Home canning provides year-round the pleasure of eating natural, delicious produce from the garden or local markets. Preserving food is modern, practical and actually quite simple especially when using tried and true recipes from Best of Bridge. As with all their other much-loved cookbooks, these are simple recipes and techniques with gourmet results.

Easy-to-understand detailed instructions provide all the information needed before beginning any canning project and the user-friendly recipes are totally appealing. There is a wealth of fantastic information from The Basics section which includes equipment, food safety and general processing information, to special altitude and produce purchasing charts. And an extensive glossary identifies everything from ingredients and canning equipment to preserving techniques.

The outstanding variety of recipes includes jams and spreads, conserves, fruit butters, marmalades, chutneys, pickles, relishes, ketchups, sauces and salsas. Depending on the time available or the home cook's comfort, the recipes range from a simple no-cook Strawberry Jam to Seville Orange Marmalade, Sweet and Tangy Gherkins, Rhubarb Relish to Grilled Corn and Tomato Salsa.

Jams and Jellies

• Peach, Plum, Raspberry, Blueberry, Red Currant and Orange

Conserves and Fruit Butter

• Coronation Grape and Orange, Cranberry and Pear Conserve, Pear Butter

Marmalades

• Blood Orange, Lemon, Zucchini Orange, Orange and Pink Grapefruit, Lime

Chutneys

• Red Onion and Raisin, Classic Peach, Pineapple, Mint, Sweet and Spicy Tomato

Pickles

• Classic Icicle Pickles, Classic Spiced Pickled Apples, Easy Sweet Pickles

Relishes and Ketchups

• Spicy Tomato Ketchup, Sweet Green Dill Cucumber, 3-Onion

Sauces and Salsas

• Fiery Pepper Salsa, Classic Tomato Sauce, Chili Sauce, Classic BBQ Sauce.

These recipes cover the gamut in flavors from simple to spectacular -- something for every region and climate nationwide.

The Editors of Best of Bridge

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