Books, I Got Books!

I have twelve new books to tell you about, and I didn't spend a penny on any of them.

The first two are a pair of cookbooks I edited last summer: The Joy of Pickling and The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves, both by Linda Ziedrich. Wow, I loved working on these books! I've never tried home canning, but these books made me feel as though I could actually do it. Both books contain recipes for the very ordinary (dill pickles, orange marmalade) as well as the most unusual (kimchi, cantaloupe jam). It seems there's nothing you can't put up during the summer to enjoy when winter comes. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, so you don't have to worry. (Yes, receiving the finished product is a huge bonus of working on cookbooks!)

The other ten books were a prize I won in a contest hosted by Boston Mamas! The books all come from the Hachette Book Group: The Secret Speech by Tom Smith, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, Obama's BlackBerry by Kasper Hauser, A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand, When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris, Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford, The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer, Kill for Me by Karen Rose, and Miscarriage of Justice by Kip Gayden. Some of these books are not my favorite flavor, so I'll pass them along, but I'll let you know which ones I do read. I'm especially looking forward to the new David Sedaris collection.

Comments

[Margaret]

James Patterson is terrible; don't read that one!

[Lori Z.]

I've never been a Patterson fan either, but my mom certainly digs him. Sedaris' books, however, are ones that I sneak off to read, leaving the kids and my husband to figure out food and bedtime.

[Alissa]

Julie and Julia is not worth reading - although it's a great movie! David Sedaris is awesome.

[Megan]

My husband and I have been canning our own jam and preserves for 6 years now and for the last 4 have not bought jam (we the occasional artisan jar). We've even gotten the kids (3 and 1 1/2 yrs) into it by taking them berry picking - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries. I don't think I've saved money this way, but there's something special about having a breakfast of homemade toast and jam. Our favorite canning book (we've done salsas and pickles from it too) is: Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda Amendt.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ribbon-Preserves-Award-Winning-Marmalades/dp/1557883610