I just ate a book.
Well, I didn’t really eat it; it was more of a pleasurable chew on a good book.
Robin Mather’s book, “The Feast Nearby”, had been napping on my bedside pile for so long that I wondered if it had started to ripen. It is one of those books whose cover called to me in the gift shop at the Morton Arboretum. Actually, it called to me on several occasions until I finally gave in to temptation, figuring it had fewer calories than a bar of chocolate. (I can rationalize anything, especially a good looking book.) I plucked it up and brought it home, where it languished, as books often do. It even posed for a photo shoot once before.
After a very busy week, I was ready to slow down a bit and take a bite into Mather’s book, which I did in three delectable sittings.
The full title of Robin Mather’s book is “The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, eating locally (all on forty dollars a week). A mouthful. Just typing it makes me hungry.
Robin Mather’s book is about her personal journey of discovery after simultaneously losing her job as a food reporter for the Chicago Tribune during the cutbacks a few years ago and her husband asking for a divorce. A native of Michigan, she returns to their small cabin on Stewart Lake in Western Michigan, with Boon, her dog, and Pippin her parrot, determined to live locally on $40 a week, which she chronicles engagingly in her essays.
“The Feast Nearby” is just that; a book filled with the nourishment close at hand. It is of personal stories about fireflies and cheese, chooks and coffee production, with insightful information on eating locally, canning and preserving, bartering and knitting. Robin Mather writes in a humorous, friendly, conversational style; one that invites the reader in for a cup of coffee whose beans were roasted in her own kitchen, laced with real cream that she has skimmed from the top of milk. It is not preachy, nor did it leave me intoning mea culpa over what I purchase or eat. Instead, “The Feast Nearby” invited me, and will you as well, to explore the foods and the services that are closest to us and our tables.
This book is a written invitation to become a locavore.
The bonus? Dozens of recipes for real strawberry shortcake, homemade yogurt and cottage cheese, canning techniques, hunting for morels and finding the best bramble patches. Why, there is even a recipe for knitting a snug cap, which Mather does for Wally, a friendly neighbor who buzzes about the lake helping his neighbors, except in winter when he is busy ice fishing, hence the newly knit hat.
To add to the pleasure of easy, nutritious, recipes with what one has on hand (or in pantry), there is a wonderful conversion chart in the back. I now have an easy find, right where my bookmark is, to convert the recipes of my blogging friends from around the world who tempt me with their delectables.
To say that “The Feast Nearby” is a gentle read would only be half the reason to open this book. It is also a cookbook that follows the midwestern seasons. One does not need to live in the midwest, however, to know the value and pleasure of eating what is growing nearby and of putting up, away, or by for the lean months – or how gazpacho really is better for the palate and the body on simmering, hot days.
A gentle read. A user-friendly cookbook. A dash of humor and a dusting of hope. What more can be had from “The Feast Nearby”? Well, each chapter has whimsical titles, such as On snapping turtles and strawberries or On cicadas, sweet corn, and the pleasure of a job well done. There are locals with whom Mather barters with – and befriends – and reasons for buying Jiffy Cake mixes; even though she bakes from scratch and the flour is harvested elsewhere. She buys the mixes because they are manufactured in a nearby town, providing jobs for many, which has prompted me to check labels and seek products that are manufactured closer to me.
My friends, you will enjoy this book.
While I gorged myself on its pages in just three days, don’t be afraid to taste it for yourself, for it is a worthy grazing feast that can be picked up at any chapter and read with ease. When I get up from my easy chair, I will find a proper spot in my cooking queue for “The Feast Nearby”, sandwiched among my favorite ladies; Gladys Taber and Ina Garten, Betty Crocker’s “Kitchen Gardens” illustrated by Tasha Tudor and my 43-year-old dog-eared, gravy stained, batter spattered copy of the “Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook”.
Oh, Penny! ‘The Feast Nearby’ sounds like a treasure of a book. Your review is so endearing and utterly charming. I do hope the author has a chance to see it! Just wondering if you have any Susan Branch cookbooks in your cooking queue? They would keep perfect company with Gladys, Tasha, Ina,… and now Robin. ♡
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I think you would enjoy this book, Dawn, knowing we share some favorite cooks/authors/illustrators. I do have a few Susan Branch books, especially an older Christmas one which comes out with my box of holiday books every December and fills me with inspiration. I look forward to her blog posts, as well. I keep hoping to find her books in antique/used bookstores. No luck. Her followers seem to hold on tight. I don’t blame them.
Now, if only this snow would melt . . . 🙂
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Thank you for sharing this boos with us! I can’t wait to read it!
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You are very welcome, Roz. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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I am going to have to get this book. It sounds right up my alley, or country road. 🙂
I am a fan of both Gladys and Ina. Despite Ina’s surroundings, she cooks simply, but beautifully and I love her soft-voiced manner. I’m afraid cooking sows have become my weakness.
Thanks for the post. I’m reminded how much I love this style of writing.
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Oh, Teresa, I was thinking of you as I read this book. There are many elements in it that I think you would relate to and enjoy.
There are some very simple illustrations (woodcuts?) that remind me of Gladys and her recipes are simple, practical and local, much like Ina. There are even a few of her neighbors that you just might “know”. Wally is one, and I then there is another, whose name escapes me at the moment, who joins in making hard cider.
