Book tour: segment 7!

Oregon is where it’s at.

Mountains (and volcanoes) galore, the Columbia River gorge, the Willamette Valley, the Pacific coast. Ah! Descending upon Portland OR always takes my breath away.

Oregon is where Linda Ziedrich lives, too. Earlier this year, Linda took the time to review my manuscript (and blurb my book!) before we went to print. A few weeks ago I was writing out a mailing label to send her a copy of the finished product and realized we’d be driving near her home en route from Portland to San Francisco during the first portion of my west coast book tour. (I’ll recap Portland events next week, since I’m returning to Portland for the PDXSwappers event this Friday.)

She invited us to stop in for tea…

which turned into a garden tour…

(Yes, she is that awesome, solar panels. They sell energy back to the grid during the sunny months.)

And, of course, I asked for a peek at her larder!

Ah-maaazing…

Wandering around her fruit- and vegetable-filled estate then turned into a homegrown lunch. Lucky us!

It was such a delightful afternoon, and, what’s more, it was an honor to meet in real life such an inspiring author and all-around resourceful woman. Her years of research and testing have made such an impression on so many people, myself included.

As a thank you for keeping track of my travels, and for trying new things (having a go at those beginner-friendly, home food-preservation projects in Chapter 9 of my book), I’m pleased to announce a giveaway made possible by Linda’s publisher, Harvard Common Press. Linda’s Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves and Joy of Pickling books are the first books I consult when I have any amount of local produce. I gave away her books last spring; and now, on the second day of summer, HCP has allowed me to offer up the set of both books to two lucky readers. Yes, you get the Pickles and Jams book together!

To enter: Post a comment below describing who or what has inspired you to try preserving food at home. Books, people and/or other reasons all accepted and welcome! Be sure to leave your email address in the specified box on the comment form (so I can contact you if you win). Random.org will select my two winners after entries close at midnight on July 5, 2011.

To close this up, four hours after eating a delicious lunch with Linda and her lovely daughter, Rebecca, we were back on our way, heading west to the coast and then south to eventually stay the night in Crescent City, CA. Stay tuned for Redwoods detouring and California book party adventures in the next tour post.

(Disclosure: I’m doing this giveaway purely because I think Linda’s books are the bees knees, and a great addition to any experience-level preserver’s library. I actually purchased my own copies of the Joy’s with my own money.)