Thursday Product Highlight

On Thursdays I plan on highlighting a product that we carry in the General Store. This will give people a chance to hear about why we chose to carry that product.

Today I want to talk about my favorite cookbook. It is not your ordinary cookbook. In fact it is WAY more than a cookbook. It is called The Practical Produce Cookbook. It tells you how to plant, pick, prepare and preserve your garden produce. It is spiral bound which is very handy if your hands are full or covered in canning mess. You don't have to keep pushing the page open.

It lists most things you would grow in your garden in alphabetical order. It does combine things like yellow squash and zucchini into a category of Summer Squash. Here is the broccoli section. This page tells you what the produce is and then below it tells a bit about the produce and how to plant it. This section was continued on the next page. It told when to pick it and then even gave yield statistics. 1 lb. of broccoli will yield 5 cups of florets or 1 pint.
Then it gives different recipes to use that produce. For broccoli, there are 19 different recipes in categories like soups, salads, side and main dishes. Ginny over at R and V Farmstead tells about a recipe she used out of here on her blog.
Then it tells you the best way to preserve it and directions on how to accomplish that.
In the back more sections called the Vegetable Canning and Freezing Guide and the Fruit Canning and Freezing Guide that will help you with the details.
This is the best time of the year to have this book. Gardens are producing or you can find large amounts of produce at farmer's markets or road side stands.

We have a whole selection of cookbooks that all deal with using whole foods and healthy alternatives to feed your family. Come and check them out at the General Store.