Blue Jelly: Love Lost and the Lessons of Canning
Registered by GorgeousGlo on 8/15/2005
9 journalers for this copy...
I bought this second copy because i love this book so much.
This is a difficult book to categorize, because it is not just a canning manual, it is the journal of a woman surviving a heartbreak.
I've been in her shoes, and i know how it feels to search for peace. She does a great, amusing job describing her journey. I did not like the ending all that much (too predictable). On another note, i am sure few are going to go to the store and buy a book on canning, yet this book has perfectly good recipes that one can follow. Canning, a lost art, now recovered thanks to DB.
This is maybe from 1997. I just found it in my hard drive:
****************************************
Amazon.com talks to Debby Bull
You may email the author at [email protected]
Amazon.com: How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
D.B.: I started out as a rock critic at a paper in Minneapolis. I was in graduate school, and a friend was a rock writer and he couldn't bear the thought of reviewing a Lionel Richie concert. So he asked me, and so it all began. It was a funny review, for my first piece of journalism, because in the middle of that "Once, twice, three times a lady" song, the couple in front of me got engaged and everyone started screaming, and Lionel had to stop singing because, I guess, he thought someone had gotten shot. After that, I moved to New York and was a copy editor and then a writer at Rolling Stone magazine. I intended to work at the magazine, but I can't say if I intended to become an author. My book is about depression, though supposedly it's funny, and I did swear that if I didn't kill myself, I would write about what I found while I tried to get undepressed. I was actually on the road to writing a true crime book when what came out instead was this book. It's sort of about canning, but it's a little...cosmic.
Amazon.com: What authors do you like to read? What book or books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?
D.B.: Recently, I've really liked books by Richard Powers, James Wilcox, Mary McGarry Morris, George Saunders, Ethan Canin, Stewart O'Nan and Annie Proulx. I think Powers' "Prisoner's Dilemma" is astounding. I read a lot of classic literary fiction, too, but a few years ago, when I was depressed, I almost killed myself when I finished "Emma." I can't write fiction, so I guess I have been inspired by the strength of the nonfiction by Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe. When I was still in graduate school, I interviewed Tom Wolfe, and he said something about how no book can be powerful unless the reporting is really good. That was a great piece of advice. In my book, I traveled all over the world, seeing what the whole new cultural landscape had to offer to cure depression.
Amazon.com: Could you describe the mundane details of writing: How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you write a draft on paper or at a keyboard (typewriter or computer)? Do you have a favorite location or time of day (or night) for writing? What do you do to avoid--or seek!--distractions?
D.B.: I only write at the computer. Sometimes, I'll find a note I've written to myself--like "Bob Dylan story" was one I found recently--and I have no idea what it means. So I try to go to the computer at whatever time I hear something in my head that is trying to get out: otherwise, it's lost. I can't recover those ideas. I seem to write a lot at night, late, when I want to be sleeping. The stupidest distraction that I have is cleaning. I imagine that I have to clean the house before I write. It would be more my nature to live in complete squalor but because I don't want to write, I clean. It's the wash cycle of a vicious circle.
Amazon.com: Do you meet your readers at book signings, conventions, or similar events? Do you interact with your readers electronically through e-mail or other online forums?
D.B.: My book comes out this week so I don't have "my readers" yet. In May, I tour around Wisconsin, then Elliot Bay in Seattle, Minneapolis, Montana, and so on. I have asked my publisher, Hyperion, to make sure the bookstores let people know that I was a rock critic and worked at Rolling Stone (I have some articles in the new Madonna and Springsteen anthologies by Rolling Stone/Hyperion), because I'm hoping that college or even high school kids would come to the store to talk. I'd like people to come to my signings who maybe wouldn't normally go to a bookstore. Lots of people wonder how you could get a job that involves listening to music CDs and going to concerts or touring with a rock band, and I like the thought that I have the opportunity to tell them this: you can't be racist, and you have to read a lot, and not just music periodicals. As for hearing from the people who've read "Blue Jelly": I thought of calling my book "I'm So Miserable without You, It's Almost Like I've Got You Back," which is a country song that I hear about in a story in the book. It's all about that kind of relationship. Some people have already called to tell me they love the book, and usually they're trying to get over a broken heart. The stories are always the same: they can't get over a relationship that, from the outside, sounds like it was awful to begin with...
