April/May Announcement: The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather

What if you lost your job, saw your marriage crumble, had to move  to a small abode, and tried to live on a seemingly unrealistic budget?

Could you survive?   Would you prosper?

If I am honest, I really don't know how I would make it.   I know I could eke out a subsistence living.  Would I prosper though?   Could I maintain this lifestyle?

I really don't know how I would do.

Robin Mather not only prospered, she wrote a book about her experience.

In The Feast Nearby, she chronicles "How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week)."

The Feast Nearby is not a preachy treatise on living locally.  Instead, it is an honest collection of essays (with accompanying recipes) that chronicle Mather's journey to experiencing a simpler way of life while, along the way, finding a new self.

I actually read this book a year ago and briefly featured it last April with Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake.   I have revisited it often as the seasons go by.

Please grab a copy and join us for the April/May round of CTB.  Post by June 1st and you are in the running.   I hope you enjoy this practical, informative, and inspiring book of essays and recipes.  If you're new to Cook the Books, please check out About or Guidelines or simply leave a question in the comments below.    Once you post, just shoot me an email (eliotseats@gmail.com) or leave a comment here.

I hope you pick up Mather's book and are inspired to create something local or foraged or preserved or bartered for the next CTB round.

Debra (Eliot's Eats)