10 Good Reads from 2009

Now that the days are short, and the holidays have come and gone, we have a little more 'indoor' time on our hands. Here at Buy Fresh Buy Local South Central PA, we think there's no better way to spend a cold January day than curled up with a hot cup of tea and a good book!

In case you were too busy this year gardening or cooking or just enjoying the sunshine to keep up with the latest in food lit, we thought we'd make a list of 10 notable local food books of 2009. Whether you're planning your next food project, or just want to tag along on someone else's adventure, we think there's something here for everyone.

Cookbooks

Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express: 404 inspired seasonal dishes you can make in 20 minutes or less - Mark Bittman

The author of the New York Times column "The Minimalist" and the bestselling "How to Cook Everything" has done it again, this time with 101 tasty recipes for each season that make the most of fresh ingredients. Perfect for weeknight dinners.

The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good life - Sam Beall & Molly O'Neill

A coffee table book so luscious you could eat it. Of course you could actually make the recipes, or you could just daydream about visiting the Blackberry Inn in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, where the food is always farm to table fresh, artisanal and delicious.

Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods - Eugenia Bone

If you're thinking of trying out some canning this summer, or you're wondering what to do when you have just a little extra produce from the market or a farmshare, this is a great place to start. With 30 small-batch preserve recipes and 90 recipes for using those preserves.

The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits - Linda Ziedrich

If you have a little experience under your belt, you might want to dive into this collection celebrating the sweeter side of life All recipes made without commercial pectin or other artificial ingredients.

Market Fresh Mixology - Bridget Albert & Mary Barvanco

It was only a matter of time, right? The local food movement has caught up to the world of mixology, and now you can fix yourself a seasonal cocktail while you read, if a cup of tea's not your thing!

Food Lit

The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food - Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal - Mark Kurlansky

The title pretty much says it all. Kurlansky got his information from the files of a never-completed WPA project from the 1930s that set out to document America's foodways.

Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager - Langdon Cook

Set in the Pacific Northwest, and structured around the seasons, the book follows Cook's adventures as he tries to catch, track and gather wild foods from the land and sea around his home.

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer - Novella Carpenter

A woman chronicles her efforts to turn a vacant lot in Oakland, Ca. into a thriving urban farm, complete with veggies, bees, rabbits, pigs, you name it!

Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life - Jenna Woginrich

A yound city-dweller decides to become more self-sufficient, and writes about her successes and disappointments as she learns to grow her own food, make her own clothes, and live a simpler life. With how-to tips.

The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! - Carleen Madigan

A wide-ranging how-to guide to producing your own food, from gardening and raising livestock to cooking, canning, curing, brewing, tapping maple trees and making your own cheese and yoghurt.

So there you go! Ten good reads to keep the local food fires burning this winter. Do you have a book to recommend? We'd love to hear about it! Let us know by commenting on this post.