Amazon.com: When and how did you get started on the Net? Do you read any newsgroups such as rec.arts.books and rec.arts.sf.written, mailing lists, or other on-line forums? Do you use the Net for research--or is it just another time sink? Are you able to communicate with other writers or people you work with over the Net?
D.B.: I subscribed to AOL as soon as it was offered and then got on the Net whenever they linked up. I use it to get lost for a while. I look up a lot
of travel stuff because I travel a lot. Once I posted something about Tibet, right after I'd gotten back from there, and I got a million e-mails from people wanting tips. It was like suddenly I was a travel agent. I do communicate with the people I work with by e-mail and also with my friends who are writers. It is so depressingly hard to deal with the publishing business that I can't imagine how I could've gone through this last year without the pep talks by friends who were going through the exact same thing.
Amazon.com: Feel free to use this space to write about whatever you wish: your family, your hometown, hobbies, favorite places, where you've lived, where you went to school, what jobs you have had, your last (or planned) vacation, your favorite color/food/pet/song/movie, what books you'd take to a desert island, what you intend to do before you die, or what you think of just about anything.
D.B.: I'd like to write a note about how I define my book, "Blue Jelly": Everyone has asked me what it is I wrote, what kind of book, and I say that it is sort of a literary self-help book, in which the help that is offered is that depression is useful, and that I tried to make it a little bit more of a reading experience than most books that offer advice. When I had a broken heart and was trying to fix it, I found it too painful to read most literature; the human condition overwhelmed me. I read many self-help books, and they were written usually without any style, as if that would get in the way of your getting the message. Still, I understood why they were popular; I myself was having such a hard time making sense of the experiences of my life that I was looking around for anyone who had a clue. I felt that I had been lucky in meeting many people whose philosophies had some strength, and I swore that if I lived through it all, I would try to pass those ideas along. More than anything, I wanted my account to be fun to read, because I remembered how hard it was to wade through some of those books looking for the truths they held. My book has canning recipes because I found the process of canning to be one of those long-tested, organic and simple answers to feeling better, however temporarily. I try to make the case that the things that make you feel better are usually simple things that connect you to the natural world and to other people. But I think the book argues that the long-range answer to despair is just waiting it out. My book is a memoir of sorts, though everything did not happen exactly chronologically the way it's laid out, and I changed people's names to protect their privacy. But it all really happened to me. I have lost many more rounds than I have won. If there is a message in the book it's just that you just have to be patient. I hope that what is helpful about my book is that my life didn't change--I didn't suddenly win something--but I added enough stuff so that I kept going along, and when I looked up, I had had an interesting time that I would never have had if I hadn't been so depressed. I was riding the subway the day they started up with the new Lotto slogan, "You've got to be in it to win it." It used to be plastered everywhere. I have always imagined that suicidal people have looked up and read that and it has saved their lives. I think my book makes the same point.
This is a difficult book to categorize, because it is not just a canning manual, it is the journal of a woman surviving a heartbreak.
I've been in her shoes, and i know how it feels to search for peace. She does a great, amusing job describing her journey. I did not like the ending all that much (too predictable). On another note, i am sure few are going to go to the store and buy a book on canning, yet this book has perfectly good recipes that one can follow. Canning, a lost art, now recovered thanks to DB.
This is maybe from 1997. I just found it in my hard drive:
****************************************
Amazon.com talks to Debby Bull
You may email the author at [email protected]
Amazon.com: How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
D.B.: I started out as a rock critic at a paper in Minneapolis. I was in graduate school, and a friend was a rock writer and he couldn't bear the thought of reviewing a Lionel Richie concert. So he asked me, and so it all began. It was a funny review, for my first piece of journalism, because in the middle of that "Once, twice, three times a lady" song, the couple in front of me got engaged and everyone started screaming, and Lionel had to stop singing because, I guess, he thought someone had gotten shot. After that, I moved to New York and was a copy editor and then a writer at Rolling Stone magazine. I intended to work at the magazine, but I can't say if I intended to become an author. My book is about depression, though supposedly it's funny, and I did swear that if I didn't kill myself, I would write about what I found while I tried to get undepressed. I was actually on the road to writing a true crime book when what came out instead was this book. It's sort of about canning, but it's a little...cosmic.
Amazon.com: What authors do you like to read? What book or books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?
