The Canning Kitchen blog tour + A giveaway!

If August is the Sunday of summer, it’s high time to start thinking about putting down some of the season’s bounty. And I’ve got just the book to help you do it. It’s The Canning Kitchen by Amy Bronee. Penguin Random House Canada Limited sent me and nine other lucky food bloggers a copy to review and are providing 10 additional copies to share with you! Whether you’re new to canning like me or an old pro, you’ll want to add it to your cookbook collection. 

Think you can’t can? No need to get yourself in a pickle! Amy’s recipes and tips make it totally do-able. Really!

Do you get chuffed about chutney? Revel in relish? Marvel at mustard? What’s your jam? I’ve always wanted to make marmalade (even more so after watching Paddington, what an adorable movie!) so I picked up the supplies to make Amy’s thick-cut orange magic.

The ingredients are simple — oranges (I used navel), a lemon, sugar and water — and the equipment easy to find. My next-door neighbour was kind enough to lend me her canner, and I found mason jars and lids, cheesecloth and a classic glass reamer at the hardware store.

It took a little muscle to scrape the membrane from the orange skin and honestly I don’t think I did that great a job, but the rest of the process was straightforward. The marmalade bubbled away for an hour before I tested it to see if I’d managed the perfect gel set (Amy has a quick trick, but you’ll have to read the book for that) and before I knew it I was ladling the sweet, yet tart, liquid gold into six mason jars.

How satisfying is that? Very, as it turns out.

I met Amy earlier this summer when she did a book signing at Chapters. She was wearing an adorable red and white polka dot dress she called her “strawberry jam dress” and was as generous with her canning tips as she was with her smiles. I’ve contacted Amy a few times since with questions and she’s been swift and so helpful with her replies. So if you’re wondering about something, don’t be shy! Reach out to Amy on Twitter or Facebook or through her blog and you can be sure she’ll get back to you.

And now for the giveaway!

To enter to win your own copy of The Canning Kitchen, leave a comment here telling me if you’ve canned before and what you made and/or what you’d like to try.

For a second entry, tweet Think you can’t can? Yes you can! Enter to win #CanningKitchen from @trysmallthings & @penguincanada http://wp.me/p4xBed-Bz CAN 08/26 and leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet.

For a third entry, follow me on Instagram, like my post and tag a friend. (Please use the hashtag #CanningKitchen in your comment.)

The giveaway is open to Canadian residents 18+ (excluding Quebec) and ends August 26, 2015. A winner will be chosen via random.org. The potential winner must respond to a skill-testing question within 48 hours of notification or another winner will be chosen.

But didn’t you say there were 10 copies to win?

Why yes I did! Each of the following fabulous bloggers is offering a copy of The Canning Kitchen with their review. (We’re part of the Food Bloggers of Canada Canning Kitchen Blog Tour.) Hop on over to their blogs for more #CanningKitchen yummyness and a chance to win.

• Janice (Kitchen Heals Soul) made Sweet Thai Chilli Chutney
• Bridget (Bridget’s Green Kitchen) made Apple Butter
• Jenny (Brunette Baker) made Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
• Megan (Food & Whine) made Strawberry Jam
• Anita (The Organic Experiment) made Zesty Pizza Sauce
• Jeanine (Faithfully Gluten Free) made Pink Lemonade Jelly
• Kelly (Kelly Neil) made Hot Dog Relish
• Tiffany (Eating Niagara) made Blueberry Lime Jam
• Michelle (Tiffin Box) made Sour Cherry Jam

And watch for a recap of our posts tomorrow from Food Bloggers of Canada. (In the meantime, be sure to check out their review, as well as Amy’s FBC post, Putting a Lid on 5 Canning Myths.)

Thank you to Food Bloggers of Canada for including me in the tour. I am honoured (and humbled!) to be in such talented company and loooove my copy of The Canning Kitchen. It’s just my jam!

Update August 28: Congratulations to the winner, Natalie B!

Penguin Random House Canada Limited sent me a copy of The Canning Kitchen for review purposes. All opinions are my own.