Have you ever wanted to . . .
Bottle your own soda? Press your own tofu? Smoke your own cheese? Boil your own bagels? Ferment your own miso? Can your own tomatoes? Roast your own coffee?
Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It walks you through a slew of satisfying culinary projects to stock your larder and shower your friends with artisan foods and drinks, kitchen staples, and utterly addictive snacks. Karen Solomon—veteran food writer, kitchen explorer, and author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It—brings forth a new collection of 75-plus recipes for condiments (Plum Catsup), cereals (Cornflakes), crunchy snacks (Tortilla Chips), beverages (Soy Milk), and more. Whether you’re a beginning or seasoned home cook, you’ll be inspired to pump up the power of your pantry.
With detailed instruction on essential techniques, time commitments for each project (from 20 minutes to 2 hours to a weekend), and labeling and wrapping tips, Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It will help you get creative in the kitchen. So leave the grocery aisle’s mass-produced packaging and mystery ingredients behind and join the urban homesteading revolution as you whip up a bevy of jars, bottles, and bags full of outstanding hand-labeled eats.
Karen Solomon has been a well-published food writer for over a decade. In addition to the Asian Pickles series of ebooks and print book, she's author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It (Ten Speed Press/Random House). She's also the author of The Cheap Bastard's Guide to San Francisco (Globe Pequot Press) and contributing author to Chow! San Francisco Bay Area: 300 Affordable Places for Great Meals & Good Deals (Sasquatch Press), and a former contributing editor to Zagat Survey: San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants.
Her edible musings on the restaurant scene, sustainable food programs, culinary trends, food history, and recipe development have appeared in Fine Cooking, Prevention, Yoga Journal, Organic Style, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and elsewhere, all of which showcase the diversity of her word-wrangling plate.
Karen has presented as a guest speaker at Boston University's Gastronomy Program (September, 2011) and at the 2009 Epicurean Classic in Michigan. She's the former organizer and host of the Jam It Salon, a quarterly DIY "show and taste" at 18 Reasons (2009-2011) and a former organizer and host of the Baby Food Swap (2010). She has served as a judge for both the Eat Real Festival Contest and the Good Food Awards, and she's currently a guest blogger for The Blender, the Williams-Sonoma blog, and the Bay Area Bites KQED Food Blog
Karen's culinary influences come from a variety of sources. While teaching English in Japanese schools and traveling throughout Asia, she had ample time to learn the satisfaction and simplicity of Japanese home cooking. And from the time she could stand on a stool and stir, Karen always enjoyed cooking alongside her mother to make chicken soup, kugel, stuffed cabbage, and other comfort foods of her Eastern European heritage. Most recently, Karen's cooking has become more project-based and crafty, taking on homemade, improved flavors where mass production tends to dominate. She is dedicated to food preservation, as well as eating locally, sustainably, seasonally, and supporting a judicious and delicious food system.
Karen currently resides in San Francisco's Mission district with her partner, her sons, and an equally food-obsessed dachshund, Mabel.
