Oops. I fell off the wagon as far as finishing up Drink Week. I still plan on posting my recipes for Lavender Honey and Rosemary Lemon syrups, so stay tuned for that. And for those of you who entered the Sodastream giveaway, make sure to read through to the bottom of the post where the winner is posted.

Last summer, I got an email from an editor at Country Woman Magazine. She was planning an article on canning for the following summer and wanted to know if I was interested in being involved. I was totally flattered by the request and said I’d be happy to help in anyway I could.

It turned out that they wanted to do an article about canning parties. As luck would have it, at the time they got in touch, Audra and I were already planning on attending a canning party at Kate’s house in Brooklyn.

The day of the canning party, we gathered in Kate’s kitchen, made ketchup, dilly beans, lemon plum jam and peach chutney. I took photos as we worked and had an absolutely fabulous day.

Early last week, I got an envelope from Country Woman with three copies of the magazine inside. It’s so fun to see our party in its pages (that’s Autumn from Autumn Makes and Does in the lower right-hand corner). The issue contains a bunch of really delicious-sounding recipes (as well as a couple from me) and instructions on how to download some adorable jar labels, so make sure to check it out.

And now, the moment so many of you have been waiting for. Random.org has selected number 759, Liz W. in Vermont. Congratulations Liz, I’ll be in touch momentarily. So many thanks to all of you for all the fantastic comments on the giveaway!

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When I was 13 years old, I decided that I wanted to become a public speaker when I grew up (yes, I do realize that that’s sort of an odd thing for a freshly minted teenager to choose). The only problem was that I didn’t know what it was that I wanted to talk about. So I let that dream go quiet, not giving up on it exactly, but letting it slip to the background as I went to school, moved across the country, worked and generally lived my life.

It’s funny how things work out though, because in the process of living, I found my niche and became someone who publicly writes, teaches and talks about canning and home food preservation. The 13 year old version of me would be pretty incredulous, but the 31 year old version couldn’t be happier with the way things are working out.

To that end, I thought it was time to share with you some good news (though if you spotted the article the Daily News article in which I was featured, you’ve already got the scoop). I’m writing a cookbook. It will be called Food in Jars (just like this website) and will include 100 recipes that will cover jams, pickles, fruit butters, tomato products, granolas and bread mixes. The book will be published by Running Press and will be coming out in the spring of 2012. As you might guess, I am thrilled.

In other fun news, the BlogHer Food agenda was published last week and I’m excited to say that I’ll be speaking in the session entitled The Old-School Arts: Canning, Preserving, Foraging. My fellow Philly-based preserver Audra Wolfe (aka Doris the Goat) will also be up there with me and Sean Timberlake (who just launched the fabulous Punk Domestics site) will be moderating the session.

And now, in other preserving news, I’ve recently learned that the Mother Earth News Fair is taking place the weekend of September 25-26 just outside of Pittsburgh, PA and has a huge focus on canning, preserving, fermentation, cheese-making, baking, beer brewing and other kitchen arts. Unfortunately, I’ve already got plans that weekend, so I can’t go. However, for those of you who live within a doable drive of that area, I think you should consider attending. It sounds amazing (Sherri Brooks Vinton, the author of Put ‘Em Up! will be there) and the tickets are really affordable. A one-day pass is $15 and a weekend pass is $25. Kids 17 years and under are free.

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Several years ago, Scott and I filmed an episode of Fork You about making risotto with our friend Jessie. We cooked in her kitchen and though the whole day was fun, there’s one part of that shoot that has particularly stuck with me. You see, Jessie had this pot that was the most brilliant thing ever for risotto making. It had a built-in spout, and instead of having a conventional pot handle, it had a heatproof handle that was shaped like one you would find on a pitcher. It made adding the stock to the risotto incredibly easy. It’s not untrue to say that I coveted this ingenious little pot.

I continue to think about Jessie’s pitcher-styled stock pot, now imagining how amazing it would be for pickle making, as it would make filling jars with brine positively breezy (and would mean fewer dishes to boot). I have searched high and low for something similar and have come up empty-handed. Until now.

Recently, while standing in a coffeeshop waiting for an iced coffee (my favorite way to combat steamy days), I took note of the pitchers they used for steaming milk. Stainless steel. Sturdy. Able to withstand the high heat of the steaming wand. Could this be the vessel I’ve been searching for? I ordered the biggest one Amazon carried and took it on a test pickling drive. It withstood the heat of my stove and made filling my jars so quick

Side note: I am beginning to be convinced of the idea that it’s always better to put the pickling spices directly in the jars, and not mix them with the brine. I get very inconsistent spice distribution when I’ve added them to the brine like I did for this picture.

The pitcher holds a bit less than 2 quarts, and you wouldn’t want to fill it to the brim, so it’s really only good for smaller batch pickling (say 4-6 pints). However, that’s much of what I do, so it works beautifully for me. If you pickle in similar amounts, consider adding this handy tool to your kit (do use a small pot holder when picking it up, that handle isn’t designed to be heatproof).

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All this week, Simple Bites is featuring canning tips, tricks, techniques and recipes. I contributed a piece on how to can whole tomatoes to the effort and a number of other bloggers have lent their canning talents and skills to that site as well. For those of you who just can’t get enough preservation information, please do go check it out!

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My latest piece in Grid Philly is available online, for your reading pleasure. I wrote up a trio of no-cook recipes as my way of helping people beat the heat. Leaf over to pages 30-31 of the digital edition and take a gander.

