Each day leading up to the April 16 announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards, and in collaboration with community editors from the award-winning Saint Paul Almanac, we highlight one of the thirty-two finalists. Today we feature 2016 Memoir & Creative Fiction Finalist:
In Winter’s Kitchen by Beth Dooley
Published by Milkweed Editions
Category Sponsors: Kevin and Greta Warren
Book Synopsis by Shaquan Foster, Community Editor from Saint Paul Almanac:
In Winter’s Kitchen reveals how a food movement with deep roots in the Heartland — our first food co-ops, most productive farmland, and the most storied agricultural scientists hail from the region — is not only thriving, it’s presenting solutions that could feed a country, rather than just a smattering of neighborhoods and restaurants. Using the story of one Thanksgiving meal, Dooley discovers that a locally-sourced winter diet is more than a possibility: it can be delicious.
Author Bio:
Beth Dooley has covered the local food scene in the Northern Heartland for thirty years: she writes for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, the Taste section of the Star Tribune, Heavy Table and appears regularly on KARE 11 television and MPR Appetites with Tom Crann. She is author of Minnesota’s Bounty: The Farmers Market Cookbook, The Northern Heartland Kitchen and co-author with Lucia Watson of Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland, among other books.
In addition to writing about local food in the Northern Heartland, Beth guides local food trips for Wilderness Inquiry via Taste of the Apostles. She has presented to college students and community groups, and teaches cooking classes at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three sons.
Beth Dooley is on Facebook and Twitter.
An Excerpt from In Winter’s Kitchen:
“What follows is neither a history nor a cookbook, but a tale of friendships forged while walking the fields and cooking in restaurant kitchens, making cheese and slaughtering chickens, and how these experiences have helped guide me as I’ve tried to live a more meaningful life.”
Reviews:
“Ms. Dooley does much more than recycle familiar arguments for eating local; she personalizes the path from farm to fork with heart and skill. Unapologetically sentimental, deeply informative, and always practical, Dooley introduces us to traditional dairy owners, Hmong sweet potato growers, teenage turkey farmers and Ojibwa wild rice harvesters…. equal parts memoir, history and guidebook.” — J. Ryan Strandal, Wall Street Journal
“In her latest book, a memoir subtitled “Growing Roots and Breaking Bread in the Northern Heartland,” Beth Dooley weaves touching personal stories about her long-ago move west from New Jersey and the challenges of adapting to our rugged climate, through equally touching accounts of how her new friends in the organic movement embraced her as one of their own.” — Pioneer Press
“…a book that feels alternately like a poignant trip down food memory lane and an inspiring field trip to the farms and factories of the people who are trying to change our food system. And yet it works. Dooley’s tasty food memories and stories of real people bring home all the reasons why we should care about things like crop diversity — but they’re also just plain interesting.” — Heavy Table
“A coming-of-age story about local and sustainable food in the Upper Midwest that is also an affecting narrative about family and the making of home. This is a book that demonstrates the unsung values of Northern culture through exploration of agriculture and cooking: the intelligent cultivation of cold-weather apples, the passionate desire to re-introduce the American Chestnut, the laborious work of harvesting cranberries or wild rice. In essays that reward cooks, historians, and farmers, Dooley argues with forceful sentiment for continued movement away from industrialized food.” — Minnesota Book Awards Preliminary Round Judge
Author Interview:
Read and listen to an interview with Beth on MPR. The story includes two recipes from the book.
The evening features a Preface Reception with complimentary passed wine and cash bar, author meet-and-greet, book sales and signing; the Awards Ceremony with live music, celebrity presenters, artisan cheese plates and breads, complimentary wine and lemonade, with emcee Stephanie Curtis of MPR; and the Epilogue After-Party with complimentary champagne, sumptuous desserts, and additional live music. Tickets now on sale, or click here for more information.
Today’s winner: Matt Jenson. (We’ll be in touch via email, and arrange getting the book to you!)
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