Farmers' Market and CSA season has finally started here in the Philadelphia area. The beginning signs of vegetal abundance and warmer weather has me delighted. Where I was once, just recently, totally uninspired by food and cooking, I am now itching to spend every free minute in my kitchen. Ivy Manning's new book, The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally has played a large role in this resurgence in food energy, as her books is filled to bursting with gorgeous pictures and accessible recipes. In the past, I have often found that when I'm presented with glossy, beautifully bound cookbooks, I never want to actually cook out of them, because I'm afraid that I will ruin them with a single trip into the kitchen. However, I've had no such hesitations with this book, despite its beauty, because the recipes are just so appealing.
Manning has arranged her recipes by season and begins the book with Spring. Tucked in between each of the section title pages and the recipes is a two-page spread entitled Meet the Producers. In each of these four essays, Manning takes her readers out to the farms, homes and markets of the people who grow, raise and make the foods she buys. It is a lovely addition to the cookbook, as it builds an emotional connection between the reader and the food.
I would definitely recommend this cookbook for those of you who are excited to shop at Farmers' Markets this summer or who have joined a CSA, as it offers lots of good inspiration.
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