Canning: In Pursuit of the Perfect Pickle

'Tis now the season for canning: As the bounty of summer fruits and veggies dwindles, food-bloggers are busy swapping recipes and tips for preserving or pickling the last of their tomatoes, berries and drupes. Modern-day pickling recipes often go beyond using the traditional dill and vinegar solution; they include aromatics like lime or ginger and spice things up by adding copious amounts of jalapeno pepper. Canners are also experimenting with mixing subject and medium — pickled grapes anyone? Food writer Eugenia Bone, author of the upcoming cookbook Urban Preservation, even cans her own tuna, which she describes as "sumptuous," a word that can rarely be used to describe the chunk-white albacore you find on supermarket shelves.