D.B.: Recently, I've really liked books by Richard Powers, James Wilcox, Mary McGarry Morris, George Saunders, Ethan Canin, Stewart O'Nan and Annie Proulx. I think Powers' "Prisoner's Dilemma" is astounding. I read a lot of classic literary fiction, too, but a few years ago, when I was depressed, I almost killed myself when I finished "Emma." I can't write fiction, so I guess I have been inspired by the strength of the nonfiction by Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe. When I was still in graduate school, I interviewed Tom Wolfe, and he said something about how no book can be powerful unless the reporting is really good. That was a great piece of advice. In my book, I traveled all over the world, seeing what the whole new cultural landscape had to offer to cure depression.
Amazon.com: Could you describe the mundane details of writing: How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you write a draft on paper or at a keyboard (typewriter or computer)? Do you have a favorite location or time of day (or night) for writing? What do you do to avoid--or seek!--distractions?
D.B.: I only write at the computer. Sometimes, I'll find a note I've written to myself--like "Bob Dylan story" was one I found recently--and I have no idea what it means. So I try to go to the computer at whatever time I hear something in my head that is trying to get out: otherwise, it's lost. I can't recover those ideas. I seem to write a lot at night, late, when I want to be sleeping. The stupidest distraction that I have is cleaning. I imagine that I have to clean the house before I write. It would be more my nature to live in complete squalor but because I don't want to write, I clean. It's the wash cycle of a vicious circle.
Amazon.com: Do you meet your readers at book signings, conventions, or similar events? Do you interact with your readers electronically through e-mail or other online forums?
D.B.: My book comes out this week so I don't have "my readers" yet. In May, I tour around Wisconsin, then Elliot Bay in Seattle, Minneapolis, Montana, and so on. I have asked my publisher, Hyperion, to make sure the bookstores let people know that I was a rock critic and worked at Rolling Stone (I have some articles in the new Madonna and Springsteen anthologies by Rolling Stone/Hyperion), because I'm hoping that college or even high school kids would come to the store to talk. I'd like people to come to my signings who maybe wouldn't normally go to a bookstore. Lots of people wonder how you could get a job that involves listening to music CDs and going to concerts or touring with a rock band, and I like the thought that I have the opportunity to tell them this: you can't be racist, and you have to read a lot, and not just music periodicals. As for hearing from the people who've read "Blue Jelly": I thought of calling my book "I'm So Miserable without You, It's Almost Like I've Got You Back," which is a country song that I hear about in a story in the book. It's all about that kind of relationship. Some people have already called to tell me they love the book, and usually they're trying to get over a broken heart. The stories are always the same: they can't get over a relationship that, from the outside, sounds like it was awful to begin with...
Amazon.com: When and how did you get started on the Net? Do you read any newsgroups such as rec.arts.books and rec.arts.sf.written, mailing lists, or other on-line forums? Do you use the Net for research--or is it just another time sink? Are you able to communicate with other writers or people you work with over the Net?
D.B.: I subscribed to AOL as soon as it was offered and then got on the Net whenever they linked up. I use it to get lost for a while. I look up a lot
of travel stuff because I travel a lot. Once I posted something about Tibet, right after I'd gotten back from there, and I got a million e-mails from people wanting tips. It was like suddenly I was a travel agent. I do communicate with the people I work with by e-mail and also with my friends who are writers. It is so depressingly hard to deal with the publishing business that I can't imagine how I could've gone through this last year without the pep talks by friends who were going through the exact same thing.
Amazon.com: Feel free to use this space to write about whatever you wish: your family, your hometown, hobbies, favorite places, where you've lived, where you went to school, what jobs you have had, your last (or planned) vacation, your favorite color/food/pet/song/movie, what books you'd take to a desert island, what you intend to do before you die, or what you think of just about anything.
