June 2017 Cookbooks

Full Moon Suppers at Salt Water Farm by Annemarie Ahern

When Annemarie Ahearn was 18 her parents fulfilled a lifelong dream when they bought a run-down farm on the coast of Maine. At first Annemarie thought her parents were crazy, but soon she came to love the small town where they spent their summers on the farm. Soon she decided to live there full time and start a farm and cooking school on her parent's farm. Soon she was hosting full moon suppers on the full moon of each month sourcing local and seasonal ingredients. This book is a collection of recipes from those monthly dinners. Each chapter describes that month's full moon and what food/ingredients are in season at that time before the recipes. While I love the premise of the book and what Annemarie did with her parent's farm, there just weren't a lot of recipes I wanted to try. But, it's still a unique cookbook with lots of beautiful photographs of the food and the farm.

Pecans by Kathleen Purvis

I love the Savor the South cookbooks and somehow I had missed this one even though I think it was the first in the series. I haven't always loved nuts, but in the last few years I have come to really like pecans so I decided to check out this book. Purvis gives a great introduction with the history of pecans in the South, as well as her personal history with pecans. The book is ordered like many cookbooks with sections for appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts. Whether you pronounce them "pee-cans" or "pah-cahns" pecans are a definitive Southern food. There were definitely a few recipes I'd like to try.

Corn by Tema Flanagan

This is one of the newest Savor the South cookbooks and I might end up buying this one! Corn is such a versatile ingredient and definitely a signature food of the South. Flanagan gives a great introduction with the history of corn and how it is used in Southern cooking. She also gives some tips on how to source the best quality corn and corn products. Then she organizes the recipes by the type of corn used - on and off the cob, dried and ground, nixtamalized and popped, and mashed and fermented. It is a unique way to organize a cookbook, but really works to show just how versatile and prolific corn is for Southern cooking. There are LOTS of recipes I'd like to try in this one!

Fruit by Nancie McDermott

This is one of the newest Savor the South cookbooks. I liked that McDermott didn't just focus on one fruit, but rather on 12 fruits that are either native to the South (Mayhaws, Pawpaws) or have become symbolic of Southern food (Watermelon, Figs). Each fruit gets its own small introduction about it's history and place in Southern cuisine followed by a few recipes. Overall, I liked how the book was put together, but there weren't a ton of recipes I wanted to try.