Friday Flashback – Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry

Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry: Recipes and Techniques for Year-Round Preserving by Cathy Barrow is my bible for canning and food preservation. When Cathy first announced she was writing a book, I was thrilled. I had been envious of her gardening posts and was anxious to learn more about canning. 

Cathy’s book is gorgeous with plenty of photographs and extensive attention to detail – even advice on troubleshooting problems that we might come across while starting down the road to canning (and more) are offered. I particularly love the mix of recipes – setting out a recipe and then providing a recipe(s) to use that ingredient in. For instance, Straight-Up Preserves with Any Fruit with a bonus recipe of Rugelach or Peaches in Ginger Syrup with a Gingery Peach Daiquiri as a bonus. Juicing, pickling, brining, stocks, smoking and more are included in this book with over 135 recipes.

You must try the Bacon Onion Jam and her suggestion of making a bacon rugelach with salted peanuts for an option to use the jam – you will not be able to stop eating both. I’ve used the jam in macaroni and cheese and a number of other dishes as well. Cathy’s recipes for preserving fruit are my go to.

Yesterday, I reached out to Cathy to see what she has been up to since the publication of her book. I found her at Canal House in the midst of shooting the photographs for her new book, Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet and Savory Slab Pies. This book will be published in September of 2018 by Grand Central Life & Style and will share 15 different crust recipes and more than 69 pies with swaps and substitutions throughout. We will be sure to provide you with ordering details for Pie Squared when they are available.

The ever busy writer also has a monthly column at the Washington Post – Bring It -that focuses on food for a crowd – her lastest story features a recipe for salty sweet corn ice cream sandwiches which sounds pretty incredible.

If I had to pick one preserving book to keep in my collection, it would be Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry – be sure you check it out if you haven’t.