Readers, this is a low-key blog, if you haven’t noticed that already. I don’t have sponsors, I’m not involved in any “partnerships” other than with the person I’m married to, I don’t have advertisers except what you see at the bottom of each post if you don’t have AdBlock installed like a normal person, the Pie and Beer URL still has “wordpress” in it. My book-writing business to this point has been similarly understated, relying on decent ideas, word of mouth, and the tireless efforts of my publisher to get books into people’s hands and—I sincerely hope—their kitchens. My books don’t have trailers. Or tours, or elaborate multimedia tie-ins. Self-promotion does not come easily to me. At all. I feel a bit apologetic even writing a post like this, announcing the publication of my new book (officially out today!) and a celebratory giveaway. Let’s call it a thank-you giveaway.
They look pretty good in a stack.
I’d like to send one of you faithful readers a set of my last three books: Canning, Whole Grains, and Vegetarian for a New Generation. That’s almost six pounds’ worth of potential deliciousness. You might already have the full set, but maybe you know someone who might like a copy. Use this as an excuse to introduce yourself to your new neighbor down the street, or donate one to your local branch library, or save it for holiday gift-giving. I’d be happy to inscribe the books too, if you’d like.
Just leave a comment on this post by this Friday, April 18. Any comment will do, but if you’re feeling expansive, please tell us about a great Food Project you’ve completed, attempted, or dreamed about doing someday. Have you made strudel from scratch? Fermented cucumbers for real kosher dills? Have you always wanted to build a smokehouse and fill it with hams? I’d love to hear about it! I’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday and get these tomes in the mailstream soon after.
Good luck!
And thank you.
Pie and Beer 
I love food preservation! Every summer, my family eats local. This year, I am going to try and extend our local eating even further by making food preservation a priority. I always do a little, but this year I’d like to make it a lot!
So glad to hear it, Allie!
I do water bath canning and have that down pretty good, and I love the fact I know exactly whats in my food. So last year I bought a pressure canner for vegetables but was too intimidated to try but this year I will show no fear(hopefully) and get some bushels of pickling cucumbers and other veggies and give it a whirl. I’ve also gotten really good at home baked bread. It’s finally like second nature to me.
Pressure canning: that’s a good project. And I think learning how to make bread is about the best thing you can do to make your meals delicious and healthful.
wonderful giveaway! I’ve just taken up canning and so far I’ve just made jam but I’m looking forward to the summer veggies for picking and chutneys etc… Have loved all the jams (except the grapefruit – terrible)
Ha—grapefruit’s one of my favorites, but it’s not for everybody, that’s for sure!
Thank you for the giveaway! Canning for a New Generation is my favorite canning book (I’m particularly fond of your spicy pickled carrots and dilly beans!), and I would love to try the recipes in your newest offerings!
Thanks so much, Sheena! Lots of spicy stuff in the new books, too!
Ooh, these sound wonderful and I’d love to give them a good home!
Thanks, Melissa!
I have long wanted to make croissants from scratch, just to try, so when I was presented with a rare kid-free/husband-free Saturday evening, that’s what I did. The croissants were not bad, but not good enough to justify that kind of effort. But at least now I *know* that buying them from a bakery is a better way to go…
I’ve been wanting to try croissants for forever, and I keep reading recipes for them that make it sound so simple and straightforward. One of these days . . .
I managed to persuade my boyfriend that pickles are not the enemy. That was a pretty big achievement 🙂
Tina, that’s no small feat. My poor husband, who won’t come within ten feet of a pickle if he can help it, suffered in silence as I was working on the canning book and our house was essentially a pickle factory for a year.
Oh, this is exciting! I am working on growing more vegetables this spring and summer, and I fantastize about having a huge walk-in pantry, with open shelves filled with things I’ve pickled or canned from my garden. The pantry may never happen, but hopefully more of the growing, eating, and preserving does.
I had a walk-in pantry when we lived in the country for a few years, and it ended up looking like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lianakrissoff/3709187271/in/photolist-6DLy9F-6V3VB9-5uBJFH-65xasG-5uBJae-61ge4Q-5D93Qf
Now I just stash stuff wherever I can find a little bit of space—in the living room, basement, garage . . .
I would love to get more involved with canning this summer!
