My photo
Ontario, Canada
I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
Cook ingredients that you are used to cooking by other techniques, such as fish, chicken, or hamburgers. In other words be comfortable with the ingredients you are using.
--Bobby Flay

For Your Information

Please watch this area for important information like updates, food recalls, polls, contests, coupons, and freebies.
  • [March 19, 2020] - Effective Mar 17, this blog will no longer accept advertising. The reason is very simple. If I like a product, I will promote it without compensation. If I don't like a product, I will have no problem saying so.
  • [March 17, 2020] - A return to blogging! Stay tuned for new tips, resources and all things food related.
  • [February 1, 2016] - An interesting report on why you should always choose organic tea verses non-organic: Toxic Tea (pdf format)
  • Sticky Post - Warning: 4ever Recap reusable canning lids. The reports are growing daily of these lids losing their seal during storage. Some have lost their entire season's worth of canning to these seal failures! [Update: 4ever Recap appears to be out of business.]

Popular Posts

Friday, May 10, 2013

May Giveaway Contest - One Lucky Reader Will Win Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving

The busy home canning season is just around the corner so I decided to offer a little incentive to get you thinking about home canning.  This month's giveaway contest is for a copy of the current Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving.  This beautiful 148 page softcover book is filled with more than 300 recipes for home canning, freezing, drying and mason jar crafts.  It is a valuable resource for home canning!  For those who do not know, Bernardin is the leading Canadian authority on home canning, the equivalent to Ball in the US.  The home canning recipes all meet current USDA guidelines to ensure you are putting delicious yet safe food on your table. 

Bernardin Guide to Home Canning
The May Giveaway Contest for the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving is open to all residents of Canada and the United States (mainland only).   To qualify for a chance to win, you must comment on this post giving one reason why you would like to win this wonderful addition to your home cooking library.  Please include your email address so I can contact you if you win.  The deadline for entry is May 31, 2013.  The lucky winner will be notified by email on June 1 and will have 48 hours to respond with shipping address.  If there is no response after 48 hours, another winner will be chosen who will be given the same opportunity as the first.  Good luck to all who enter!

On the home preserving note, I have been quite busy doing a bit of last minute canning of dried beans and stocks before the busiest time of home canning begins for me.  As many of you know, I home can year round with the canners only taking a break when we are at our vacation home.  I did manage to do a bit of boiling water bath processing at our vacation home but will never get up to the level I do at home because of lack of storage.  We rent our vacation home out January through April and while we do have an owner's closet for storage, it is not practical to store much in the way of food.  I have to say too that when we fly to our vacation home in Florida, we can't bring home canned foods because they are over the 3 oz flight restriction.  My gosh, do we ever miss our home canned foods, not to mention the sticker shock of having to buy what I normally can!   We spend about two and a half months there divided into three trips so it is a big adjustment not having the home canned foods we are used to relying on.  This year we are driving down for the second trip, flying home between the second and third trip, then driving home from the third trip which means I will be able to take a good supply of home canned foods down to enjoy while there.  There's nothing like a taste of home while on vacation :)


12 food lovers commented:

Sarah K said...

I would love to add this book to my canning arsenal! For the past 3 years, we have put up about 1000+ jars of food. I love reading more tips and recipes that my family would love.

Garden Gnome said...

Hi Sarah K., I forgot to mention in the post and have since corrected, could you include your email address so I can contact you if you win? Thanks and good luck!

Tightwad said...

I only have one book on canning so this would be a terrific addition. I'm always interested in new recipes to add to my pantry.

tightwaderin (at) cox (dot) net

LindaG said...

I believe my email is always shown when I comment, but just in case, it is linlin dot grem at gmail dot com.

I would love to have it as I am just getting into canning.
I can't imagine canning 1000 jars though!
And I am sure you do the same, or more.
Thank you for this giveaway, GG.
Have a wonderful weekend. ♥

Alyssa said...

I am just starting out in the kitchen, and really need information on preserving so I can stop wasting food!

my email is aholstock(at)hotmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I am a long time canner processing several hundred jars every year. I can year round, making stock in the winter. Frozen fruit and berries become jam in late spring. I like to know what is in the foods we consume and am continually increasing the variety of goodies in the pantry. A good, current reference book makes it much easier.
(calkar@shaw.ca)

Anonymous said...

I would love to win this book. Love canning. An d I love that ifound your blog. I am in Ontario as well.

gisele
dtajg@rogers.com

Anonymous said...

Hi- I am in Appleton, Maine and am just starting my first canning batch of the year: Rhubarb Ginger Jam....saw your blog when I was looking up recipes and would LOVE to win the Guide to Home Preserving in time for the new canning season Deb Schilder Appleton, Maine- you can reach me using my name debschilder at the domain @hotmail.com

Kate/Massachusetts said...

Hi Sarah! I just found your blog through a google search for pressure cooker beef vegetable soup! Can you guess what's now for supper? Anyhow, I have enjoyed reading your blog! I would love to win a copy of this book since I have never heard of it! I have several Ball canning books and an old copy of Putting Foods By. Thanks for the chance to enter your giveaway! My email is: dfuller55 (at) verizon (dot) net

Garden Gnome said...

Hi Kate, and thanks for your comment. I think you have confused me with someone else as my name is not Sarah. Good luck...

Angela M said...

As a beginner canner I would love this book to help me learn more recipes, tips, and tricks.

skyalive1976(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

Dear Garden Gnome, I really love your website, there are so few good Canadian food sites. Please enter me in your Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving contest.

I really seem to be having a hard time with my comment. I hope you don't end up with six or seven of them.

Thanks,
Sandi L
Windsor, Ontario