Simply in Season Expanded Edition (World Community Cookbook) [Paperback]

Cathleen Hockman-Wert (Author), Mary Beth Lind (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0836194942 | ISBN-13: 978-0836194944 | Edition: 2nd Expanded Edition

From the Preface:

First published in 2005, Simply in Season is a community cookbook about good food: foods that are fresh, nutritious, tasty, and in rhythm with the seasons. This Expanded Edition adds seventeen new recipes to more than three hundred in the 2005 edition.

Simply in Season explores the complex web of factors that brings food to our plates. Before the advent of modern transportation and storage systems, eating local food was the norm as it still is in much of the world. Within our memories we see our parents and grandparents with hands full of fruits and vegetables from their gardens or gardens nearby. Eggs, milk, and meat also came from local sources.

Spring explores the environmental impact of modern agriculture. Summer, Autumn, and Winter follow with thoughts on health, time, and the economic factors of food. The final recipe chapter, All Seasons, presents a vital overview of food production and food security issues, bringing us full circle in our understanding of the meaning and place of food in our lives.

Simply in Season also remains a cookbook filled with delicious recipes. Part of the fun of cooking with the seasons is learning to use what s locally available, and that often means taking recipes as starting points: a theme on which to playfully improvise rather than a blueprint to follow precisely.

Whether you have long cherished local food or are new to these ideas, we hope you are encouraged in your journey with food choices. The journey is long and continuous, with innumerable points of entry. None of us has arrived, and each of us will have to decide what choices are right for our own circumstances. But it is a delight to share the stories and recipes of fellow travelers who love good food.

Welcome! And enjoy!
Mary Beth Lind, Cathleen Hockman-Wert, authors

Editorial Reviews

Review

A gorgeous full-color cookbook with pages you ll be turning slowly, reading and absorbing as you go. . . . This cookbook makes an occasion out of the season itself. . . In many ways, this cookbook is also a theology of food. It reminds us with every page the meaning and place of food in our lives.
--Farmers Independent Weekly

An essential kitchen companion for all of us who love to get our food from our own backyard, local CSA or farmers market--and always need new ideas. This is a book I will turn to over and over again. They've put the recipes in the most organized, easy-to-use cookbook I've seen.
--Catherine Walthers, author of Raising the Salad Bar and Greens, Glorious Greens

I love this cookbook. It not only contains a diverse variety of recipes, but it is chock-full of information about using fresh, local, and seasonal foods. Highly recommended!
--B. Smith, lifestyle expert, cookbook author and entrepreneur

About the Author

Mary Beth Lind is a registered dietitian and nutritional consultant. She and her husband, Lester, are market gardeners in West Virginia: they grow enough fruits and vegetables for their own year-round needs as well as surplus to sell at local farmers' markets. They are also the founders of Mountain Retreat, a Christian retreat center that has as its mission discovering the connection between the spiritual and the organic sources of life.
Mary Beth, a member of Philippi Mennonite Church, grew up eating local seasonal foods in the mountains of West Virginia. Her mother loved gardening and her father, a country doctor, was occasionally paid in produce. Mary Beth graduated from Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, with a degree in home economics, and from Oregon State University with a degree in foods and nutrition. She returned to EMU briefly to teach nutrition.
Mary Beth wrote the foreword for the 25-year anniversary edition of More-with-Less Cookbook. With her sister, Sarah E. Myers, she has also written Recipes from the Old Mill: Baking with Whole Grains.
Food is a part of my spirituality, Mary Beth says. My garden and kitchen are the places where I am most aware of God's mysterious presence, as well as the places where I flesh out my beliefs and values. For me there is a connection between what I eat and how I pray.

Cathleen Hockman-Wert has served as editor for Mennonite Women USA since 1997. In that role, she founded Timbrel, a magazine by Mennonite women in Canada and the United States. She previously served as assistant editor of Gospel Herald, a weekly magazine of the Mennonite Church.
An Oregon native, Cathleen graduated from Goshen College in Indiana and later earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. She is a member of Corvallis Mennonite Fellowship and an avid farmers' market shopper.
When I was young, my mother worked fulltime yet always kept us stocked with homemade bread from MCC's first cookbook, More-with-Less. But my journey with local food entered a new level in the 1990s as my husband Dave and I began learning more about environmental issues, Cathleen says. We were discovering the many ways in which our lifestyle choices choices which we are privileged to have as middle-class North Americans affect God's creation and other people.
We gradually became more and more committed to seeking out local, sustainably grown foods. Sometimes this has meant paying more; making that adjustment, for two people ingrained with the frugality ethic, hasn't always been easy. Sometimes we chant a little mantra: 'Cheaper is not always better.' But by now, buying local foods is all joy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Herald Press; 2nd Expanded Edition edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0836194942
• ISBN-13: 978-0836194944
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Occasions > Seasonal
  • #95 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Entertaining

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book! November 19, 2009

By N. Swanson

Format:Spiral-bound

I love this book in so many ways. The recipes are not only organized by season, but the outside page boarder color matches the index color of the section (green - spring, red - summer, etc). If I want a recipe for something that just came out of my garden in July, I can flip the red edged pages and be pretty sure that my veggie in in there. The first page in each section contains a listing of all the recipes, and the side border of the pages has all of the produce listed that may be in that section with the items for the recipe page listed in black and the others (not on that page) grayed out. I think the thing I love most about this book's format is that each ingredient is listed with the directions for that item immediately following. The next item (or set of items) is then listed with those directions following, etc... I don't have to look up and down several times while making my dish to get the job done. Oh, and the recipes are wonderful! I highly recommend this book.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite cookbook! January 21, 2010

By Holly Yaryan Hall

Format:Spiral-bound|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love the simple goodness of this kitchen companion - easy ingredients, straightforward recipes, nutritious emphasis and delicious food. The wholistic outlook makes this more than just an excellent collection of recipes. Simply in Season is also a guide to intentional, sustainable eating.

After replacing my well-used original copy, I was delighted to find an expanded new edition. I like the smaller size and spiral binding that allows it to lay flat without taking up too much counter space. Some other features I like include the general fruit and vegetable guide, seasonal organization and key ingredients listed along the sides for quick reference. The comprehensive index is fantastic. For example, if I look up sweet peppers, it lists summer garden ratatouille and fajitas in addition to stuffed peppers and over 40 other recipes - it goes beyond just the main ingredient or recipe title. When trying to decide what to make with what I already have, this is always the first place I look.

Many of the main dishes are vegetarian, and there are also plenty of recipes with meat - I appreciate the variety. As a side note, if you want to try growing some of your own veggies, I would recommend Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!! November 14, 2009

By Maggie M.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This cookbook was recommended to me by a friend, and I have to say, I love it. This cookbook is really fun to flip through, and it makes me want to cook up a storm. I've tried a bunch of recipes, and not a single one has disappointed. It has a really interesting organizational format (by seasons). Lots of healthy but yummy recipes, and you really can't beat the price. I am giving some as Christmas gifts this year.