D.B.: I'd like to write a note about how I define my book, "Blue Jelly": Everyone has asked me what it is I wrote, what kind of book, and I say that it is sort of a literary self-help book, in which the help that is offered is that depression is useful, and that I tried to make it a little bit more of a reading experience than most books that offer advice. When I had a broken heart and was trying to fix it, I found it too painful to read most literature; the human condition overwhelmed me. I read many self-help books, and they were written usually without any style, as if that would get in the way of your getting the message. Still, I understood why they were popular; I myself was having such a hard time making sense of the experiences of my life that I was looking around for anyone who had a clue. I felt that I had been lucky in meeting many people whose philosophies had some strength, and I swore that if I lived through it all, I would try to pass those ideas along. More than anything, I wanted my account to be fun to read, because I remembered how hard it was to wade through some of those books looking for the truths they held. My book has canning recipes because I found the process of canning to be one of those long-tested, organic and simple answers to feeling better, however temporarily. I try to make the case that the things that make you feel better are usually simple things that connect you to the natural world and to other people. But I think the book argues that the long-range answer to despair is just waiting it out. My book is a memoir of sorts, though everything did not happen exactly chronologically the way it's laid out, and I changed people's names to protect their privacy. But it all really happened to me. I have lost many more rounds than I have won. If there is a message in the book it's just that you just have to be patient. I hope that what is helpful about my book is that my life didn't change--I didn't suddenly win something--but I added enough stuff so that I kept going along, and when I looked up, I had had an interesting time that I would never have had if I hadn't been so depressed. I was riding the subway the day they started up with the new Lotto slogan, "You've got to be in it to win it." It used to be plastered everywhere. I have always imagined that suicidal people have looked up and read that and it has saved their lives. I think my book makes the same point.
My first BookRay! This is soooo cool!
This book is a short read, so i think that four weeks will be plenty. In case this is not enough, please let the next person know.
So far this is going to be the order:
AMarie - Nebraska MAILED AUGUST 23, 2005
MaryBearsMinis - Arkansas
garnetfairy - Texas
buffra - West Virginia
Megi53 - Virginia
LaRue - New York
KarenZero - New York
ldpaulson - California
Please contact the person next in line for shipping info.
I have created a map with the book route at:
http://www.frappr.com/bluejelly/
I am SO looking forward to your comments! Thank you!
G
This book is a short read, so i think that four weeks will be plenty. In case this is not enough, please let the next person know.
So far this is going to be the order:
AMarie - Nebraska MAILED AUGUST 23, 2005
MaryBearsMinis - Arkansas
garnetfairy - Texas
buffra - West Virginia
Megi53 - Virginia
LaRue - New York
KarenZero - New York
ldpaulson - California
Please contact the person next in line for shipping info.
I have created a map with the book route at:
http://www.frappr.com/bluejelly/
I am SO looking forward to your comments! Thank you!
G
Arrived in the mail! I've been wanting to see what the fuss is about this. I have heard it was a great read. In fact one bookcrosser said that it's probably in the top 3 of her best books she ever read. That's pretty cool. I have 3 books in front of this...gulp. I should be fine for getting it out in 3 to 4 weeks. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
Ugh, my wirless connection wouldn't post anything last night...of coarse AFTER I typed in my journal entry I couldn't get it to post! Just my luck.
Well, about this book. I had got a recommendation from another bookcrosser. One thing I like to do is ask other bookcrossers in trades, "what are your favorite three books?" This was one someone recommended.
I am glad I read it! I started the book and immediately thought this woman was crazy, a looney, a wack job. After getting a feel for the book I realized that although this woman seemed crazy to me, I related SOME things to her. It's been awhile but years ago I remember going through a break up that was hard to let go. Now, I was in high school and that to me is a teenager thing but I could relate. Different phases, different situations but probably all the same feelings. This book jumps around to different things which keeps you interested on her journeys, all the while learning a little about canning. Something I know NOTHING about. In the end it comes together, it's a amazing how all the jumble of stories, times, thoughts come together to show a lesson learned. Now, I have a feeling each reader will take something completely different from this book, a lesson of some sort!
My favorite line was (I think) from page 85 or 86. She talks about her phase of collecting things. All sorts of things. One being wooden birds on sticks for her garden/yard. her neighbor yells at her "your like Martha Stewart on crack!" I loved it. It was a total giggle out loud!
I put the book in the mail last night to MaryBearsMinis! I hope you and the rest of you enjoy it!
Well, about this book. I had got a recommendation from another bookcrosser. One thing I like to do is ask other bookcrossers in trades, "what are your favorite three books?" This was one someone recommended.
I am glad I read it! I started the book and immediately thought this woman was crazy, a looney, a wack job. After getting a feel for the book I realized that although this woman seemed crazy to me, I related SOME things to her. It's been awhile but years ago I remember going through a break up that was hard to let go. Now, I was in high school and that to me is a teenager thing but I could relate. Different phases, different situations but probably all the same feelings. This book jumps around to different things which keeps you interested on her journeys, all the while learning a little about canning. Something I know NOTHING about. In the end it comes together, it's a amazing how all the jumble of stories, times, thoughts come together to show a lesson learned. Now, I have a feeling each reader will take something completely different from this book, a lesson of some sort!
