Simply in Season

Simply in Season: Recipes that celebrate fresh, local foods in the spirit of More-with-less, by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert is one of those books I'm finding indispensable right now with the garden coming on stream. The book is divided by season, by recipe type, and provides a list of whichever produce you happen to have tons of highlighted in a list down the outside of each page. The book is commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee "to promote the understanding of how the food choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those who produce food." The MCC has a website about the book: http://www.worldcommunitycookbook.org/ which includes a children's cookbook, and recipes. The book also offers 'spiritual nourishment' in the form of anecdotes, food politics, blessings, quotes from the recipe providers, religious text, and poetry. I am currently using the cherries, berries, cilantro, green beans, kohlrabi, peppers, and summer squash (zucchini !) recipes. This is not a vegetarian cookbook-but most recipes provide a veg. alternative, or you can create your own. I am always happy to find recipes using zucchini. Simply in Season is a community cookbook about good food, and promoting fresh, local foods~ this is good for us, and for the earth we share.