Customer Reviews

A Midwest Gardener's Cookbook

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This is possibly one of the best kept secrets on cooking out of your garden. The recipes are delicious and most of the ingredients are already in your kitchen. The seasonal format simplfies finding a recipe (and there is an alphabetical listing included also). The author has included throughout the book priceless pieces of history and wonderful bits of humor. "Mrs. Maendl's Dill Pickles" is a recipe that is "as much fun to read" as the pickles "good to eat"! When people ask me about them, I HAVE to tell them I made them exactly as the recipe states. Read it and you'll understand! Marian Towne has come up with the perfect solutions for all those fresh fruits and veggies we painstakingly grow. I even managed to use up a considerable amount of zucchini without my children noticing! Even if you are not a gardener, you'll want to run to the next Farmer's Market after seeing this book.

This afternoon I checked A Midwest Gardener's Cookbook by Marian K. Towne out from the local library. I will most definetly be adding it to my personal library. In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I have not yet used any of the recipes but I am completely charmed by the book after spending a over 90 minutes exploring the book.

The 294 page book is divided into four sections with one for each season. Each section focuses on commonly grown as well as less common and wild ingredients which reach their peak during that specific season. The inclusion of the less common and wild foods is one of the many ways that the book appeals to me.

Spring focuses on asparagus, chard, chives, dandelions, lettuce, mint, mulberries, parsley, peapods, peas, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, strawberries and violets.

Summer focuses on basil, beans, beet greens, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, chokecherries, collards, corn, cucumbers, currants, daikon radish, daylilies, dill, eggplant, elderberries, gooseberries, grape leaves, ground cherries, kohlrabi, mesclun, mustard greens, nasturtiums, okra, peaches, raspberries, summer savory, summer squash, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini

Autumn focuses on apples, beets, broccoflower, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, garlic, grapes, horseradish, kiwi fruit, lima beans, onions, pawpaws, pears, peppers, persimmons, plums, popcorn, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes (green), turnips, winter squash, yams (sweet potatoes).

Winter focuses on herbs that can be grown in pots (marjoram, oregano, rose geranium, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme), kale, leeks, maple syrup, parsnips, rutabagas, soybeans, sprouts, and watercress.

The entry for individual items generally begins with a few paragraphs of general information (e.g., nutritional value, uses, and preparation) and some also include personal anecdotes and memories related to the item. The recipes include both the basics (e.g., steaming asparagus in the microwave) to the innovative (e.g., asparagus shortcake). The entries for a given item often wrap up with a list of additional ideas for use. Some items such as parsley offer suggestions for preserving a surplus. The book's charm is further spiced by the illustrations provided by Ellen Walsh. As a final selling point, the book includes an exhaustive index and a modest list of resources ranging from books to seeds to kitchen equipment.

I received this as a gift over a year ago, and it became my go-to source last summer whenever my garden or CSA share provided more of something than I could handle. The recipes are quick, simple, and delicious as-is; but they are also a solid foundation for experimentation. I've learned that in cooking from local & seasonal ingredients, I would rather have a simple recipe I can play with than a 20-ingredient scavenger hunt.

I made the asparagus soup for dinner last night, and my rhubarb custard pie should be coming out of the oven right about...now!

My aunt gave me this as a present. I have loved every recipe made from this book. Last night I made the Savory Sweet Potato Puff (as I am trying to cut down our sugar, I didn't want the traditional brown sugar/marshmallow sweet yams). It was delicious! I wanted to just put the whole casserole on my plate and eat only that! Last week we made Herbed Spinach Rice Bake and both my 2 year old and 5 year old ate it all up and didn't complain about leftovers the next day. Wonderful book. If you live (or have your heart) in the midwest and want some diffent yet not high brown complicated dishes, this is the book for you.

My order was early compared to the estimated delivery time and for a used book, was in very nice condition. No tears, marks, bends, missing pages, etc.