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The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits
The first comprehensive guide to sweet preserves since May Byron published her Jam Book in 1917, The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves includes 225 recipes for jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves, conserves, syrups, pastes, and more, all made the old-fashioned way, without added pectin. Organized alphabetically by type of fruit, the book presents an introduction to each, including its history, cultivars, and growing and harvesting requirements. With its attention not only to common fruits but to others that never appear in supermarkets, The Joy of Jams will prove an essential resource for gardeners and U-pick and farmers'-market shoppers.
387 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
16 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
Linda Ziedrich
7 books11 followersAs a long-time editor of nonfiction books--mostly cookbooks--I gradually came to devote more and more of my time to writing. My books have developed from my interests in food from garden to table, in culinary and horticultural history, and in the cuisines of the world. I’ve trained as a Master Gardener, I am an active Master Food Preserver, I am a co-founder of the Santiam Food Alliance, and I am vice-president of the Lebanon Museum Foundation. I write about my gardening and cooking adventures at agardenerstable.com.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 15, 2020
This one has lots of recipes and ideas that I'm looking forward to trying.
August 27, 2025
very good, it has a large number of a wide variety of recipes for all kinds of fruits. Small batch recipes. I know longer live on a farm and have a family so they work well for me.
October 23, 2009
In recent years, many people have wanted to return to more natural foods, or have a more direct experience with creating their own foods. This has opened up interest for people in old ways of preserving fruits, like was often a necessity, before the easy availability of mass-market jams, jellies and preserves. I grew up near a grandmother who enjoyed making jams from summer fruits, common in our area of the South, only to enjoy them through the colder months, or even to give as thoughtful gifts through the holiday season, months later.
The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves: is a great resource and reference tool for people wanting to learn how to create fruit jams and jellies, and have readily available over 200 recipes for most popular North American fruits. The author, Linda Ziedrich, of Oregon, has years of experience, through her own farming, with preserving fruits, and writing about the processes involved and popularizing them.
There are several distinctives of this book that need to be noted, especially for the beginning preserver. This book does not advocate the use of commercially created pectin, and instead mostly advocates the use of more naturally occurring items, like lemon juice. Also, while the technique for preserving virtually every fruit here is the same there are a host of variations that range from low-sugar and sugar substitute preserves, to preserves with alcohols and other spices.
We have used the recipes for two fruits, widely available in mid summer in the South, peaches and black berries. We found the fruit set quickly and as described, without using commercially produced pectin.
The book begins with a nice overview of how preserving fruit works, the different types of preservation, and how the canning process physically happens. The biggest draw back to this book is that it could use some illustrations, especially since the audience for a book like this would be many people who are familiar with the hardest part of preserving; the canning process. Otherwise, the user of this book would find this a fine reference book for virtually any type of readily available seasonal fruit.
The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves: is a great resource and reference tool for people wanting to learn how to create fruit jams and jellies, and have readily available over 200 recipes for most popular North American fruits. The author, Linda Ziedrich, of Oregon, has years of experience, through her own farming, with preserving fruits, and writing about the processes involved and popularizing them.
There are several distinctives of this book that need to be noted, especially for the beginning preserver. This book does not advocate the use of commercially created pectin, and instead mostly advocates the use of more naturally occurring items, like lemon juice. Also, while the technique for preserving virtually every fruit here is the same there are a host of variations that range from low-sugar and sugar substitute preserves, to preserves with alcohols and other spices.
We have used the recipes for two fruits, widely available in mid summer in the South, peaches and black berries. We found the fruit set quickly and as described, without using commercially produced pectin.
The book begins with a nice overview of how preserving fruit works, the different types of preservation, and how the canning process physically happens. The biggest draw back to this book is that it could use some illustrations, especially since the audience for a book like this would be many people who are familiar with the hardest part of preserving; the canning process. Otherwise, the user of this book would find this a fine reference book for virtually any type of readily available seasonal fruit.
