175 Ways to Maximize Your Harvest

The first day I began reaping the benefits of my garden, I was ecstatic. It had been a long time since I had been able to indulge in fresh, hand-raised produce. The tomatoes were juicier and had a robust flavor, the squash was to die for, and the mellow taste of the cabbage was wonderful after the bitter fare stocked in the grocery stores that I'd had to make do with.

I eagerly harvested something for dinner and supper each day, and after about two weeks, the love affair I had with my garden died. The love lost didn't go out with a bang... it slunk away in a whimper. And it was really all my fault. I mean, just how many ways can you cook squash? Each day I filled up about three baskets with the stuff and other vegetables as well. There were the tomatoes and the green beans and the wax beans...

Okay, I confess... I'm totally unimaginative when it comes to the kitchen. I look at all my other friends who like to cook and shop and do all those womanly things and I seriously have to wonder...

What is wrong with me?

I'm terribly impatient when it comes to cooking. I want to get it in a pan, cook it, slap it on the table, and eat. All those fancy sauces drizzled over the meat and these little green sprigs of garnish gracing the tops of the vegetables ... that's just not me. I'm more of a meat-and-potatoes steakhouse type of girl. Just keep it simple and I'm happy.

But after two weeks of simply the same vegetables over and over, I was getting impatient with the simple fare as well! I'm lucky that my husband is content to eat whatever I put in front of him without too much complaint, but after about two weeks of my moaning and groaning, even he had reached his limit... with me.

Knowing my penchant for books and all things in print, I knew I had driven him half nuts with my whining when he came to me one evening, my purse and car keys in hand. He handed them to me and pushed me to the front door.

"Go to the bookstore... oh my god, I can't believe I'm telling you to do this... go to the bookstore, go straight to the cookbook department, and find a cookbook that you like, something that will tell you a hundred different ways to cook squash, cabbage, green beans, whatever. If you don't, so help me I'm sticking a pacifier in your mouth."

Appropriately chagrined, I did as he suggested. And although I had not planned it this way, the whole incident did give me ideas for ways to get approval for future bookstore trips. But he doesn't need to know that... and you don't need to tell him!

I got to the bookstore and began meandering through the selection. And there it was... the books upon books with fancy sauces and green leaves floating in soup. Couldn't they just make a simple book for simple folks like me?

And then I spotted it... shoved to the side, partially covered with other books, this treasure trove of information titled Serving Up The Harvest. And it is so much more than just a recipe book.

This book is not only full of recipes (175 of them!), it gives great hints and tips as well. For instance, in the section on spinach, it tells about growing and harvesting it, compares pounds of spinach to final cooked volume, tells you how long to cook it, and different suggestions on getting it from seed to table.

In the beginning of the book it talks about pantry staples, how to make different vinegars, pastry, chips, croutons, etc. And for my particular nemesis, squash? It has given me all kinds of ideas, such as squash pizza, zucchini biscuits, frittatas, and a bunch of different ways to keep me from melting down over summer squash sameness.

And now the good folks at Solutions From Science have added Serving Up The Harvest to their back-to-basics library and I couldn't be more thrilled for our readers. From spring's first peas and new potato salad to autumn's sweet caramelized winter squash and onion pizza, serving up the harvest has never been so delicious and so easy.

If it can make me happy to be back in the kitchen, then it's worth every penny! Click here to order your copy today.

Sincerely,
Hanne Moon
Editor, Off the Grid News