Amazing Review in Saveur!

Wow. Thank you, Saveur! 

SAVING THE SEASON: A COOK'S GUIDE TO HOME CANNING, PICKLING, AND PRESERVING

by Kevin West
This cookbook is unlike any other on my shelf. West approaches his topic—home canning and preserving—with a reporter's attention to detail and a poet's sensibility; it's less a canning tutorial and cookbook than it is a collection of absorbing personal essays, literary excerpts, explications of culinary history, and friendly advice, all of which happens to be punctuated by appealing, easy-to-follow recipes. That's not to say the book isn't suitable as a practical guide for the canning novice; you'll learn the differences between jam, jelly, and marmalade, how acid and salt affect the pH balance of your preserves (keeping botulism at bay), and what fruits are naturally high in pectin. But you'll also read about the first time West picked wild ramps, the literary history of the Thanksgiving meal, and how to make killer blackberry molasses. The text dances on, its cadence dictated by the season, and while there are more than enough spring and summer recipes to keep you busy every weekend from now through the end of August (I, for one, can't wait to make my own Maraschino cherries), West's engaging stories will probably have you reading ahead, looking forward to homemade pumpkin butter and blood orange marmalade. —Cory Baldwin

Available June 25 from Knopf; $35
Purchase Saving the Season

See the full list at June's Best Food and Drink Releases at Saveur.com

Thank You!

Thank you again to all the Martha Stewart Living readers! I've been so moved by the memories you've shared. Reading your emails made me think about something that I wrote in the Introduction to my book. 

The way I see it, recipes can tell you how to make something, but they don't tell you much about it. Recipes need stories. Anyone who has learned to cook by spending hours in the kitchen with an older relative or a close friend knows what I mean. You learn by watching but also listening, and the instruction imparted is not merely technical. In the kitchen and at the table, food and narrative go together. In Saving the Season, recipes are vehicles for the stories.

I think you know what I mean. Thank you for sharing your stories.

The First Glimpse of Summer

Can you believe it? We're at the start of stone fruit season. Yesterday at the Hollywood Farmers Market was a glimpse of summer.

The pick of the day included Brooks cherries, some of my favorite for preserving because of their firm texture. The word "apricot" comes from the Latin "praecox" for "early ripening," and these Poppycots certainly live up to billing. The little green fruits are immature plums, which are used in some cuisines as a crunchy, sour condiment. 

Also, thank you to everyone who read the backpage essay in Martha Stewart Living and took the time to send emails or post comments. It means so much to hear from you!

Spring!

I've been in the kitchen with strawberries.

Rare Public Visit to the Citrus Hall of Fame

Calling all citrus geeks!

The UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection, a so-called germplasm repository, holds one of the world's most comprehensive collections of citrus trees—over 1,300 varieties at last count. This place is a citrus museum of the first order, a Noah's Ark, a Citrus Hall of Fame. Its holdings span the entire history of citrus from the crude ancestors (shaddock, citron, Papedas and Trifoliates) to the sveltest next-wave mandarin hybrids ("Tango"). It's a weird and unique place.

It's also locked up like Fort Knox. I visited the collection while writing my book, but it wasn't easy to get in—I had a friend pull strings at the chancellor's office to pry open the door for me.

Your chance to visit comes on April 16 this year, when the collection opens to the public for one day only. My tip to you: seriously go.

Info here.

Fritz Haeg, Band of Outsiders, Lemon Curd

Seriously folks: this is a good invitation.

On Saturday 3/23 from 11am-5pm, I'm joining my friend Fritz Haeg at the Hammer Museum in Westwood to participate in his artwork Domestic Integrities. It's sort of an arty sit-in.

Band of Outsiders and I have collaborated on a cookie (sneak peak: lemon curd on shortbread), and Bettina Korek of For Yor Art is programming a day of live broadcasts on KCHUNG.

My advice? Seriously go.

Details ABOVE.

Rhubarb means #spring

The Fruit Detective, aka David Karp of the Los Angeles Times, devotes his column this week to a spring crop that, depending on where you stand, may or may not be a fruit.

He begins (and I concur):

Rhubarb is one of the great joys of spring, with its rosy color, earthy tang and old-fashioned allure, and the story of its local rise and fall is as intriguing as its flavor. Just a generation or two ago, it was widely cultivated in Southern California, but now local rhubarb is available almost exclusively at farmers markets, and just from a handful of vendors.

Read the rest of the story, including where to buy local rhubarb, here.