• Find the perfect gift for all the cooks on your list.

• Get your favorite food preserver a magazine subscription or a new cookbook.

• Canning Journals, out-of-print books, and limited-edition jars are fantastic gifts for cooking and preserving hobbyists.

Is there a budding cook on your gift list this year? How about someone who likes to make jam or pickles? Or perhaps you know someone who is experimenting with today’s most popular food preserving method – fermenting! Never fear. I have curated the best gifts for every enthusiastic cook and food preserver on your list.

Magazine Subscriptions: Yes, you can find everything you want to know on the internet. But sometimes you don’t know what you want to know! Magazines, like those below, expand your horizons by introducing new – or new-to-you – cooking techniques, implements, and ingredients. Plus, your gift recipient will think of you and your wonderful gift whenever the latest issue arrives in their mailbox.

Grit: Some of you may remember Grit as a newspaper for rural America. But many years ago, Grit turned into a shiny magazine – still celebrating rural America. Grit has lots of recipes using real food, articles that explore food preserving methods like making jam or pickles, small farm business ideas, and other DIY projects. Grit is both for the small/suburban farm dreamer and the doer, as each issue is full of practical advice. Current annual subscription: $16.95

Fermentation: Making your own beer, sauerkraut, vinegar, kombucha, and more is exploding in popularity right now. Ogden Publications is answering the need for information with this new magazine. It’s a fantastic way to learn all about making cheese, kefir, soda and more. The perfect, if unusual, gift for the food science enthusiast on your list. Current annual subscription and membership rate: $29.95

Canning Journals and Blank Recipe Books: A canning journal not only helps keep us organized, it also makes a lovely heirloom for future generations. Canning journals keep track for how many jars of blackberry jam we made last year – and reminds us that we used the recipe from our favorite cookbook.

Blank cookbooks are another gift way to save for our grandchildren, and their grandchildren. So many family recipes get lost to time. How many times have you said, “Remember that dish that grandma made? I wonder how she did that?” Start keeping track of family favorites today. There are numerous options listed on Amazon. Some you may want to check out:

Canning Journal: Season after Season for $10.99

Canning Journal Log Book for $8.99

Recipe Keepsake Book – Favorite Family Recipes for $10.78

 

Recipes: A Cooking Journal for $20.86

Cookbooks: One can only make so many jars of strawberry freezer jam before we itch to try something a little more challenging, and tasty. While there are many online recipes, not all are written by someone who is experienced with food safety. Plus, a good cookbook will introduce you to recipes you never knew to look for!

Don’t forget out-of-print cookbooks too. Older cookbooks bring back flavors from our childhood. Do avoid older canning books though. They may be interesting to collect, but the processes may no longer be safe to use.

Creative Jams and Preserves: Yes, I wrote this cookbook, and it’s popular with jam makers all over the world. All of my favorite, soon to be your favorite, recipes are included. There is everything from apricot syrup to blueberry Cointreau preserves to rose hip apple butter to raspberry – blueberry jam, and much more. Order your copy at Amazon or Etsy, only $7.99.

The Confident Canner: I also wrote this little book. While it includes no recipes, it does answer all those niggling questions we have about canning and preserving all types of food. This is my best-selling book. It makes a great stocking stuffer or food preserver gift, coupled with the above book. Order your copy at Amazon or Etsy, also only $7.99.

Culpepper’s Guide to Cooking with Herbs: This book appears to be out-of-print, and some used copies are rather pricey. Plus, it’s difficult to find copies on this side of the Atlantic, since this book comes from the U.K. Although this is a used copy, it’s a lovely little book full of herbal information and delicate recipes. Find it on my Etsy store for only $14.98.

Jake Friedman’s Common-Sense Candy Teacher: For the cook who has everything! This collector’s dream book was published in 1915, but the candy recipes, and candy business advice, still resonates today. Of course, your gift recipient may want to tuck this away with all of their other valuables. Find it on my Etsy store for$99.98.

Fancy Canning Jars: Mason jars come in all kinds of sizes and shapes these days. Buy your canning expert something they may not be able to find locally.

Elite Amber Glass Pint Jars: 4 for $8.49

Ball Collection Half-Pint Jars: 8 for $18.42

Aqua Vintage Jars: 4 for $9.99

Ball Golden Harvest Jars: 12 for $15.93

Full Disclosure: Although I have purchased many products from the above companies, no one is paying my anything to list them here! These are all just products that I find useful and bring me joy. I bet your gift recipient will love them too.

Check out our Best Gifts for Gardeners and Plant Lovers too!