September 2, 2008

Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2

Now is the best time of year to collect free food. And I don't mean sneaking into the farmer's orchard after sunset. Good foraging locations are everywhere. If you're out walking or biking, the sweet smell of ripening grapes will lure you as if hypnotized into the brambles on the side of the road. Tie a plastic bag around the handlebars or stuff one into your back pocket so you can take some late summer sun back home with you in the form of beach plums, beach rose hips, Concord grapes, wild blueberries, autumn olives - the list seems endless. All these fruits are waiting for you to pick them and put them up for the coming year. The only question is how to tell the cucumbers and tomatoes to back off and stop hogging the all canning equipment.

Speaking of canning, here's a new book, Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No. 2, from River Cottage that I can't wait to get my sticky canning mitts on. It just came out so you'll have to order it and then wait. My guess is that it'll be well worth the wait for all the jam, jelly, curd, fruit leather, pickle, chutney, cordial, vinegar and sauce recipes as well as the fabulous pictures and thorough instructions. If summer has to end, sipping on a homemade cordial in front of the woodstove sounds like a good way to wait out the winter.