Fruits of the Midwest - A Cookbook and Guide from Harvest to Table

Fruits of the Midwest - A Cookbook and Guide from Harvest to Table Fresh fruit...the bounty of the earth! Many people are rediscovering the superior flavor, nutritional quality, and wholesome goodness of fresh, locally grown fruit--whether from their own garden, a local produce stand or Farmer's Market, or a local U-pick patch or farm. There's no comparison between the taste of a fresh locally-grown strawberry and one shipped in from several states away!

But local fruit is only available for a short time each year, during those few days or weeks of its normal harvest season. To have it available to serve at your table year round you need to purchase it in quantity during that short time window, which raises the question: "OK, so I can get local fruit by the pound, peck, or bushel...but what should I do with so much at once?"

Fruits of the Midwest - A Cookbook and Guide from Harvest to Table has been written to answer that question and many more. It tells how to harvest, handle, preserve, store, and cook with each of the following fruits commonly grown in the Midwest. (Some aren't true fruits but are included in the book because they are preserved and used in cooking the same as many common fruits.)

Apples Blackberries Blueberries Cherries (sour/pie) Peaches Pears Pumpkin Raspberries Rhubarb Strawberries

Have Questions? You'll Find Answers Here!

This book answers questions like:

How do I know when the fruit is at the right stage of ripeness for picking?
How should I handle and store the fruit until I serve it or have time to can/freeze/dry?
What's the best way to wash and handle the fruit, to retain as much of its nutritional value as possible? ...to prevent it from "leaking" juice? ...to keep it from turning brown when exposed to air?
What's the best preservation method for each kind of fruit? (For example, some fruits don't freeze well; others are less desirable if canned.)
What are the best ways to serve this fruit fresh, canned, or frozen?
Where can I find good, tested recipes using the kinds of fruit I have available?

Everything You Need, All in One Place

Fruits of the Midwest - A Cookbook and Guide from Harvest to Table is chock full of information about harvesting, handling, preserving, and cooking with common midwestern fruits:

A separate chapter for each of the major fruits, with all of the harvest, handling, preservation, cooking, and serving information for one fruit within its own chapter...if you're working with red raspberries, you won't have to hunt all over the book for the information you need about them!
A Miscellaneous chapter for minor fruits (pumpkin, rhubarb), catch-all recipes (things like green grape pie and gooseberry pie), and recipes which can be used with mixed fruits or a variety of fruits.
Recipe sections like these in each fruit chapter:

Bars and Cookies Breads and Muffins Cakes and Desserts Pies Salads and More

Over 250 tested fruit recipes like these:

Cookies Bar cookies Tea rings Coffeecakes Breads Muffins Scones Tortes Crisps Cakes Pies Cobblers Pie fillings Dumplings Salads Sauces Fruit dip Fruit syrups Pancakes Fruit drinks (smoothies, etc.) Parfaits Ice cream Jellies Jams Preserves Apple butter

A section on canning and freezing basics describing everything from canning terms, to equipment and jar selection, to steps for water bath canning; freezer container selection, freezing procedures, maintaining frozen fruit quality and appearance, and other tips.
A section on jam and jelly making that describes the fruits and fruit qualities which contribute to success, discusses adding pectin and tells what types of fruits usually do or do not need added pectin to jell properly, describes jelly making techniques in detail, provides recipes for various fruit jams, jellies, honeys, preserves, and apple butter. There are even pages on jam and jelly troubleshooting--how to figure out what went wrong if your jam or jelly fails to meet your expectations.
A general information section has tables of ingredient substitutions, ingredient equivalents, and pan sizes/volumes and pan equivalents.
Altogether over 230 pages of information, instructions, tips, recipes, substitution lists and tables, and reference information.

Things Your Great Grandmother Knew...

Many little secrets, tips, and rules of thumb about harvesting, storing, preserving, and cooking with fruit that were common knowledge in our great grandmothers' day have fallen by the wayside.

But Fruits of the Midwest - A Cookbook and Guide from Harvest to Table is here to restore some of that "lost" knowledge, with tips and rules of thumb which will help you save time and get consistent, successful results when picking, handling, storing, preserving, and cooking with fruits.

About the Author

Debbie Wilsdorf operates a U-pick berry operation--selling strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, rhubarb, and more--near Madison, Missouri, where she routinely fields questions from customers about fruit handling, preservation, storage, serving, recipes, and fruit cookery.

She is an experienced veteran of fruit preservation. Most years, she uses several of the methods described in Fruits of the Midwest - A Cookbook and Guide from Harvest to Table on apples, peaches, pears, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, pumpkin, cherries--and any other local fruit she can find--to preserve them for family and friends.

Debbie is an avid and experienced cook who is "fearlessly experimental" in the kitchen...and she and her family have personally tested nearly every recipe in this book!