Preserving the Seasons focuses on different preservation methods (canning, freeze drying, etc). The cookbook is incrediebly information ont he preserving process how different foods react.

The Sections are
Part 1: Saving the Seasons (reviews the various things you can preserve and what is the most optimal method, there are recipes included for each method)
- freeze it
- no can jams and quick pickles
- boiling water canning
- dry it
- dehydrate it
- freeze dry it
Part 2: Savoring the Seasons with Infusions-
- water infusions
- savory infusions
- sweet infusions
part 3: serving the seasons
- I'll cheers to that
- snack shack
- off to a good start
- soups and sandwiches
- salad bar
- dinner menu
- hit the sauce
- the bread box
- sweet tooth

Each recipe has a recipe blurb, servings, ingredients, and directions. Some recipes include variations.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. There are so many recipes and it goes beyond the basic jellies and pickles. Great for beginners or those who are experienced with putting up foods. Highly recommended.

I read an ARC temporary digital copy of this book via netgalley.

Enjoyment: 5
Start: 5
Ending: 5
Style: 5
Rating: 5

I haven't gotten into canning and all this yet, but it's a definite goal of mine and this book will help with that and so much more! Each chapter starts with relevant information and ends with some good looking recipes. I'm excited to buy this book and try them out one at a time.

I needed this guide. Now that I am trying to preserve and create lasting food I am a bit lost. This wonderful guide breaks down everything so that it is easy to understand and to follow. I shared it with my mom and even she learned new ways and ideas.

It starts us with all the information we need to get started. Things like the equipment we will need, deciding what we want to preserve and what methods we want to use. Then each method is explained in amazing detail with easy to follow step-by-step instructions.

When you want to get even more adventourous and creative the author included ways to preserve flowers, herbs and more. You will also find some mouth watering recipes for everything you maybe preserving. I loved learning how to make seasoning blends and infusions. The book is packed with amazing photography which made me want to try even more.

You will love this guide. Makes a great gift too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for sharing.

This book gives many examples on how to preserve food by means of canning, freezing, and drying. They also include many recipes for each preservation method. On top of that, they provide recipes for food and cocktails/mocktails that utilize the preserved items. It had great instructions and I appreciated the troubleshooting advice.

It was an interesting book and I will have to try some of these tips with the items in my garden.

Preserving the Seasons begins with brief overviews of all the ways to save your garden, or farmers market’s, bounty. Freezing, pickling, water bath canning, drying, dehydrating and freeze drying are all covered as are various types of infusions.

I don’t know if everyone has a relative like my grandma. She cooked without recipes or even measurements. She used the lines on her palm to decide how much salt to add to a recipe. She knew how much liquid to add to her dough based on its looks. She was not much help to a young aspiring cook. But her food always came out delicious.

Preserving the Seasons uses my grandmother’s method for recipes. There are instructions, and measurements thank goodness, in all the recipes. But they certainly don’t hold your hand during the cooking process. They require a bit of experience in the kitchen to use. If you have never done one of the techniques, chances are you will need another book, or a rapid Google search, to clarify exactly how to complete each preserving method or recipe.

So if the techniques and recipes within Preserving the Seasons are meant for more experienced cooks, what can beginners get out of the book? The first two sections provide good explanations of all the different ways to preserve fruits, vegetables and even flowers. It allows the reader to decide which method they want to try, with the help of further research. I have done most of these methods before, some more successfully than others. Some I have never even heard about. I really loved the infusions section because that technique is totally new to me. I believe other beginners would love the brief overviews too.

Those more experienced will love the variety of the recipes included. Most don’t require a lot of money or any difficult to find ingredients. Readers may also find some new ways to use and/or preserve ingredients that they have on hand.

Overall, Preserving the Seasons seems more like a good starting point rather the reference book I was hoping for. It will build enthusiasm for using up every bit of seasonal produce in one way or another. 4 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Elements for providing me with an advanced review copy.

It’s been a since I’ve canned. So when I saw this book, I figured why not give it a read and see if I’m ready to get back into it. This is an absolutely beautiful resource. From jams to pickles, they’re so many things that I’ve been forgetting about. This book brought me right back to where I was when I was younger and I’m ready to can some of this season‘s goodness for use during the colder weather.

Bonus, a girlfriend asked me about putting up some of the bounty from her garden and this is the book I recommended to her. She’s already pre-ordered it and as purchasing her jars and material so that she can get to it right away.

If you’re not following this author on Insta? You are missing out! Her page is absolutely as beautiful as this book is. Do not, I repeat do not wait. Go out and follow her right now! You won’t regret it.

This is a gorgeous resource! I loved all of the ideas for freezing, water bath canning, dehydrating, and freeze drying my garden harvests. There are recipes for vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. I used the book to learn how to best freeze several veggies and made a delicious rhubarb jam and syrup! I'm excited to try more. The photos are beautiful as well. Overall a perfect book for gardeners to add to their shelves!

What a beautiful, informational cookbook!

I’ve always been inspired (and, let’s be real) intimidated by the art of canning and preserving food. As the prices of groceries rise in the US and the food chain system continues to become more perilous, I’ve been dedicated to learning more about incorporating homemade jams, pickled vegetables, and more into my home kitchen routine.

This book is an absolute goldmine of information around food preservation systems. From everything around tools and ingredients, to safe practices and delicious recipe ideas – Preserving the Seasons truly has it all. I’m picky about the cookbooks I keep, and will definitely be purchasing a physical copy of Holly’s guide!

This book is full of so much awesome information for anyone wanting to preserve their produce! I like that it isn't just a book with recipes but instead it is full of information and tips to help along the way. A lot of books about preservation only focus on things like making jams or preserves but she broke down different ways to preserve and the right way to do it. She breaks down the items needed to preserve as well as the ways to do it. She breaks down different ways to preserve; freezing, dehydrating, canning & even Freeze Drying. For each of the ways she goes into detail so you understand exactly what to do and to ensure proper preservation. I love that for the canning she talked about freezer jams as well as boiling water canning. I, like many others, don't have water bath canning equipment so I appreciate the freezer recipes!

Now onto the second part of the book, how to use all those things you preserved! This section is great, not only do I want to know how to preserve items but I love all the recipes and suggestions of how to use it.

I think this is a great book for anyone who has a garden or just wants to focus more on preserving foods!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book for review.

What a reference manual for preserving fruits and vegetables! Aside from recipes scribbled by my grandmothers on the back of envelopes, a reliable reference for preserving fruits and vegetables as jams, jellies, dried goods, and frozen preserves is something I have been lacking.

I think this book does a great job of breaking down how to use with handy reference tables to refer back to. During my first reading, I was concerned that there were not enough recipes that would utilize the foods that this book guides you in making. The last chapter is a beautiful bouquet of simple but still imaginative recipes. I made the lemon, lilac, and poppyseed bread as well as the chocolate tahini banana muffins. Both recipes came together easily and were gobbled up with expediency.

I would be thrilled to have this book amongst my collection of cookbooks to refer back to. I may even make fancy ice cubes for my next get together.

I really enjoyed this book. It's full of helpful tips and information regarding many ways of preserving our seasonal foods, whether through canning, freezing, or dehydrating. I'm so excited to try some of it's easy to follow instructions and recipes.

Preserving the Seasons is a recipe and tutorial collection to creating and using jams, jellies, chutneys, preserves, foraged foods, herbs and flowers by Holly Capelle. Due out 29th July 2025 from Simon & Schuster on their Simon Element imprint, it's 352 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a really comprehensive collection to both preserving foods and using them. The layout is easy to understand and accessible. The introductory chapters cover tools, supplies, ideas for harvest preserving, equipment, ingredients selection, and general tips.

The recipes are arranged roughly thematically and include different preservation methods (freezing, dehydrating, water canning, drying, freeze-drying, etc, followed by a large selection of recipes for use.

The recipes each contain an introduction, ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar, and step by step instructions. Measurements are given in imperial (American) units. The ingredients are mostly relatively easily sourced, but some might require mail order or access to canning supplies and tools.

The book is not lavishly illustrated, but the included photography is clear and easy to follow and sufficient. The photos which are included are well done, and some are truly sublime (botanical candy bars, for example, are breathtaking). If the book has a flaw, it's that it felt like it tried to be too much. It's not just a collection of preserving tips and recipes, but also tries to include recipes to use those items.

Five stars. This book would make a superlative selection for smallholders, orchardists, gardeners, local food fans, adventuresome cooks, and other lifestyle readers. This is a well written, eminently reasonable, usable guide to making and enjoying the excess produce of our gardens.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

On my initial flip through the Kindle version of Preserving the Seasons, I thought I’d gotten in way over my head. The pantry shots were beautiful but seriously intimidating, and there were edible flowers everywhere: frozen in ice cubes, adorning compound butters, perched on biscuits and cookies, even embedded in candy bars. I wasn’t sure what kind of situation I’d gotten myself into.

But then I started cooking, and to my surprise, it was mostly straightforward. Take the fruit leather, for example. I knew it was possible to make without a dehydrator, but I hadn’t realized just how easy it could be. In your face, Ron Popeil.

The oven-roasted beet chips were less successful. Some combination of slice thickness, oven temperature, and the lack of a dehydrator meant they didn’t crisp up. But roasted beets are never a total loss.