There is a chapter that might make you appreciate bacon (saw your return comment). 🙂
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cooking sows? never been a big fan of pork , cooking shows. :))
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What a lovely review Penny. I just want to go and buy the book. Oh, and I love Ina’s cookbooks. I will pass this on to a blogger friend who is looking for the simple life. Thank you and I hope the sun and warmer weather will melt all your snow . 🌟🌟🌟
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Thank you, Gerlinde.
I love Ina, too. She never disappoints me with her recipes or her style.
I hope your blogger friend finds this as enjoyable and informative as I have. While it is specific to Michigan, it applies to anywhere one may live. I think of you on the west coast, my blogging friends “down under”, those across the big pond . . .
You are most welcome. The sun is out and warmer temps on the way.
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I was tempted when you mentioned this book before but passed when I realized it wouldn’t be a very good choice for my Kindle (and if I buy it in hardcover, it will inevitably be on the coast where we are not… like all my other cookbooks and reference books.) . Maybe I’ll buy it for my daughter after we get back to Oregon (and pre-read it before gifting ).
It was so interesting what she said about Jiffy mixes — by that alone I know that this wouldn’t be a preachy one-way only book.
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Sallie, I think you can get this on Kindle now, so, you might want to check it out, though I think it would be a great gift. I really am thrilled that this turned out to be even better than I thought it would be.
I didn’t find it preachy at all, but, did come home with a box of Jiffy cornbread mix. 🙂
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Dear Penny, well, once again, dear friend, you’ve introduced me to a book I can’t resist. I’m leaving your blog and going to the library website to find this book. And if it speaks to me as gently as it did to you–and I trust it will–then I’ll be purchasing it to have in my kitchen! Peace.
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So nice to see your name appear, Dee. I hope you are doing well.
I hope you can find this at your library, or ask them to add it to their inventory. I do hope you will find it as wonderful as I did. Peace to you as well, dear Dee.
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Sounds good! Reminds me of Eat Pray Love in a way or Under the Tuscan Sun in a way, since this is a journey of discovery. I’ll recommend this to a friend of mine who is really into natural foods.
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I hope you friend enjoys it as much as I did, L. Marie, and perhaps shares part of her bounty. It is a little like both books. 🙂
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A treasure of a book. t sounds just the ticket for those of us who buy, shop, make, preserve, cook our own food and spend time researching its provenance.
I am almost sorry I live on a different continent.
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I think that part of the beauty of this book is that, though it is specific to the upper midwest, the ideals and intent can be translated into any lifestyle. You are already doing what the author is there, in the shadow of the castle. Thanks for commenting today, Friko.
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This is my kind of cookbook if it sent you to Jiffy cornbread, a staple of Southern kitchens for emergencies calling for cornbread when no dreaded bacon drippings are available for the Real thing. It’s too sweet for my taste but it is still on hand. The Jiffy cake mixes are fast and foolproof.
I will put this on my wish list and look forward to it. Thanks for the recommendation. You haven’t led me astray yet!
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I always try to keep a box or two on hand, Marilyn; just in case . . . They come in handy. I used to make corn pancakes from the cornbread mix some mornings when the girls were little. Did you make the treat using the cake mix, pie filling or jam, and a streusel top? Ever since reading about Jiffy, I’ve had a taste for that.
I think you would enjoy this, and, without spoiling anything, a third pet joins the author. One you will love.
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Don’t know about the treat using the cake mix, but would love to have the recipe. I am interested in that third pet.
I just finished a cookbook you might like by Melissa Gilbert, My Prairie Cookbook, and was pleasantly surprised by her conversational writing skill and professional photographs. There is a lot of info about the Little House series. You may know that the Willie Oleson character is her brother.
I am trying to cease my overuse of exclamation points but it seems to really cramp my style. Argh.
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Those little boxes of Jiffy cake mix has the easiest recipes. 🙂
CHERRY CRISP
1 box Jiffy white cake mix
1 can cherry pie filling
1 stick butter
Open can of cherries, put in bottom of cake pan, spread evenly. Open Jiffy cake mix and sprinkle on top of cherries completely covering them. Put butter on stove or in microwave and melt the whole stick and pour over entire cake mix. You won’t have enough to cover all the cake mix but that’s okay. Put in oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
I didn’t know that Willie was Laura’s real brother. How did I miss that? I keep meaning to check out Melissa Gilbert’s cookbook, Marilyn. I need to remedy that. Liberate those exclamations ! ! ! ! ! ! The third pet is a male. 🙂
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Than you for this excellent book review Penny! I think you mentioned this book before and I planned on looking for it, now I’ll download the sample to my kindle so I don’t forget, although this sounds more like the sort of book I’d want to have in actual print. Anything that promotes the Slow Food Movement is great in my book! 🙂
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You are welcome, Janet. There is much to like about this book and that you might enjoy. Slow Food, eating and buying locally, sustainability . . . they all lead to better living and the care and management of our good earth. Enjoy some of today’s sunshine.
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This sounds like a really companionable book. Now I’ve learned a new word: ‘locavore’. I actually am one, but never had a word for it before. Thank you; I always learn something new from you, Penny.
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To one of my favorite locavores, thank you, Juliet. 🙂 You were one long before a word was coined to it.
The book is quite companionable, not only for the area I live in, but, all over, for the simple messages it tells.
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The Feast Nearby sounds like a fascinating as well as a challenging and useful book, Penny. It’s even made it across the Atlantic, so I’ll have to see how far my forthcoming Amazon voucher will stretch. 🙂
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Right you are on all counts, Perpetua. I’m surprised to learn it has crossed the big pond, which shows how universal the book is. I hope you will find it as enjoyable and useful as I did should you order it.
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