Beware, it can become addictive!
I would love to learn how to can, and I want to store my beans and grains in glass jars so they look pretty.
Canning is so easy. Go for it! And I totally agree about storing pantry stuff in glass jars: There’s something very calming about it.
I tried quick pickled red onions last week and now I want to put them on EVERYTHING. They are so yummy delicious.
CARRIE! I need to make some pickled onions asap. I had some in East LA that had habaneros for heat, and they were amazing. So, so spicy!
My two favorite accompanyments for red pickled onions are with eggs in the morning and dry rubbed BBQ chicken in the evenings
Make it scrambled eggs in a fresh corn tortilla, and I’m totally with you. I also like them on hamburgers, hot dogs—really anything that comes off a grill.
So excited to try out your new cookbook! Congratulations!
Thank you, Janee!
I marinated some mushrooms and they were almost frighteningly garlicky (and good). I marinated them for like nine days or something. Can I win? 🙂
Yum. That reminds me, I have a thing of pickled mushrooms that have been in my fridge for about two months. They were excellent, then I forgot about them, and now I wonder if they’re still good. It was the recipe from the Momofuku book, if you’re interested.
I’ve read your blog for years but haven’t yet tried a recipe! Your book giveaway is inspiring me!
Ah! I need to post more recipes! Thanks so much for reading!
I have recently joined a CSA and really want to do some canning this year! In the meantime, I’ve been making my own butter, yogurt, and cheese, figuring out everything good to do with Kale and making my friends try it, and am making a healthy and delicious soup every week!
I’ve only dipped a toe into cheesemaking, but that’s definitely something I want to do more of. And I love your soup-a-week plan. That sounds like an easy, meaningful step toward more healthful home cooking.
My wife and I just had our first baby. We try to be locavores as much as possible, but this is the summer that I start canning! I want this baby to enjoy the fruits of my garden when he starts eating in November. Excited to check out your new (and old) books! Heard about this giveaway through a friend. Thanks!
Congratulations! It’s so much fun to start introducing your kid to new foods, and even when they’re very young there are so many ways to get them involved in the kitchen. It’s an amazing experience to see them go from “helping” to, you know, helping to actually doing things themselves.
Hi from a vegetarian grad student who eats way too much processed food! My husband and I are good cooks but we both work long hours (he teaches fifth grade and I’m juggling classes, research, and practica for my psychology doctorate) and have gotten into some crummy habits. I’ve been meaning to check out your books for a while so I figured I’d post a comment here and see what happens. They’re highly recommended by some good friends so either way I’m sure I’ll end up with one or more of them eventually anyways!
I eat my share of processed food (hello, my daughter is a Girl Scout, which means I have to deal with the cookies) and wish I ate a little less of it. With the whole grains and vegetable cookbooks especially I tried to offer ways to make really flavorful, satisfying food easily and without fuss. I hope they give you some ideas!
Oh…love all your books. I attempted to comment and say that a few days ago and it seemed to disappear. Anyways, they always seem to match the pace and preferences of our family in effort, ingredients, inspiration, etc.
I have a bowl of incredibly gelatinous beef broth in the fridge right now (so appetizing!) and have been thinking of simmering it again with some garlic and ginger to make xiaolongbao (Chinese soup dumplings). But, we’re in a busy season of life so I’m not actually sure that will happen. We’ll see!
I’m not sure what happened to you comment—sorry about that! Thanks for trying again. XLB are On. My List. I hope you make them and let us know how it went! In any case, though, gelatinous beef broth actually does sound really good to me. Nourishing and homey.
I have your canning book and LOVE it! I’d love to give the others a happy home on my bookshelf.
SeamstressErin, can I just say I have been in awe of your sewing skillz ever since I started following your blog a while back? The cells quilt! And I seriously cannot wait to see your wedding jacket!