My favorite line was (I think) from page 85 or 86. She talks about her phase of collecting things. All sorts of things. One being wooden birds on sticks for her garden/yard. her neighbor yells at her "your like Martha Stewart on crack!" I loved it. It was a total giggle out loud!
I put the book in the mail last night to MaryBearsMinis! I hope you and the rest of you enjoy it!
Received this book in the mail today...and I have pushed it way up on my TBR list so that I don't hold up the Bookray! It is next in line! Will write more when I had had a chance to read it! I am so excited...this it the first Bookray I have gotten into!
Journal Entry 6 by MaryBearsMinis at Via mail to fellow Bookcrosser "garnetfairy" in -- Mail, by hand, rings, RABCks etc, Texas USA on Saturday, October 22, 2005
Released 18 yrs ago (10/24/2005 UTC) at Via mail to fellow Bookcrosser "garnetfairy" in -- Mail, by hand, rings, RABCks etc, Texas USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Actual mail date... October 31st. I am sorry that I didn't get it into the mail when I said I would, but life got in the way and caused a delay in me being able to get to the Post Office! Anyway...enjoy, as this book is awesome!
Actual mail date... October 31st. I am sorry that I didn't get it into the mail when I said I would, but life got in the way and caused a delay in me being able to get to the Post Office! Anyway...enjoy, as this book is awesome!
Received in the mail, should finish what I am reading tonight so I can begin this one tomorrow. I am looking forward to this one because my parents make jelly, jams, and preserves frequently throughout the year. They are making Pineapple jam today, actually.
Thank you for letting me participate in your bookring!
Thank you for letting me participate in your bookring!
Will be mailed on 11-11-05.
Thank you for sharing your book! Interesting little book. Learned more about canning and about life in general. Some good insights. She seems a bit pathetic in places but awfully privileged. Two houses and jetting around, new car and all that without mentioning much work during the process. Yeah, I was envious. Thought I could deal with the lost relationship pretty well with all that freedom but then I am not in a relationship and have little freedom. I liked the book, at times I felt for the writer, I enjoyed the canning and gardening and collecting references and Cara. Would like to read about by Cara.
Will mail Friday, all packaged waiting for a trip to the post office.
Thank you for sharing your book! Interesting little book. Learned more about canning and about life in general. Some good insights. She seems a bit pathetic in places but awfully privileged. Two houses and jetting around, new car and all that without mentioning much work during the process. Yeah, I was envious. Thought I could deal with the lost relationship pretty well with all that freedom but then I am not in a relationship and have little freedom. I liked the book, at times I felt for the writer, I enjoyed the canning and gardening and collecting references and Cara. Would like to read about by Cara.
Will mail Friday, all packaged waiting for a trip to the post office.
Received, read, waiting for address to mail.
I enjoyed it -- a more detailed entry will follow. Thanks!
I enjoyed it -- a more detailed entry will follow. Thanks!
Ever have a conversation with a girlfriend? One where you talk about heartbreak and she talks about heartache and you both talk about the jerks who brought you down? One where, by the end, you’re ready to go out and meet someone new -- in the hopes that he won’t be such an enormous jerk? One filled with tears and laughter?
***
This book is a great deal like that conversation. One gets the sense that Debby Bull has known her share of jerks. One might also think that is sometimes her own fault. Nevertheless, the reader knows and understands her heartache. It is great fun to see where it takes her and to watch her move through that to a more positive place; some of her side-trips are beyond bizarre, but all give her the opportunity to meet new people and learn something about herself.
The jelly-making is great; I may try some of the recipes someday. And they really should be read -- there’s a lot of repetition, but Bull adds in personal comments and asides that enhance the rest of the journey.
A few recipes
***
This book is a great deal like that conversation. One gets the sense that Debby Bull has known her share of jerks. One might also think that is sometimes her own fault. Nevertheless, the reader knows and understands her heartache. It is great fun to see where it takes her and to watch her move through that to a more positive place; some of her side-trips are beyond bizarre, but all give her the opportunity to meet new people and learn something about herself.
The jelly-making is great; I may try some of the recipes someday. And they really should be read -- there’s a lot of repetition, but Bull adds in personal comments and asides that enhance the rest of the journey.
