Book Reviews: Put 'em Up & Canning for a New Generation

I love books.  I REALLY love books.  To the point that I have stacks of books stashed everywhere in my house.  Most are novels, but between us we have a good collection of cook books, gardening books, and quilting books.

Up until last year, I had been mostly relying on the old Bernardin cookbook I bought when I first started canning.  It is an excellent resource - but it just has basic recipes.  I like to step out of the box a bit sometimes.  So last summer I bit the bullet and ordered a couple of new canning books:


Put 'em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning by Sherri Brooks Vinton

Canning For A New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors For The Modern Pantry by Liana Krissoff


My local bookstore does not have a big variety, so I tend to order those I am interested in online
through Chapters and return the ones I don't want.

After flipping through both of them, I have decided to keep Put 'em Up, but returning Canning for a new Generation.  Both are excellent books with interesting recipes and beautiful pictures, but the one difference between the two is that the recipes in Canning for a new Generation is based on weights.  I hate having to weigh everything...and based on that alone I prefer the other book better.

That being said, I love the organization in Put 'em Up - but fruit.  It just makes sense to me.  And there are quite a number of recipes I already have dog-eared to try this summer as local produce becomes available.  Now I just have to figure out where to purchase Pomona's Universal Pectin so I can try out a few more recipes!

Are there any canning books that you can't live without?