Homemade-ish is available for pre-order wherever books are sold!
Somewhere between totally scratch cooking and restaurant-made fare exists this easy breezy in-between place where food can be anything you want it to be. There are no stuffy rules or trying-too-hard trends, no pretenses to uphold. It’s about showing up, not showing off – because that’s what matters, that’s what people hold on to.
Recipes can satisfy more than just a craving. This book was designed to help satisfy our desires to get rid of unnecessary stress and to get back our precious time. Let’s spend less of it tending to the tedium of preparation, of clean-up. Let’s spend more of it around the table, enjoying the bits and bites of delicious fare that we made. Did we make it from scratch? Nope. But we made it possible, and that counts for so very much. That’s what it’s all about. At the literal end of the day, the whole goal is often to be together, to be still and present. To just Be. This book was created to help us get there.
Meant to be a place of comfort, this book is an invitation to let your hair down and relax a little. No judging. No pretenses. Just simple, unfussy food that you really can throw together in minutes, whenever the need may arise.
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“Lauren calls Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest the ultimate homecoming
to her Appalachian roots, but these pages are far more potent; they’re
an open door into a Narnia of the American South, told through lyrical
story and seasonal, medicinal foods. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Lily Diamond Creator of the blog Kale and Caramel and The Kale and Caramel Cookbook
“Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest is a brilliant ode to the Appalachians.
Lauren’s storytelling and dazzling photographs are only eclipsed
by her inventive, sumptuous recipes. A true masterpiece!”
—Sonja Overhiser Author of Pretty Simple Cooking and the blog A Couple Cooks
Blogger McDuffie puts her talents to use in this excellent debut collection of more than 70 recipes inspired by her childhood in the mountains of southwestern Virginia. Evoking an Appalachian lifestyle, McDuffie organizes the chapters by season. For example, she discusses the pleasures of a fall campfire and creates an autumn menu titled “For Ghosts and Their Stories,” then offers up fire-roasted stuffed pumpkins filled with sausage, bread crumbs, goat cheese, and Gruyère; pasta with scallion and black walnut pesto; crispy-skin trout with lemon brown butter sauce; and s’mores from scratch. Several entrées can be prepared indoors or outdoors, many in family-style portions, and some present a fusion of American and international sensibilities, such as the bold miso-bacon moonshine mussels. Sweets are especially notable, in terms of both their flavor profiles and photogenic appeal: grapefruit and vanilla french toast soufflé is pictured amid a snow flurry of confectioners’ sugar, and triple orange cake with honey-lavender buttercream is captured in the ornate and contemplative style of a Vermeer painting. McDuffie mesmerizes in this intimate and charmingly rendered collection of inspiring recipes. (May)
Starred Review, Publisher’s Weekly
I am thrilled to share that my debut cookbook, Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest is now available! This book represents all that I love most in this world – the people, places, things, and flavors that say “home” to me. My hope with this book, is to evoke a similar feeling of nostalgia – a longing for home – in all those who read and cook from it. You certainly don’t have to be from my little corner of the Mountain South to relate to the stories and to enjoy the recipes. The food that you’ll find throughout its pages is representative of what I cook for my family today, infused with some of the flavors, techniques, and beloved stories from central Appalachia, where I was born and raised. So, this isn’t a traditional Appalachian cookbook, but rather, a book of my own stories and recipes set to an Appalachian tune. My own experiences, micro-stories, favorite flavors, and recipes give this book its heart. For all of its treasured uniqueness and curiosities … its deeply mysterious beauty … Appalachia gives this book its soul.
