In Winter’s Kitchen
Beth Dooley arrived in Minnesota from her native New Jersey with preconceptions about the Midwestern food scene. Having learned to cook in her grandmother’s kitchen, shopping at farm stands and making preserves, she couldn’t help but wonder, “Do people here really eat swampy broccoli, iceberg lettuce, and fried chicken for lunch everyday?”
These assumptions quickly faded as she began to explore farmers’ markets and the burgeoning co-op scene in the Twin Cities, and eventually discovered a local food movement strong enough to survive the toughest winter. From the husband and wife who run one of the largest organic farms in the region to Native Americans harvesting wild rice, and from award-winning cheesemakers to Hmong immigrant farmers growing the best sweet potatoes in the country, a rich ecosystem of farmers, artisanal producers, and restaurateurs comes richly to life in this fascinating book. In Winter’s Kitchen “personalizes the path from farm to fork with heart and skill” (Wall Street Journal), demonstrating that even in a place with a short growing season, food grown locally and organically can be healthy, community-based, environmentally conscious, and—most of all—delicious.
Like this book? Sign up for occasional updates
Praise and Prizes
“Beth Dooley does much more than recycle familiar arguments for eating local; she personalizes the path from farm to fork with heart and skill. Unapologetically sentimental, deeply informative, and always practical, In Winter’s Kitchen is equal parts memoir, history and guidebook.”
“Beth Dooley is a dynamite cook and journalist. She’s the expert who is deep in the trenches with the farmers, the artisans, the hunters and the gatherers.”
“There’s little as personal as the food we eat, yet it’s also as political a subject as any. Beth Dooley explores the intersection in this book.”
“Beth Dooley has written the book we need. You don’t have to be from Minnesota to apply the wisdom of In Winter’s Kitchen to your own life, wherever it takes place.”
“A reflection on the ways we become at home in the world, by coming into deep relationship with our food, our farmers, our family, and the land. Beth Dooley’s warm inviting prose invites you to the kitchen table and reminds you of what we’re all really hungry for—connection.”
“[Dooley's] descriptions of food will make you hungry (even the lowly potato: 'delicate Colorado rose, buttery Yukon gold, nutty-tasting fingerlings'), but of even more interest are her portraits of the high school students, Hmong farmers, Native ricers and others who are making good, simple food their life’s work. Read this, and you’ll never look at your Thanksgiving cranberries the same way — or any other food.”