January 12, 2015
This book is loaded with stunning full color photos of all these jewel-like fruits & berries that you can preserve. I love the lack of pectin in her recipes. She (the author) mainly uses sugar for her sweetener & explains why. She does give instruction on how to preserve with honey, so any of you SCD folks, this book is for you! You can enjoy real Jams & Jellies as well as other great treats-"legally"! I dream of filling my root cellar with little glowing gems thanks to her inspiring recipes. If only I had the time to can every day! If you desire to attempt a "different" way of canning... really the "olden" way of canning before pectin, then this book is just perfect for you! I intend to recommend it to everyone! I'm thrilled to own this book!
August 28, 2016
This book is amazing and I can't say enough about it. The way Linda describes the canning process, and the information given about the differences between Jams, Jellies, Preserves, etc...is very easy to understand. At points, I almost felt like I was reading a novel because it's written in a way that draws you into the process as she describes it! It makes you feel as though she is in your kitchen working along side you. She also goes on to describe different fruits, and the possibility of canning them without using added pectin, which surprised me. This is obviously a very knowledgeable author and compared to other similar books I sampled, this is by far the best one. I really love this book so much, I can't wait to start making jam!
January 7, 2012
An incredible variety of canning recipes, conveniently arranged by fruit so if you get a windfall of a particular type of produce, you can easily find a bunch of recipes to work with. None of the recipes include pectin, so if you've only worked with it, as I have, this will be a departure in your routine. The author promises that it won't take long cooking times to get jams to gell up without pectin, so I'm curious to see if that's true, as the only jams I've made so far included it. A good companion to her pickling recipe book, which has a mind-boggling number of recipes in it as well (see my review for that book).
March 13, 2011
This is a great resource for preserving the harvest. I've already tried some of the jams and they are very easy to make. The author does a very nice job of laying out the basics, without getting too complicated. One of the nicest features of this book is that it is organized by produce type. That way, when you get a big gift of peaches or cherries or whatnot from a friend or neighbor, it is easy to browse through the recipes and pick what you'd like to make. A very nice addition to my cookbook collection.
July 16, 2010
Really good book, all non-pectin recipes from what I can tell and lots of information. Perfect for someone like me who doesn't want a RECIPE to follow, just some guidelines/suggestions to what I can do with each fruit (and she covers them all, even odd ones) without worrying about killing someone with improperly canned foods or wasting tons and tons of fruit.
July 24, 2010
I. Love. This. Book.
This is the sweets canning book for the tinkerer, the marginally confident and the rule-breaker. She tells you what's up with your fruit and the process (and doesn't just give a bunch of directives to follow blindly.)
This is the sweets canning book for the tinkerer, the marginally confident and the rule-breaker. She tells you what's up with your fruit and the process (and doesn't just give a bunch of directives to follow blindly.)
April 11, 2013
My new favorite book for jams and jellies. I've tried raspberry and strawberry so far, and the recipes were clear and easy to follow. The background info was interesting, too. So nice not to need commercial pectin when I want to "put up" some fruit.
May 21, 2013
This book is very no frills. It has a simple layout, no photos, and old fashioned font. However, the simplistic look of it hides a nice array of jams, including a bunch that I have found in no other book.
November 28, 2015
This was a great book being divided by fruit in alphabetical order. It had a basic recipe and some back round on each fruit and then expanded upon it. The only thing keeping this one from a 5 star was not having pictures to accompany any of the recipes.
August 4, 2009
From Mom and StepDad for my birthday. Love this book. So many great recipes and great pics.
October 1, 2009
This book is great if you want to make jams without pectin. I am looking forward to trying out the caramel apple jam recipe.
January 2, 2016
Helpful for beginners
This book is thorough, provides interesting history, describes the tools needed, the process and the recipes are consistent. I will continue to use it!
This book is thorough, provides interesting history, describes the tools needed, the process and the recipes are consistent. I will continue to use it!
April 8, 2016
Looking forward to trying recipes from this book. One of the best I have purchased for home use. Certainly one to get for yourself or those you know who like to make homemade jams and jellies.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews