The flavors in this book are just wonderful. I made the rhubarb jam with strawberries and oranges a couple days ago, and it is hands-down the best jam I've ever tasted. The perfect balance of sweet, tart, and spice. So far this is the only recipe I have tried from the book, but I'm eager to try many others.
While I trust that the author knows a heck of a lot more about canning than I do, and I trust that she tested the recipes, and I trust that an unsafe book wouldn't have been published (well, maybe I'm naive on that one, but I'd like to think it's true)...maybe I'm just too new at canning to be relaxed about the process. I've only been canning for a year (the rhubarb jam was my tenth project), but I've read a lot of canning recipes and these are the first I've come across that don't ALWAYS use bottled lemon juice, that don't specify the headspace in EACH recipe, and that don't direct you to skim the foam from your jam before you fill the jars (I don't know what that last thing has to do with safety, but surely the other sources tell you to do it for a reason?). Also, this is the first time I've seen curd recipes that can be processed in a waterbath canner--I'm grateful for it, because I love curd and am eager to can it, but I can't help but be a little apprehensive about canning something that has eggs and butter in it. I also dislike that most of the recipes are written for pint jars...is it ok to can them in half-pint jars? Does that affect processing times? I mention this because the author discusses using different jar sizes, but only mentions how this affects the processing time if you can tomato sauce in quart jars instead of pints.
I do love this book, and I appreciate that most of the recipes use produce that I can easily find at my farmer's market or co-op here in the Midwest (unlike a lot of other modern canning books that use produce I've never even heard of). Unlike another reviewer, I am not concerned that these recipes are going to make me or my loved ones sick. If the author has chosen these methods, I believe it's because she knows them to be safe. But as a beginner, I think I'd like just a little bit more hand-holding to walk me through the process.