Put 'em Up! Home preserving guide is a fabulous resource

When I received my copy of Put 'em Up! in the mail, I flipped it open to get a casual glimpse at the contents.  That was all it took for me to lose an afternoon with this fantastic book.

Put 'em Up!, a new book by Sheri Brooks Vinton, bills itself as "A comprehensive home preserving guide for the creative cook, from drying and freezing to canning and pickling."

The book teaches how to preserve foods in all sorts of ways, but it does it better than most books I've read on the subject.  How?

~ It's organized by foods, not by type of preparation.  Say you end up with loads of apples.  Flip to the apple section and see all the ways you can preserve them, from dried apple rings to homemade applesauce to appled brandy to mincemeat (and lots more).

~ It's well illustrated and laid out.  Black and white pictures show most of the steps, while color coded tabs separate different foods and sections.  Colorful pages and pictures round out the eye candy appeal.

~ It's simple to use.  Step by step instructions are clear and easy to follow. 

~ It's green.  You'll find current health information that older books are lacking in, such as notes about BPA in canning lids and why to avoid plastics.  There's talk about being planet-friendly and advice to buy local food (plus resources to find them in the back).

~ It's modern and fun.  This is not your great grandmother's canning book.  You'll find chapters like "Things that will surely get you in trouble" and "Things that look bad but aren't dangerous," along with talk about "the kinky thrill of opening your own jarred tomatoes in the middle of February."  There are recipes for goodies like Agua Fresca and Granita, Charred Chili Barbecue Sauce and Spiced Pear Vodka.  The author is down to earth and just plain likable, too.

~ The recipes are delicious!  So far, we've tried the Heirloom Tomato Salsa and Rhubarb Soda Syrup (along with standards like freezing strawberries).  Both were easy and great tasting.  I have many more marked to do next, after hitting up the next farmers' market!

You'll also get much more interesting recipes than you did in those tried-and-true books on the back shelf. 

Take, for instance, the possibilities in the section on cherries:

Frozen Cherries

Black Forest Sauce

Drunken Cherries

Cherry Leather

Dried Cherries

Cherry-Walnut Relish

Classic Cherry Preserves

And did you even know that you could make cantaloupe pickles, preserves or rum?

Put 'em Up! is published by Storey Publishing and retails for $19.95.  You can order it through the publisher, at online stores like Amazon.com or in Mankato at Barnes and Noble.