Preserving with a Purpose

What an amazing resource for new and experienced canners alike!

This book is full of great information and tools to help anyone start or expand their preserving journey. Complete with meal plans, storage calculations, altitude adjustments, and of course, amazing recipes. If you're looking to dip your toe into preserving food, or want to shake up your current plans look no further!

A BIG THANK YOU to Quarto Publishing Group, Harvard Common Press, and NetGalley for the ARC of Preserving with a Purpose: Next-Generation Canning Recipes and Kitchen Wisdom by Sarah Thrush. This is a lovely collection of canning recipes, some practical and some more adventurous for a beginner canner. Some of the recipes included have been passed down through the author’s family and date back to the 1800s—how incredible is that?!

In the preface, the author details the challenges her family faced in past generations. From living in an area where blizzards and short growing seasons are common to surviving the Great Depression and living off of their Victory Garden through World War II. It’s no wonder she becomes an expert in canning practices to preserve harvests and stretch food resources on a shoestring budget. She also details her own struggles with homelessness and food insecurity. Despite these circumstances, she approaches every obstacle before her as a new problem with a possible solution. She relies on her extensive knowledge of food preservation to survive through lean years, and shares that same knowledge with her readers. As the author states:
Life is a never-ending series of challenges that test us mentally, physically, financially, and emotionally. We all encounter moments of suffering and struggles along the way. My own journey hasn’t been easy, but throughout the challenges, one constant has been my lifeline: knowing how to survive.

As someone that also grew up in a family of canners and also struggled through these same issues as a young adult, I appreciate any new recipes and preserving advice this author shares.
From the publisher:
Preserving with a Purpose is not your mama’s or grandma’s canning and preserving book. In 125 scrumptious and foolproof recipes, Sarah Thrush—whose inspiring, informative, and frequently viral videos on TikTok @peeliesnpetals have been seen by tens of millions of people—shows you the best and tastiest ways to put up the traditional canning foods, from tomatoes and green beans to apples and peaches, just like mama and grandma did. But she also ranges widely in the more robust flavor profiles that come from the best cuisines from all over the planet—all of which earlier preserving books neglect. Hers is the kind of food today’s world citizens eat, diverse and glorious in its variety. Sarah reveals her most beloved recipes—none of which are available online—in these beautifully photographed pages. The recipes include:

Date and Fig Fermented Honey
Aunt Madge’s Dill Pickles
DIY Teriyaki Sauce
Pickled Peaches
Pork Carnitas Meal-in-a-Jar
Carrot Cake Jam
Fresh Mint Jelly
Spiced Apple Butter

Alongside the recipes, Sarah shares:
Hard-won wisdom on how to use canning to really save money and achieve a self-sufficient, nearly waste-free home
Seasonal and monthly pantry-planning and meal-prepping tools
A complete guide to safe water canning and pressure canning methods
Troubleshooting guides

Whether you grow some or all of your own food or seek out bargains at the store or farmers’ market, this comprehensive guide will have you preserving with a purpose.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 30 July 2024
#PreservingwithaPurpose #NetGalley

I have been following Sara Thrush on TikTok for months and to see this cookbook was an absolute score!
Canning is very intimidating however, after watching her on TikTok, this cookbook really gave me the push to try a few things out. I was impressed with the layout and recipes inside. I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this to have on hand. There are ideas for when you just get a little too much of something on sale and know it will go bad. I love the idea of having these in my back pocket for those times.

Although most of us from the older generation grew up canning and preserving foods, it’s nice to know that there are more modern methods that save time and effort. Those who want to preserve their garden bounty, or their specialty sauces and other foods, will want to pick up Preserving with a Purpose: Next-Generation Canning Recipes and Kitchen Wisdom, by Sarah Thrush, who is an expert on preserving and is featured on her popular TicToc channel, @peeliesnpetals.
This isn’t your everyday canning book; rather, it takes modern foods and shows how to preserve them. This isn’t just canned peaches and tomatoes, it’s spaghetti sauce, salsa, pie fillings, chicken tortilla soup (and others), sloppy Joes, Cincinnati chili, sauces like Peruvian sauce, and lots of unique meats, poultry, and main dishes that you’ll want to keep on your pantry shelves, and most importantly, your family will actually want to eat. Thrush has included detailed instructions in the beginning chapters to make anyone into a seasoned canner.

The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions. This makes it easy for beginning canners, as well as those who have been doing it for years.

Another good thing about this cookbook is that it includes beautiful, professional photographs of many of the recipes. This is not only helpful, but makes us feel that we know what our finished products should actually look like.

All told, this is the best modern canning and preserving cookbook I’ve seen of late, and it is highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.