A few recipes
Came in today's noon mail delivery. A beautiful book, and much shorter than I'd expected -- I should be able to finish reading this and mail it off well before the postage rates go up!
An enchanting book! It certainly brought back some memories of my dating days -- and more enjoyably, memories of my grandmother and her shelf after shelf of preserves. (Now I know what that stuff on top of her jelly glasses was -- paraffin!)
After a while, the author's neverending heartbreak got old and whiny -- the only reason I didn't give this a resounding "10" stars. Rollerskating on airport runways?? Come on now, Debby!
I wish she had gone ahead, too, and just named the famous country singer she dated. She gave Brigitte Nielsen's name, so why not his? Now I'll have to Google his song lyrics ... ETA: It's Gary Allan. I never heard of him before, but whew! is he gorgeous!
Out of the 15 recipes, the marinated mushrooms appealed to me most, so I'll copy that one and try it out someday soon.
I have LaRue's address and will mail the book to her when the post office opens back up on Tuesday.
After a while, the author's neverending heartbreak got old and whiny -- the only reason I didn't give this a resounding "10" stars. Rollerskating on airport runways?? Come on now, Debby!
I wish she had gone ahead, too, and just named the famous country singer she dated. She gave Brigitte Nielsen's name, so why not his? Now I'll have to Google his song lyrics ... ETA: It's Gary Allan. I never heard of him before, but whew! is he gorgeous!
Out of the 15 recipes, the marinated mushrooms appealed to me most, so I'll copy that one and try it out someday soon.
I have LaRue's address and will mail the book to her when the post office opens back up on Tuesday.
Just got home from vacation to find this waiting - thanks! I've got two other bookray books here but this is shortest so I'll start it first.
I just finished this book and loved it. Yeah, Debby is a little obsessed about her ex-boyfriend, and personally, I would have tied a can to any guy who thought the coffee filter he got as a free gift was the perfect gift for me long ago. But I know what it is like to be dumped - especially if the relationship isn't working and deep down you know it - you want to be the dumper, not the dumpee. And it is heartbreaking to recall the time and energy and care you invested in the relationship which you will never get back. And yes, you get depressed. It's depressing because something has ended, and it's even more depressing to think about starting over. I loved her idea that canning was just complicated enough to get her out of herself, but not so hard that a depressed person would find it overwhelming. I have been making jelly and jam for about 20 years and a few of her recipes are new to me (blueberry butter, why didn't I ever think of that?) and I'll be giving them a try this season.
PM'ing the next person on the list.
PM'ing the next person on the list.
Will read ASAP!
I liked this book! It was an interesting look at her way back from depression through canning. The food also sounded delicious, although I'm not sure I'm up for the canning (I don't have much fresh fruit here, sigh). Has anyone tried any of these recipes?
Thanks, GorgeousGlo, for sharing the book! I have ldpaulson's address and will be sending the book off tomorrow.
Thanks, GorgeousGlo, for sharing the book! I have ldpaulson's address and will be sending the book off tomorrow.
Off to ldpaulson! Sorry for the mailing delay!!
This arrived in the post and will join the stack of books to be read.
BLUE JELLY is everything you'd want a book to be -- funny, touching, witty, utilitarian, and it even has a moral. Deceptively slim, but packed with information, it's the ultimate guide to heartbreak and depression. Bull finds her outlet in canning and it's no wonder. If you think about it, most women have traditionally been too busy -- unless they are Anne Boleyn or some poncy aristocrat with scads of people waiting on her hand and foot -- working to think about their troubles. In fact, one of their troubles may been that the jelly isn't setting properly. So why not resume a tried and true prescriptive for what ails you and put aside some great food in the bargain.
(NB: For a fictional look at preserving foods gone really awry, read GAP CREEK. There's another good non-fiction account in DRIVING OVER LEMONS. These are about preserving meat, not veggies or fruit, but still ... great reads.)
I'm hanging on to this book until I can buy my own copy, but first, I need to buy some more canning supplies. (Can't seem to find my tongs and I really need some more jars.) I really want to make the pickled green beans and mixed vegetables. There are other no-pectin jam recipes I'll try as well.
One little thing that annoyed me a smidge was that Bull ended each recipe with "give away to friends." If anyone has ever put food away, you'll know it's all well and good to share a few jars, but by gosh and golly it's hard work and you'll want to hang on to your work so you can enjoy it.
