The Beginner's Guide to Preserving Food at Home

Freeze, dry, can, root cellar, and brine your favorite produce right at home. For those with a bounty of fresh produce but short on time, Janet Chadwick's introduction to the world of preserving provides step-by-step instructions and inspiring easy-to-follow recipes. Preserving tips, hints, and shortcuts, along with guidance on essential time-saving equipment and methods for keeping vegetables, fruits, and herbs at peak freshness until you're ready to work with them give busy home cooks greater flexibility in making the harvest last. Discover the best and quickest techniques for root cellaring, freezing, canning, and drying everything from asparagus to winter squash, from apples to strawberries. Then dip into recipes for pickles, relishes, sauerkraut, sauces, jams, marmalades, and more. A troubleshooting chapter answers frequently asked questions and a selection of recipes for quick harvest dishes serves up stress-free, healthy mealtime inspiration that makes the most of the fresh foods you're already processing. So pick up a crate of inexpensive, less-than-perfect tomatoes at the farmers' market and turn them into jars of spicy salsa or buy a few extra peaches and can a delicious batch of jam to serve with breakfast. You'll extend the summer harvest and find yourself serving up delicious, locally grown food all year long.