Customer Reviews

Hollyhocks & Radishes: Mrs. Chard's Almanac Cookbook

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Every recipe that I have made from this book is delicious and has received rave reviews from my family. The recipes are easy to follow and use common ingredients, but are quite unique and creative. The format of the book is delightful with its emphasis on family, friends, and fresh ingredients from the garden.

The minute I started reading this cookbook it instantly became my favorite! It is full of the best recipies...practical ones that use the freshest ingredients. It is set up so that you can create favorites for each season using what is most readily available. Along with the recipies is a delightful story that is so heartfelt it brought tears to my ears many times. I intend to buy many more copies as gifts.

This is my FAVORITE cookbook - the recipes are delicious, and the narratives add so much. Good for cooking with in the kitchen, or easy-chair reading! And it also makes a wonderful gift.

This cookbook is wonderfully written and a pleasure to just read. But the best part are the terrific recipes, a wide variety of delicious and simple dishes. I've given it as shower and birthday gifts many times!!

Hollyhocks & Radishes is a delightful journal that originated with Judith Chard's Summer roadside vegetable stand in the Upper Pennisula of Michingan. Not only were fresh-grown vegetables available, but also the delicious recipes that could be created with them. Soon customers became friends corresponding with their own recipes and anecdotes. The book is illustrated with handwritten letters and drawings along with Mrs. Chard's wisdom and advice about the season's, birds, flowers, and, of course, her recipes. It's a great book to read on a cold winter's day when you're longing for Summer. Out of our collection of probably 100 cookbooks, this is our favorite. It's always my gift for a Bride-to-Be.

If you only have one cookbook in your kitchen, this should be it! Filled with lovely illustrations and unique stories, it also contains some of the best recipes I've ever tried. The best part is that they always turn out! Practically foolproof, guaranteed by the worst breadmaker ever who now makes fabulous bread.

I absolutely adore this book--not only as a cookbook, but as good basic reading material! It is full of delightful stories, quotes, helpful hints, etc....The recipes are very straight forward, and call for loads of fresh produce, which makes for healthier eating. Granted, some of the recipes are a bit 'far out' for me, but seeing as how I am a native Georgian, it is only natural that foods from 'up north' be a little odd for me. But, I try them none-the-less--this book is a favorite of mine!!! Don't put it on a shelf--leave it out on the coffee table!

For many years, I collected regional cookbooks. Eventually, I ran out of space, but if I could only keep one cookbook, "Hollyhocks and Radishes," without a doubt, would be the one to save.

I bought my copy at a wonderful local bookshop in St. Ignace Michigan, which is just across the water from Mackinac Island. The title intrigued me, along with the sub-head "Mrs. Chard's Almanac." All I can say is we each need a little Mrs. Chard in our lives.

Her delightful correspondance with author Bonnie Stewart Mickelson opens each chapter in the cookbook. The notes contain quaint reminders of life in northern Michigan surrounded by the bounty of a roadside market.

Judy Chard's love of fresh vegetables is evident in the list of ingredients filling the pages of my well-worn and well-loved copy, which was part of the first printing in 1989.

My own hand-scribbled annotations reflect how my husband and daughters reacted to a new dish, such as a simple Roast Chicken with Herbs, when I wrote "Fantastic! The garlic is mild, along with the seasoning, and it makes great leftovers" or (my personal favorite) Swedish Pot Roast, which my family deemed "Great! Rich and flavorful."

My friend had this book in her collection of cookbooks, so I had the opportunity to go through it before buying. It was one I had to own for my shelves. I haven't yet tried everrything in it, but working my way through is all the fun. You won't be dissappointed.

When you do buy it, put your name inside with the date, then spaces below yours for those who it will be handed down to. You'll want this to be one that stays in the family for years to come.



Enjoy.



ZC

I lent out my copy years ago and never got it back. I've given it as a gift many times and finally decided to replace my own lost copy. Easy and delicious recipes with REAL everyday foods. No low fat desserts but a splurge now and then from that section is well worth it. LOVE THIS BOOK.Hollyhocks & Radishes: Mrs. Chard's Almanac Cookbook