home-canned salsas. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Great Food HIstory Resource with Contested Past
I'd rate it five stars, but reading antique cookbooks isn't for everyone. I also only read the first section, which Simmons disavows writing, and skimmed the rest. To me it seems obvious that a man wrote that section though from a quote in the piece on potatoes, especially when you consider Simmons was an orphan. "The manner of their managing it to keep up the excellency of that root, would better suit a treatise on agriculture and gardening than this--and be inserted in a book which would be read by the farmer, instead of his amiable daughter. If no one treats on the subject, it may appear in the next edition." But, then again, I might just find it obvious because I knew those were contested pages before I began reading.

Firsts
American Cookery is a book of firsts. First book of "receipts" written by an American, published in America, and containing uniquely American food options. First published recipe for cakey gingerbread, first publication of the word "cookie", first documented use of pearlash as a leavening agent. Printed in 18th century format, with the use of the long s (f) and with original spelling, it provides the reader with a peek into the daily life of the early American housewife. Many recipes call for immense amounts of flour and sugar, sometimes more than 5 lbs., with measures such as "a teacup full" and "a slow oven". Author Simmons helpfully provides instructions about how to decide whether to acquire beef from oxen or dairy cattle, and how to "dress" a turtle. The amount of information contained in this brief little volume is amazing. Worth a careful perusal even if none of the recipes catches your fancy.

Fattening Look at the Past
This is a great, fun little look at the past of American cooking. But, boy, were they not worried about cholesterol and calories like we are now!If you do attempt making any of the recipes found in the book, I would just recommend reducing the amount of sugar and the amount of butter (especially in the 'pudding' recipes). It is great fun to experiment with to see what our ancestors ate. ... Read more

Product Description
Even if you've never made jams or jellies before, you'll find these sweet and tangy gifts simple and gratifying. Recipes include old-fashioned blackberry preserves, currant and quince jelly, blueberry-Grand Marnier jam, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Jams,Jellies & Preserves
Overall excellent book.Gives wonderfull insite to the diffent
making of jams, jellies and preserves with tips on how to make sure you product turns out wonderful!Helps stir your own imagination in creating wonder home concoctions! ... Read more