Put 'em Up!

Put 'em Up! A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling

Put ’em Up!

For November, I thought I'd take a look at our books on preserving food. The Farmers Market is brimming with produce too wonderful to pass-up (be sure to stock up before it closes on November 22nd) and gift-giving season is right around the corner. Personally, my garden yielded a bounty of jalapeño peppers and tomatoes that seems to be crying out for attention involving a Mason jar. And, a bushel of apples just arrived at my doorstep, compliments of a neighbor with a second home in orchard country. So, I checked out a few of the library's books on preserving and canning on the third floor (641.4). Put 'em Up! A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook was one that floated to the top. True to its title, this gem of a book is jam-packed (sorry!) with information and recipes for "Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling," all presented in a delightfully breezy, smart fashion.

Beginning with 'Why Preserve Your Own Foods?' (you'll have "delicious, high quality, economical, green, and traditional outcomes" using local foods that are "freshest, most flavorful, and less likely to be treated,") author Sherri Brooks Vinton walks you through the tools and the processes. All easy, no trips to the store for elaborate equipment or weird ingredients are required, and kids can readily help. She then provides great recipes, organized alphabetically by fruit or vegetable, with options for a variety of methods – canning, drying, freezing or just eating. With that bushel of apples I might make apple preserves, spiced apple chutney, or apple jelly to can in jars, freeze homemade applesauce, infuse some apple brandy, or simply oven-dry apple rings for snacking. But not before I put up a few pint jars of Charred Chili Salsa, a delicious and versatile sauce with just the right amount of kick.

Put 'em Up! is a keeper!

Check out author Sherri Brooks Vinton's website, here.

A jumble of tomatoes and jalapeños...

Pickled jalapeños to last well beyond the season!

Still too many jalapeños? Here's my quick and easy Pickled Jalapeño recipe that requires no canning process. Feel free to fiddle with the amount of garlic and the herbs. 

1 pound fresh jalapeños

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups distilled or pickling white vinegar

1 cup water

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh thyme or oregano

Wearing disposable gloves, wash jalapeños. Cut off the stems and slice them into rings. Pack the jar with the rings.

Combine all other ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring them to a boil to dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove the pot from the heat and ladle the pickling mixture over the jalapeño rings, making sure to include garlic and herbs. Cool, then refrigerate.

These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for months.

Inundated with apples? Try Sherri's Homemade Applesauce. This recipe may be canned but it's not required - the sauce will last in the freezer for up to six months. Sherri recommends cooking the apples with their skins and running the whole lot through a food mill; cutting down on prep time and adding color and body to the sauce.

½ cup water

2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice 

3 pounds apples, stems removed

Sugar to taste

Ground cinnamon (optional)

Pour the water and lemon juice into a large nonreactive stockpot. Roughly chop the apples, adding them to the pot with the lemon water as you go to prevent browning. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the apples are tender, 10 to 20 minutes.

Pass the mixture through a food mill. Return the sauce to the heat and add the sugar to taste and the cinnamon, if using. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat.

Transfer to containers and let cool to room temperature then cover and refrigerate (for up to 5 days) or freeze (for up to 6 months). Easy! 

P.S. While you're visiting the library between November 10th and December 3rd, be sure to see our exhibit, "Over There, Over Here", which features extraordinary posters from World War I—when Americans did their parts for the war by growing and preserving their own food. 

Contributor: Barbara Davis, Community Relations Coordinator @ NRPL and proud owner of 60+ cookbooks!

Recipes excerpted from Put 'em Up! (c) by Sherri Brooks Vinton, used with permission from Storey Publishing.