Next came the potato roses (made with vegan butter), which were an ideal mix of form and function. The potatoes cooked more densely and crisped up better than they usually do on a sheet pan, and they looked so impressive that people wanted to take pictures.

The slow-cooked dried beans were solid, though unremarkable. Mine were a little old and probably needed a longer soak or cook time. As for the herby pizza dough, I was skeptical, and the result was more pizza bread than a proper crust, but it came together quickly and was a crowd-pleaser.

The Kindle version, unfortunately, hasn’t been optimized, a common issue with cookbooks. Page numbers interrupt the text, there’s no index, photos run off the page, and sections run into each other. Still, it’s usable.

So am I going to be making the “Fancy Pants Ice” anytime soon? No. But I can definitely see myself repeating some of the functional basics: the fruit leather, the potato roses, and the pizza dough. And I’ll need to revisit this to explore more of the actual canning and preserving.

Thanks to Simon Element and NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy.

Every hostess wants to offer condiments and sides that are homemade, but most don’t have time. Store-bought pickles and condiments are okay, but never as good as homemade ones. Preserving the Seasons: A Guide to Canned, Jammed, Frozen, Dehydrated, Freeze-Dried, Quick-Pickled, and Infused Produce, Herbs, and Flowers is an excellent cookbook to educate all of us on how to can, freeze, dehydrate, and pickle, as well as make infused vinegars and oils. Most of us are trying to waste less and use everything we have in our gardens and kitchens, and this book will give readers dozens of great ideas on how to use everything up and preserve it to use later.

The cookbook includes dozens of mostly easy recipes, and most are for fairly small batches, so there won’t be a need to purchase bushels of fruit or vegetables to make them. The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow. There are also beautiful photographs of most of the recipes. The author has also included photos of her perfect pantry loaded with different things from the book. It inspired me to clean out my pantry and order new storage jars; actually it is a bit intimidating.

All told, this is an excellent cookbook to add to your cookbook shelf. It will happily be used whenever any of us has extra produce that we don’t want to go to waste.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Preserving the Seasons is a visually appealing and accessible guide for beginners or casual home preservers. It covers a wide range of methods—canning, freezing, drying, infusions, and even freeze-drying—with a friendly, encouraging tone.

The section on drying flowers stood out as a highlight. It’s not something you typically find in preservation books, and it added a thoughtful, almost whimsical layer to the usual techniques. I also appreciated the inclusion of some less-expected fruits and vegetables—things many people might not think to freeze, dry, or can.

That said, the canning section felt a bit light. It covered the basics well enough, but didn’t go much deeper than simple water bath recipes. The freeze-drying content seemed tacked on, possibly because the equipment is still cost-prohibitive for many households. A little more detail or clarity on its use would’ve helped.

Some of the recipes leaned toward the niche side, like plum and black pepper jam or lilac sugar. While interesting, they might not appeal to a broad audience and may leave newer preservers unsure of where to start.

Overall, this is a solid entry-level resource with a few unique touches. I’ll be adding it to our library collection—it’s a good fit for those curious about seasonal preserving but not yet ready to dive too deep.

Preserving the Seasons is a must-have guide for anyone looking to embrace the art of food preservation. Holly Capelle has created a resource that is not only approachable and well-organized but also rich with practical knowledge. Whether you're a beginner eager to try your hand at canning or a seasoned preserver looking to expand your methods, this book delivers.

Organized by technique—boiling water canning, dehydrating, freeze-drying, infusing, freezing, and quick pickling—each section walks readers through the steps with clear, concise instructions. The inclusion of troubleshooting tips and best practices adds real value, making it a dependable go-to for anyone preserving at home.

What makes this book truly shine is how it connects the preservation process to everyday cooking. Holly doesn’t just teach you how to preserve—she shows you how to enjoy what you've made. With creative, flavorful recipes like Black Pepper Plum Jam, Rosemary Citrus Bundt Cake, and Quick Pickled Pepper Slices, she brings preserved ingredients into real-life meals in a way that feels both exciting and achievable.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this incredible resource.. I’m excited to recommend it to others who are ready to preserve the seasons in their own homes.

I love how this book is broken down by season! It can get overwhelming and difficult to find season-specific recipes so I really appreciated this set up. This book also includes so many great recipes, ideas, and explanations. It feels like a masterclass on season preservation and would be highly beneficial to both beginners and experts.

Nowadays when we are trying to be more sustainable with our food and purchsing, this is a great reference. I have no idea where I will get a lot of these items to preserve, but if i ever do, I am ready!

Fantastic books that covers all the ways to preserve things. From freezing to freeze drying one can find all in here to help with it. The recipes are also wonderful and helpful to have around.