The Complete Canning Kitchen: From Meat to Fruit and Everything in Between Harvest Book

The Complete Canning Kitchen: From Meat to Fruit and Everything In Between by Juniper B. Marshall is a love letter to preservation, born from the salty air and rugged bounty of Oregon’s Central Coast. Juniper, a Newport native raised on crab hauls and garden jars, channels her family’s legacy into a guide that’s as practical as it is personal. With a fisherman father and herbalist mother, she grew up canning to stretch the seasons, a skill she honed at Oregon State University before returning to her cedar-shingled cottage overlooking Yaquina Bay. Now, alongside her crabber partner Eli and their rescue dogs, she tends an orchard, teaches at the local food web, and runs a granola business—blending coastal flavors like smoked salmon into “Coastal Crunch.” This book, her passion project, preserves meat, fish, veggies, fruits, condiments, and soups, tying her Newport roots to every recipe.The Introduction sets the stage with Juniper’s story—her childhood watching jars bubble, her coastal return, and her mission to bottle nature’s best. It touts canning’s value: self-reliance, flavor control, and a rebellion against waste, with a nod to its history from Napoleon’s armies to her Depression-era kin. It’s a roadmap, too, promising safety-first guidance for newbies and pros alike.Chapter 1: Canning Basics lays the groundwork—tools like pressure canners and jar lifters, methods (water bath for high-acid, pressure for low), and safety, especially botulism, treated with cautious respect, not fear. Five tips per section—like venting canners or sterilizing jars—keep it foolproof, steeped in Juniper’s kitchen know-how.Chapter 2: Meat dives into pressure canning hearty proteins—beef in broth, spicy pork, venison with rosemary—10 recipes with imperial and metric measures, step-by-step from sanitizing jars to sealing. It’s the taste of Newport’s hunting trades, a pantry of ready meals.Chapter 3: Fish & Seafood bottles the ocean—salmon with dill, tuna in oil, crab in brine—10 recipes capturing the Central Coast’s briny soul. Pressure canning’s king here, preserving Eli’s catches for year-round chowder.Chapter 4: Vegetables spans water bath pickles (dill spears, spicy carrots) and pressure-canned staples (green beans, corn)—10 recipes of garden and forest bounty, keeping summer crisp through winter.Chapter 5: Fruit is Juniper’s sweet spot—strawberry-basil jam, rum-spiked cherries, apple pie filling—10 water bath recipes from her orchard and foraged trails, bursting with coastal sunshine.Chapter 6: Condiments & Extras jazzes up meals—ketchup, hot pepper jelly, salsa verde—10 water bath gems that turn plain into special, small-batch style.Chapter 7: Soups & Stews offers pressure-canned comfort—beef barley, clam chowder base, lentil soup—10 recipes for instant dinners, echoing Newport’s stormy nights.Chapter 8: Tips, Tricks & Troubleshooting is Juniper’s wisdom chest—flavor boosts (smoked salt, chili oil), fixes (cloudy brine, seal flops), and repurposing (jam-glazed chicken)—10 recipes show off her hacks.Appendices pack in charts (processing times), a pH guide (acidify or pressure), and resources (Ball Blue Book, local Newport haunts). Final Thoughts seal it with a tale—a crab-canning party with Eli, beers flowing, jars traded for beans—proof of canning’s fun and worth, a coastal lifeline that’s pure joy.