And just to show how the universe is truly aligned ... the question of preserving kumquats arose yesterday just after I'd finished this book. They have their kumquats, but when and if I chance to get some, here are the top two recipes I'll try. Please note that I have NOT tried these, so proceed with care. The first recipe is from a group of Hawaiian-Japanese Buddhist women who can local fruit every year to raise funds for their temple. This was printed in The Honolulu Advertiser-Bulletin. The second is from ... I dunno. Online somewhere. Enjoy!
Whole Kumquat Preserves (Betsuin Style)
4 cups kumquats
4 tablespoons baking soda
4 thin slices lemon, optional
1 teaspoon grated ginger
3 cups sugar
3 cups water
1 cup light corn syrup
Wash kumquats and sprinkle with baking soda. Cover with water and let stand 10 minutes. Drain and wash twice. Place kumquats in pot; cover with water. Cook 1/2 hour or until tender. Drain.
Cook lemon and ginger in a small amount of water until tender. Drain.
Combine water, sugar and corn syrup and boil 5 minutes. Add kumquats, lemon and ginger. Simmer 35 to 40 minutes or until glossy and transparent. Place in sterilized bottles and seal.
Nutritional information unavailable.
KUMQUAT MARMALADE
Ingredients :
3 qts. water
2 doz. kumquats
2 med. oranges
1/3 c. lemon juice
4 1/2 c. honey
Preparation
Thinly slice the kumquats to measure 2 cups. Slice the orange peel and the orange pulp to measure 1 1/2 cups each. Add the water to the fruit, cover, and let and overnight. Bring to a boil and cook until the peel is tender. Add the honey and stir occasionally until it dissolves. Resume a rapid boil and cook about 45 minutes until the mixture reaches the gel point. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Spoon into hot sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch from top. Complete seals and process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.
Yield: 8 half-pints.
THANK YOU GORGEOUSGLO!
(NB: For a fictional look at preserving foods gone really awry, read GAP CREEK. There's another good non-fiction account in DRIVING OVER LEMONS. These are about preserving meat, not veggies or fruit, but still ... great reads.)
I'm hanging on to this book until I can buy my own copy, but first, I need to buy some more canning supplies. (Can't seem to find my tongs and I really need some more jars.) I really want to make the pickled green beans and mixed vegetables. There are other no-pectin jam recipes I'll try as well.
One little thing that annoyed me a smidge was that Bull ended each recipe with "give away to friends." If anyone has ever put food away, you'll know it's all well and good to share a few jars, but by gosh and golly it's hard work and you'll want to hang on to your work so you can enjoy it.
And just to show how the universe is truly aligned ... the question of preserving kumquats arose yesterday just after I'd finished this book. They have their kumquats, but when and if I chance to get some, here are the top two recipes I'll try. Please note that I have NOT tried these, so proceed with care. The first recipe is from a group of Hawaiian-Japanese Buddhist women who can local fruit every year to raise funds for their temple. This was printed in The Honolulu Advertiser-Bulletin. The second is from ... I dunno. Online somewhere. Enjoy!
Whole Kumquat Preserves (Betsuin Style)
4 cups kumquats
4 tablespoons baking soda
4 thin slices lemon, optional
1 teaspoon grated ginger
3 cups sugar
3 cups water
1 cup light corn syrup
Wash kumquats and sprinkle with baking soda. Cover with water and let stand 10 minutes. Drain and wash twice. Place kumquats in pot; cover with water. Cook 1/2 hour or until tender. Drain.
Cook lemon and ginger in a small amount of water until tender. Drain.
Combine water, sugar and corn syrup and boil 5 minutes. Add kumquats, lemon and ginger. Simmer 35 to 40 minutes or until glossy and transparent. Place in sterilized bottles and seal.
Nutritional information unavailable.
KUMQUAT MARMALADE
Ingredients :
3 qts. water
2 doz. kumquats
2 med. oranges
1/3 c. lemon juice
4 1/2 c. honey
Preparation
Thinly slice the kumquats to measure 2 cups. Slice the orange peel and the orange pulp to measure 1 1/2 cups each. Add the water to the fruit, cover, and let and overnight. Bring to a boil and cook until the peel is tender. Add the honey and stir occasionally until it dissolves. Resume a rapid boil and cook about 45 minutes until the mixture reaches the gel point. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Spoon into hot sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch from top. Complete seals and process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.
Yield: 8 half-pints.
THANK YOU GORGEOUSGLO!