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On Monday, I played hooky from work and spent a day strolling the Fancy Food Show with camera in hand. I tasted some amazing things, including delicious cheeses, shatteringly good chocolates and snack-y items galore. But since this is a blog (mostly) about food that comes in jars, those were the items I sought out and made mental notes about. Here goes…

Harvest Song Artisanal Preserves is a New York-based company that imports handmade preserves from Armenia. All their spreads are divine (my friend Tenaya gave me a jar of the Tea Rose Petal preserves for my birthday last year. That jar didn’t last a week) but these Baby Walnuts are just amazing. They pick them green, brine them and then pack them in a sugar syrup. They are soft, tender and delicately flavored. I’ve never before tasted anything like them.

Their other jams are pretty wonderful as well, particularly their sour cherry and wild strawberry. Definitely not preserves you see every day.

I loved the pear jams from Colorado Mountain Jams. The basic pear was really nice (and got me all excited for pear season to return) but the pear ginger was amazing.

I loved these boozy flavored jellies from Cherith Valley Gardens. They also have a product called Spirited Peaches that are essentially wonderful canned peaches packed in a syrup to which some almond liqueur has been added. I think I know how I’m doing my peaches this summer!

A mini-trend I spotted was that everyone seems to be making a Nutella-like chocolate hazelnut spread. This one from Justin’s Nut Butters was sweet tooth satisfying. However…

This one from Askinosie was far richer and more intriguing. Made from scratch with hazelnuts from Lyndon, Washington and roasted cocoa nibs and cocoa powder (both made by Askinosie with beans sourced from Davao, Philippines), it made this dark chocolate lover do a dance of joy right there in the aisle (and then squat down to get a better picture).

They say that tumeric has a number of positive effects on health. Sadly, most Americans don’t get enough in their diets (unless they’re Indian food junkies). This product, called Nutmeric, combines the flavor and spreadability of almond butter with the vivid health benefits of tumeric. It also happens to taste really good.

Root Cellar Preserves makes a mean pickle. Seriously. Those Zesty Sweet Pickle Chips go in all tangy and gentle and just when you’re least suspecting it, the spice leaps out and grabs the back of your throat in a most fabulous and tasty way. I aspire to make some bread and butters just like this in the very near future.

These goats milk caramel sauces were everything a caramel sauce should be, with just the smallest hint of the complexity of goat’s milk. The fact that they come from a place called Fat Toad Farm just makes them that much better.

Okay, so these aren’t edible, but I was smitten with them nonetheless. I’ve been actively trying to reduce my consumption of plastic utensils of late. I do this mostly by keeping a set of mis-matched silverware at my desk at work. However, I do wish I had a set of these Bamboo Utensils to keep in my bag. I think it would help me be even better. Plus, what a cute carrying case they come in!

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I’ve been following the blog Lelo in NoPo for at least four years now. I first discovered it when its author LeAnn began to contribute gorgeous food images to the Slashfood Flickr pool. Occasions to email quickly developed and thanks to our mutual love of canning and Portland, OR, an internet friendship bloomed. LeAnn recently launched a radio show called Lelo Homemade on pdx.am and on her May 14th show, had me on as a guest. Take a listen if you’re so inclined!

My latest article in Grid Philly is live and it’s all about canning! Click here to see the digital edition. Pages 24, 25 and 26 are all mine. If you prefer a blog-style format, you can find the same content here (the canning article) and here (the recipe box).

My poor little OpenSky shop. I’ve struggled a bit trying to find products that would be useful and affordable for you guys, particularly since my primary goal with this site is to encourage homemaking instead of buying. Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to find a source for affordable canning jars (shipping costs make them prohibitive). However, I have managed to find a few things I think you all might like. The first are drinking glass jars, like the one you see above. Best thing about them? Regular mouth lids fit right on. They come in sets of 12, so if that’s too many for you, find a friend and split the box.

The other item I’ve got in stock are boxes of those fantastic white plastic lids. These aren’t used for processing, but are amazing when you want to use a jar to stash dinner leftovers or store dry goods. One thing to note is that they aren’t watertight, so if you’re using a jar in place of a water bottle, reach for a standard lid/ring arrangement. Right now, just the wide mouth ones are in stock, but check back tomorrow for the regular size.

Later today, I’ll have my May Can Jam recipe up. Curious about what I made? I have just three words for you. Orange Rhubarb Butter.

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I spent yesterday at the Fancy Food Show up in New York, and I’m still catching up on life after just one day away. I took a bunch of pictures of various foods in jars while there, and I hope to have a post up for you guys about what I saw there (as well as a recipe for sour cherry jam) up in the next day or so. In the meantime, to tide you all over, here are some links to good canning stuff elsewhere.

There are a couple of interesting conversations going on about canning over on MetaFilter right now, including one that mentions this here blog (thanks for the nod sararah!). The Oregonian has a terrific article on preserving cherries and the recipe for gooseberry jam on Doris and Jilly Cooks (made out of gleaned berries) looks wonderful.

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Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down in a recording booth and talk about one of my favorite things: food blogging. The interview was for an online radio show called Hear Philly. It’s a partnership between KYW 1060 and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (an organization who also happens to be my full-time employer).

If you decide to tune in, you can hear me talking about Fork You (the online cooking show I co-host with my very charming fiance, Scott), the Philadelphia food blogger scene and some of my favorite Philadelphia restaurants. The program loops every hour, so all you need to do to hear me is tune in at approximately twenty minutes after the hour (I think I actually come on at around the :21 mark). The show in which I appear runs through the rest of this week, so don’t wait too long to check it out!

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