The Farmer's Kitchen Handbook: More Than 200 Recipes for Making Cheese, Curing Meat, Preserving, Fermenting, and More

497 Pages·2014·10.35 MB·English

by  Marie W. Lawrence

THE FARMER’S KITCHEN HANDBOOK
Copyright © 2014 by Marie W. Lawrence All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-62873-615-1
Printed in China
To my family, past, present, and future, with love . . . and for the farmer in each
of us.
Contents
Growing Up in Farm Country
General Cooking, Baking, and Preserving Guidelines
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Old-Fashioned Household Hints
Substitutions
Weights and Measures
Harvest Guide
Recipe Index (by month)
General Index

The Farmer’s Kitchen Handbook
Growing Up in Farm Country
When my parents decided to buy a piece of land out in the country, they did
my brothers and me the biggest favor we could have imagined. We grew up
in Vermont during the 1950s and 1960s, living a rural lifestyle that in many
aspects has since disappeared. Folks in our neighborhood were, for the most
part, either full-time farming families or those such as my parents who kept
gardens; raised a few animals for meat, milk, or pets; and generally felt the
benefits of living in the country far outweighed the drawbacks.
A country upbringing gives you an appreciation of fresh air, fresh water, and
good, fresh food. You also learn to appreciate the long hours farm folk put in
every day of the week to care for their animals, crops, and the land that sustains
them (and us) all. Self-reliance and pride of a job well done go hand in hand in
this profession.
Farming has been around this good green planet for a number of centuries
now, and it is probably one of the most universal occupations in the world. It
may take many forms, from tiny subsistence holdings in remote areas to
immense factory farms that bear little resemblance to the family farmsteads of
not so long ago. And a whole lot of it takes place outside of Vermont!
My parents, Evelyn and William Wheelock, circa 1935.
Although I have incorporated a few recipes with an international flavor, much
of my perspective is from rural New England, land of my paternal grandfather.
You’ll also notice the influence of my immigrant grandparents, from Scotland,