The Book of Preserves: Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Norwak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1988

With its variety of jams, jellies, chutneys, mustards, and syrups to choose from, "The Book of Preserves" provides a wealth of traditional country recipes. Illustrated in color with step-by-step pictures to guide readers.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: HP Trade (September 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895865076
• ISBN-13: 978-0895865076
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,210,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple and delicious., February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Preserves: Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is full of easy to follow recipies that taste wonderful and look beautiful. Basic, easy to understand instructions on canning, labeling and gift wrapping are included on the first few pages. Most of the recipies are for slightly different than your adverage preserves (You won't be finding the Pineapple-Orange marmalade on your supermarket shelves!). Recipies for pickles, syrups, mustards and liquors are included along with jams, jellies, marmalades and other preserves.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gifts from the garden, the store, and yourself, June 12, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Preserves: Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies (Mass Market Paperback)

Go to the store and buy it. Why take the time and effort to create jams and jellies and preserves? Why indeed? For three reasons--and three very good ones at that:
1. Because you grew your own produce. Now you want to "put it up."

2. Because you enjoy doing so. It is a hobby. You don't even have to grow it. You can buy it somewhere, then "preserve it."

3. Because this sort of thing--preserves, jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, and the like make FABULOUS gifts.

As you can see by the picture, this is a long book, eleven inches high, and five and one/half inches wide. The paper is the slick kind and there is at least one large picture on each page of the 128 pages. Not only does author Mary Norwak promote attractive packaging of products, she puts them in an attractive book package.

Let's go inside. All needed utensils are pictured. If you are interested in preserving, you can lay out everything and know you have it. That's what I did.

Next the author describes ingredients, then preserving techniques and terms. Gift packaging and labeling are illustrated.

The first preservation is Jams, with steps for making it listed and pictured. A jam is made of fruit or fruit juices and is less firm than jelly. Then Mary includes fourteen different jams to make, including kiwi, apple-ginger, black cherry, and, of course, strawberry.

Jelly is a clear product that quivers. Jellies include blueberry-apple, black grape, and herb among the six. A marmalade is a sweetened jelly made from citrus fruit and its peel. An unusual blend is Oxford (bitter oranges, molasses, and whiskey). Interested in trying a combination of flavors? You can with these recipes.

As you turn further, more exotic products greet you. Remember that trip to England or inside an English novel being introduced to curds and butters? A curd is a thick, creamy fruit-flavored mixture of eggs, butter, sugar with a short shelf life. Butters are thicker than curds. Both are used as spreads or fillings. Spiced apple butter and lemon curd are two choices to make.

Amaze your family and friends with more and more unusual and creative items: Chow Chow, Pickled Peaches, Mango Chutney. Make your own Spiced Cranberry Sauce, mull your own peaches, make cherry brandy and coffee liquer. Create an herb vinegar. Before that, learn to dry your own herbs.

This book speaks to the creative and aesthetic in us. Preserving is a way of life, a joy, a means to an end. For those who appreciate this kind of endeavor, "The Book of Preserves" is highly recommended!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice Pictures...otherwise uninspiring, June 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Preserves: Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, Jellies (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to start out by saying that I prefer to make spreads with added pectin. I don't have the time, or patience for the long simmering times required to make a jam or jelly without commercial pectin, and I don't typically care for the flavor that the long cooking times produce.
With that said, all of the recipes in this book call for the long-boil method of producing jams and jellies, so I didn't find this book useful.
The pictures are very nice, and the scientific information is accurate. She does list processing times for all of the recipes, my biggest pet peeve with any jam recipe is a last line that says "put into jars and seal", but a lot of the recipes call for ingredients that I have no idea where to acquire (crystalized angelica???), and cooking processes that can take days (mushroom catsup).
I would skip this book in favor of a more inclusive canning guide, or a few hours spent researching recipes and techniques on the internet.