there are a lot of things to love about this cookbook. the photography is amazing, the recipes are fairly simple and involve simple ingredients, and mcdonnell spends a fair amount of time explaining the terminology, tools, resources, etc. i enjoyed how the book is separated—dairy, bread, potatoes, orchard, seafood, foraging, pies and tarts, meal planning country suppers & Sunday lunch, new takes on traditional food, sweets, and food for kids. but probably the best thing about the book, though, is mcdonnell’s story, included in the beginning in the introduction. she writes a blog, called farmette, where she has chronicled her journey from big-city American broadcast production assistant to Irish farm housewife. i don’t think i’m the only one who has a bit of an obsession with back to the land stories, and mcdonnell’s personal life was the reason why i picked up this cookbook in the first place.
for me, though, it does kind of fall a bit flat as an actual cookbook. there’s not very much food photography (though there are beautiful pictures of the farm). and the recipes are a bit too complex for my daily life and aren’t well-rounded enough for my diet (where are all the non-starchy vegetables?!). i guess at the end of the day it’s a bit impractical, but still worth a look if you’re confident in your cooking skills and are looking for some traditional-style UK food.
