A Year at Catbird Cottage

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life

Author: Melina Hammer

Publisher: Ten Speed Press 

Release Date: 5.31.22

Publisher’s Summary 

100 recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes from the owner of the idyllic Catbird Cottage B&B in upstate New York.

At the foot of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge lies the hamlet of Accord, New York, dotted with orchards and farms, population 562. There, Melina Hammer welcomes guests from near and far to stay and eat at Catbird Cottage, a B&B run out of her charming home. Her eclectic table is set with meals that showcase stories and ingredients from her own garden, New York’s wild landscape, and her travels around the globe.

In her debut cookbook, Melina shares the beloved recipes from this special place, all presented seasonally just like the meals at Catbird Cottage. These recipes are organized by season, since the seasons dictate what’s on the Catbird Cottage table. Whether it’s Wild Salmon Gravlax, Scallop-Shiso Ceviche, Buttery Scrambled Eggs and Chanterelles, Sour Cherry Pie, or a fall-apart persimmon served with triple-cream cheese and freshly baked sourdough bread, Melina’s food is deeply satisfying and sustaining—and emphasizes cooking and living in a more connected and joyful way.

Melina also shares her foraging and preserving know-how, allowing readers to stock their pantries, cupboards, and freezers. But these recipes don’t require you be a fully-fledged homesteader, expert forager, or connoisseur of global flavor. The book takes the foundations of these sustainable practices and integrates them into an accessible kitchen vernacular of complete nourishment. The food of Catbird Cottage is community on a plate—grown, harvested, persevered, and presented with love—and shared with cherished companions.

My Review

I am fascinated by homesteading and was familiar with many of the practices growing up, but unlike the author who forages for lots of ingredients, my family only foraged for wild mushrooms. I found this cookbook very aspirational and focused on the true back-to-basics ways of gathering hyperlocal ingredients to incorporate into dishes. 

I want to praise the entire collection but I really can't stop fixating on a single recipe: Pickled Watermelon Rind. I tried pickled watermelon rind last summer while on vacation in Orlando and immediately became obsessed. I hunted high and low for where I could buy some when I got home and couldn't find it anywhere! I had everyone I knew looking for it. My friend found some at a farmer's market but then the lady put on her website that she was on vacation...indefinitely. That same friend then found some at one of our local grocery stores and now I've been shelling out $9/jar every 2 weeks. Now I'm so excited to try the Pickled Watermelon Rind recipe here and see how they turn out.