Linda J. Amendt

A State Fair Prizewinner Reveals Her Secrets
with Almost 300 Recipes

Written by
Linda J. Amendt

One of America's Best Home Canners and
Top Preserved Foods Competitor in the Nation

Here for the first time, are the award-winning recipes, canning tips, and methods for making preserves that have made Linda J. Amendt one of the top prizewinning cooks in the nation. This handy and helpful volume contains everything you need to know about home canning, along with insider advice on how to win in fair competitions.

Linda Amendt enjoys passing along her knowledge to home canners of all skill levels, helping others to discover the joys and rewards of creating their own homemade preserves.

Sharing her expertise with both beginning and experienced home canners in her cookbook Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & More, Linda takes the mystery and intimidation out of preserving foods so that anyone can prepare jams, jellies and other delicious preserves with confidence. Blue Ribbon Preserves became an instant hit with home canners everywhere.

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) selected Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams,Jellies, Marmalades & More
as a finalist for the

IACP Cookbook Awards

in the prestigious category

First Book: The Julia Child Award
for the best cookbook written by a new author

Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & More has received high praise for all the wonderful recipes, special techniques and expert advice shared by author Linda J. Amendt.

"It is an honor and a privilege to recommend this collection of prize-winning recipes to canning aficionados old and new...For those of you who have thought about entering competition, you will have the winning secrets of one of the most decorated competitors in the last decade of Fair seasons."
-- from the Foreword by Iris Dimond

"I don't know anyone who knows more about the secrets of making great preserves than Linda J. Amendt. She has an expertise, an enthusiasm, a thoroughness, and a desire to share her knowledge that combine to make her an ideal author and teacher for beginners and experienced home canners alike."
-- Norman Kolpas, best-selling author of over 35 cookbooks including Pasta Presto, Pasta Light, Buongiorno! and Comforting Foods

"I would like to congratulate Linda Amendt for keeping home canning alive! I hope people will enjoy her recipes as much as I have."
-- Vanna White, co-star of Wheel of Fortune, and an avid home canner

Library Journal

"With more than 300 blue ribbons from state, county and other fairs to her credit, Amendt is an authority on the subject of preserving and her pantry must be an impressive sight indeed. Here she provides an extremely detailed introduction to home canning, from u-pick farms and other sources of ingredients, to equipment, to safety concerns, along with a lengthy troubleshooting section and a chapter on fair competitions. This is followed by nearly 300 delectable small-batch preserving recipes, from classics such as Bing Cherry Jam, to variations like Caramel Apple Butter, to innovations like Margarita Jelly. In addition to jams, jellies, and fruit preserves, Amendt also includes canned fruits and vegetables, sauces and salsas, and pickles and vinegars. Valuable as both a reference and a cookbook, this is highly recommended."
(Cahners Business Information, Inc.)

The Hartford Courant

"Linda J. Amendt has competed in county fairs since 1990 and has won more than 600 awards for her jams, jellies and other preserved foods. She applies the same kitchen smarts that have made her a winner to the subject of safe, successful food canning and preserving.

This cookbook could be the "Joy of Cooking" for home canning. The right equipment, properly ripened ingredients, an understanding of the role of pectin and a working knowledge of proper canning procedures work together to create a perfect jam or jar of pickles. Amendt addresses all of the necessary subjects, including updated information on safety procedures. The most interesting chapter, regardless of whether the reader knows the difference between a pressure cooker and a boiling water bath, is about fair competitions."
(The Hartford Courant)