Safe, tested home canning and a pantry that gets you through any winter — in plain words, with times for your altitude, and nothing your family could get sick from.
For thirty years I judged the canning tables at our county fair in Wisconsin. I've held more jars up to the window light than I could ever count. And the jars that worried me most weren't from careless cooks. They were from good women who learned from somebody they loved — a mother who turned her jars upside down instead of processing them, an aunt who water-bathed her green beans "because nobody ever got sick."
I understand that. My own mother came through the Depression and never threw anything away. But some of the old ways are fine, and some of them can put your family in the hospital. Botulism doesn't smell, doesn't show, and doesn't care how long your family has done it that way.
So I wrote down everything the judging table taught me: the rules I never bend, the tested recipes with the right times for your altitude, and a pantry system so you know exactly what's on your shelves — for one person or two, not a family of twelve.
— Peg
These are the "old ways" I saw most on the fair table. Every one of them is on the book's Never-Ever list — with the safe way to do it instead.
The full book: the Judge's Rules, 25 tested recipes with times for every altitude, the pantry system and the fair-table mistakes. PDF.
The same book in big, easy-to-read type. Easier on the eyes at the stove.
Water-bath & pressure quick charts, canning log, pantry inventory, winter pantry planner, 12 jar lid labels, gift tags and the "Read the Jar Before You Eat" card.
Every processing time comes from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation — with the link printed right on the page so you can check it yourself.
All of it, one time: $37
📩 This is a digital download (PDF). Nothing is mailed. You can read it on any computer, tablet or phone, or print it at home or at a print shop.
It also makes a lovely gift for a daughter, granddaughter or neighbor who's just starting out.
Dairy farm wife for fifty years, 4-H canning leader, and for thirty years a canning judge at the county fair. She hosts the Peg's Pantry channel on YouTube, where the videos are free.
Peg is an AI-presented character. The stories are hers; the safety guidance in this book comes from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and every recipe shows its source.
If the Blue Ribbon Pantry isn't what you hoped for, email us within 30 days and we'll refund you in full. No questions, no forms — and if you thought it was a printed book, that's fine too. Just write to us.
No. It's a digital book (PDF) you download right after checkout. Read it on a computer, tablet or phone, or print it at home or at a print shop. Nothing is shipped.
After you pay, you'll get an email with a download button. Click it and the book opens. If anything goes wrong, write to support@captainwaltsguide.com and we'll help — or we can send it to a family member's email.
Every recipe and processing time follows the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015) and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The source link is printed on each recipe page. If NCHFP ever updates a recommendation, follow theirs.
Yes — and the book covers it. Every recipe has a column for your altitude, for both water-bath and pressure canning.
Only for low-acid foods: vegetables, beans, meat, stock and soup. Fruit, jam, pickles and acidified tomatoes need only a boiling-water canner. The book explains which is which.
Yes. You get both editions for the one price.
No. You pay once ($37) and the book is yours to keep.
Peg Halvorsen is the narrator of our YouTube channel and this book — an AI-presented character. Her stories make the lessons stick; the safety guidance comes from the USDA and NCHFP sources printed in the book.
One batch, done right, written in the log, labeled on the shelf. Then the next one.
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