Growing Roots and Breaking Bread in the Northern Heartland
by Beth Dooley
Books and Food go together well. In fact, they are two of my favorite things so I was thrilled to get a chance to read this book. I adored, In Winter's Kitchen and read it slowly, one chapter at a time, to savor it. Each chapter is about a particular food that thrives in the Midwest, like apples, wheat, potatoes, cranberries, corn, wild rice, turkey and many more. Beth writes about her family and meets with local farmers at the farmers market and even meets them at their farms. She talks about conventional food and organic and details the path from farm to table. Beth connects our love of food with our love of family and love of the land. She reminded me that buying food is making a choice for a better world and a healthy body which is very important to me since I have a food allergy to corn and most canned, packaged store bought food contains some form of corn. So I have to make most of my families meals from scratch everyday. In Winter's Kitchen has taught me so much about the food I eat and the companies I buy from.
In Winter's Kitchen is part memoir, part food history and part midwest guidebook with really good recipes tucked inside. There is one recipe per food chapter so for example the Apples chapter has a recipe for applesauce, which I made and it was delicious. This is the first time I made homemade applesauce and it was super easy and super good. I haven't eaten applesauce in years. Here is a picture.
This is a great book to read this winter. Read it and then make some great food.
In Winter's Kitchen was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in 2016.
Here are some links to help further your reading experience.
Visit Beth at her website where you will find lots of information and delicious recipes
http://www.bethdooleyskitchen.com/
Listen to Beth on the Splendid Table podcast.
https://www.splendidtable.org/story/beth-dooley-on-the-joy-of-cooking-and-the-future-of-wheat
Gardens, Kitchens and the Great Midwest. U of MN episode of Read This Book features Beth Dooley and another of my favorite authors Ryan Stradal.
https://youtu.be/_pLrg10D-Lc
Listen to this story from MPR which includes two recipes from the book.
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/11/18/books-appetites-beth-dooley
An awesome book review from Heavy Table
http://heavytable.com/in-winters-kitchen-by-beth-dooley/