I haven’t read your books – but I need to. I’m friends with MJ Hammes and I keep seeing her references to you on FB. I am always trying to figure out how to be the healthiest and best version of myself, and while I’m not successful every day at feeling like I accomplished that, I do think that I’m doing an overall better job than I used to. My big food project would be the transition I made from full-on omnivore to vegetarian (almost vegan, but I cheat, especially with sweets.) I feel healthier and happier and have learned to make many delicious things that I am so thankful for – things I would never have even thought about before I cut out meat. I still have a lot I’d like to learn about vegetarian and vegan cooking, but I’m getting better all the time. I also cut out alcohol this year which I’m very proud of and next on my list is to cut back on the sugar for myself and my family. That’s a really tough one. I am emotionally attached to many desserts from my childhood (hence the Easter-themed sugar cookies that my mom always made with my brother and I cooling in the kitchen right now, just waiting to be frosted and sprinkled with artificially colored sugar.) One thing at a time. 🙂
Amanda, it definitely sounds like vegetarianism is treating you well. I’m not vegetarian myself, but I do try to be mindful about what I eat to the extent that I’m capable. And it’s not for me to say, but I think it’s great that you make and enjoy those foods—like Easter cookies—that remind you of special times and that make you happy. Pleasure and tradition are both important parts of a well-lived life.
Oh, yay! I have made homemade KimChi (delicious, though I ate most of it before it was actually, um, fermented), homemade sourdough (a rock…a hard tasteless rock), homemade Lemon Liqueur (amazing) as well as cranberry liqueur. I am terrified of canning, but would love to learn.
If you’ve made kimchi and all that other stuff canning will be a breeze. Seriously, it’s so easy once you understand how it works. (Sourdough’s a great kitchen project, but I have to admit it’s only ever worked for me when I’ve used a centuries-old starter that was given to me by a friend. My own home-grown starters have been very weak—rocks indeed. Next time I refresh it I could send you some!)
Oh I love this! I adore your canning book and have been wanting to check out the others. I’ve been making a concerted effort to eat more whole foods recently, and I think these books would help a lot. I’m hoping that someday I’ll have a place where I can grow more of the food that I eat, and maybe even can some up!
Thanks so much, Becca! Yeah, these are all whole foods. I think if you’re starting with real ingredients you can hardly go wrong.
I love to can and am looking forward to the strawberries coming in at Washington Farms. Congrats on your new cookbook!!!!
Hey, you! Oh, how many mornings (the overcast days were the best) we spent bent over at the waist at Washington Farms! So delicious!
I dream of actually canning more. I’ve only canned one thing (peach salsa), but I’m moving to a new house with LOTS of fruit trees. I’m excited to do something with all the fruit.
Fruit trees! How exciting! We planted two cherry trees in our small yard last fall, and just today saw that they’re starting to leaf out. I’m thrilled to an unreasonable degree. Good luck with your homegrown fruit!
I did a whole lot of cooking, canning, and gardening during the two years I lived in Ann Arbor. Since moving to Chicago, I’ve been slacking off, but am looking forward to getting back into it in my newfound domestic life.
Ann Arbor definitely strikes me as a utopia of sorts. I think it’d be a challenge to garden in Chicago. Heck, it would be a challenge to *cook* in Chicago given all the great restaurants at your doorstep.
I plan to landscape my yard soon and am dreaming of digging a cheese cave. But then I’d want a goat, and you have to draw the line somewhere.
Do you have to draw the line? Why?
congratulations on the new book! can’t wait to see it.
Thank you! I hope you like it!
I tend to be pretty adventurous in the kitchen. I usually cook without a recipe (baking is, of course, another story) and there are very few techniques I’m afraid of. I bake my own bread, and I’ve made my own butter, but I’ve never made jam. Canning is my next big goal. (And some day, I want to make beer.)
I think you’ll find canning and jam making to be stupid-simple. I’ve been wanting to try beer too. I made mead and metheglin in my apartment in New York and nothing bad happened (no explosions, etc.), so I figure why not make something that actually tastes good?
Hmm, the most creative I’ve been lately is playing the “what can I do to use up the [insert name of vegetable] in the fridge?” game. Made some scallion kimchi as a result that was actually pretty good, and surprisingly easy! Even I can handle mixing stuff up and leaving it on the counter to ferment….
The scallions are the best part of any kimchi, but I never thought to make a whole batch with just them—brilliant!
How fun, so glad to find your blog 🙂
Welcome, Nadia! I’m glad you’re here too!
I know of a friend who could use your books. (I just got the new on in the mail today, after pre-ordering a while back. It is beautiful, by the way. Can’t wait to get cooking.)
