Off my larder shelf: Put ‘em up! fruit

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Here in the northeast, i like to think of this time of year as almost summer. because even if i’m wearing a scarf when going outside, or need to pull out my puffy coat for one final day or two, when the light starts to change, everything changes.  without fail, one fine evening in march or april when i’m cooking dinner in my city digs, i look up and realize – damz! it’s still bright outside!  and it’s uphill from there until at least october as far as i’m concerned.

As soon as it’s almost summer i long to get my paws on some luscious summer fruit. rhubarb first, then strawberries, gooseberries, and before long an abundance of blues hang like baubles right outside my door complete with birds diving like missiles directly into the surrounding nets for a forbidden taste. peaches, plums, apricots, oh, and how could i forget the most fleeting of all – raspberries.

This particular almost summer i am happy to get my paws on a brand new preserving book, the sequel in fact to one of the best all around preserving books of recent years.  this one focuses on, you guessed it, fruit!


having worked quite a bit with sherri’s first preserving book, i was very excited to receive my copy of put ‘em up! fruit from her generous publisher, storey. a lot of great recipes here for sure – blueberry ketchup (i must try!) grapefruit sections in lavender syrup, maraschino cherries (if that doesn’t impress your friends, nothing will!) and five spice plum sauce to name just a few. what i also love about this book is the troubleshooting section – concise instructions and tips on how to avoid such mishaps as the dreaded fruit float, siphoning, cloudy jelly, and preserves too thick or too thin. there’s also primers on acid, pectin, and reaching the gel point – essential things to know when putting your fruit in jars.

For those of you who know about my amazon larder you know that i’m on here from time to time roaring about a particular book or two i’m digging – all to entice you to buy from my amazon larder.  why buy from there you may ask? why, i’m glad you did! i receive a 6% amazon associates fee on anything you purchase from my larder on amazon, and i take that fee, and double it, then i send it all off to the humane society of the united states to support their efforts in correcting the terrible conditions that factory-farmed animals are forced to live and die in each day. together we’ve contributed $170.00 since the last time i was on here roaring about this very same thing. thank you for contributing, let’s hope we can make a difference.

In addition to being featured in the off my larder shelf series, put ‘em up! fruit is enjoying a book blog tour hosted each day by these fine blogs listed below. i encourage you to surf around and hear what others are roaring.

april 8 food in jars, april 9 punk domestics, april 10 autumn makes & does, april 11 local kitchen, april 12  mission: food, april 15  what julia ate, april 17 daily dish recipes, april 18  shockingly delicious, april 19 the hip girl’s guide to homemaking, april 22 from scratch club

But wait! there’s more. story publishing is providing one copy to a lucky winner right here! to win leave a comment in the comment section below by midnight wednesday april 24th. here’s what i want to know: if you were stuck on a deserted island with only one kind of fruit growing what would it be? and if that fruit only grew on that island that you were deserted on for part of the year, how would you preserve it to be enjoyed the rest of the year? (let’s assume of course that you had a stove and a canning pot installed somewhere in a cave overlooking the ocean, with jars, rings, lids and other miscellaneous preserving supplies sitting on that beautiful rock shelf to the left of the stove. and, hell, i’ll throw in a thick and fuzzy carpeted floor, some mood lighting and big cushy pillows too, ’cause you know, i want you to be comfortable).

winner will be chosen by that trusty random number generator and announced soon after the 24th.  let me hear ya!

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