I do a lot of preserving, including charcuterie, but I’d like to salt a ham and let it hang. And make some variety of dried sausage. But honestly I’d be happy if I could figure out exactly how many quarts of tomatoes I need to last me until the next season. I always have plenty of every other preserve to eat and share, but tomatoes seem to run out by late January or February every year no matter how many quarts are sitting on my shelf.
Oh, thank you so much, Celia! I too would love to try a whole ham. My parents have done it city ham style, and it’s just amazing stuff. I remember seeing a very detailed chart showing how much of various products to plant and can for different-sized families, but now I can’t find it in any of my books. Might’ve been in the Ball Blue Book, which I had to throw out because all the pages were melded together with jam. Not sure if that would help you, though; I think both of us probably use more tomatoes in a year than average.
I’ve heard really great things about your books. I’ve also flipped through the vegetarian book. It’s beautiful and I hear it’s tasty, too!
Thanks, Mandy!
I have your canning book, and I LOVE it. It is one of the 2 go-to canning books I own. Yea, I’ve schmoozed the canning books at the library (where I first found yours) and I just had to buy yours. I love that you give recipes that are sugar free, all the options, and the fact that you organized the book by seasons (THANK YOU). As a gardener, that feature is especially helpful. I’m planning to make cases of spaghetti, marinara, and enchilada sauces this year (hopefully from my garden, if not from the CSA/Farm I frequent).
I would LOVE to add your other two books to my collection!!
Wow, there are not many people named Lyanna/Liana out there. Pleased to meet you! I completely support the concept of checking books out of the library even—nay, especially—mine. I’m glad to hear you’re getting good use out of it.
I want to learn to make puff pastry and then store it in my freezer for quick dinners.
Ooh, I just worked on a book that had the best-looking puff pastry recipe in it. It looked really simple: you do the folding and turning, but it’s only one dough rather than two. The book is “Let Them Eat Cake,” by Gesine Bullock-Prado; you might want to keep an eye out for it.
thanks liana! i will.
I also have and love your canning book, and would like to say that I’m planning on doing more ambitious preserving-type projects (I would love some homemade sauerkraut!). Honestly, though, at the moment, I’m pretty interested in creating vegetarian facsimiles of some pretty specific foods – gefilte fish for me and currywurst for my Berliner husband.
Well, that is indeed a kitchen project. Where do you think you’d even start with the vegetarian gefilte fish? Have you made any attempts yet? Sometimes taking the flavors of a dish and using them in a different context is a good way to get that nostalgic feeling if the form/texture/consistency isn’t possible. Wow, I’m still just wrapping my head around your idea.
Our mutual foodie friend, Jason S., directed me to your blog. I love to collect new cookbooks, and would be especially interested in your canning and whole grains book. We’re constantly looking for ways to preserve the vegetables we grow in our little raised bed, front yard garden, and canning would be a fun adventure. As for whole grains, I love to make bread and pasta and am always looking for a fun new weekend project. My most recent adventure was learning how to shuck and oyster so I could enjoy oysters on the half shell in the middle of Nebraska. So far so good.
Welcome, Alexis! I’ll have to thank Jason again for sharing. The whole grains book isn’t a baking book (though there are a few baked goods in it); do you have “Good to the Grain”? It’s all baking, and mostly whole grain, and everything in it looks amazing.
As for oysters in Nebraska, I think not knowing how to shuck is not the issue. It’s the middle-of-the-country thing that’s holding me back. Did you get yours at Whole Foods? I’ve been so tempted by their $1-per sales.
My most recent food project is actually a goal. I want to use every vegetable from our csa this summer; every type and every pound. My project is efficiency.
Byron! That sounds like the start of a rigorous six-month-long blogging project. Or Tumblr or Snapchat or whatever you kids are doing these days.
My goal is to start canning this year. I did a bit of freezing to save CSA greens last season, but I need to save more of the produce to enjoy year round. Your book is where I plan to start!
Excellent! Canning is super fun and easy, especially in small batches. I’ve actually become very efficient and economical about what I preserve in recent years, and most of it these days involves simply freezing summer vegetables and berries. Greens from the freezer are so, so easy to use, right?
Thank you for teaching me how great preserving is! I am truly enjoying it.
So glad to hear it, Priscilla!