Quite lovely, and more than merely a collection of recipes.

Almost the entire contents of this book, including:
a touching forward,
tips on growing, caring for, and preserving fruits and vegetables,
instructions on making homemade bug sprays and plant foods
-and-
all of the recipes,
have been contributed by members of Amish and Mennonite communities in Canada and the USA.

The recipes are simple, filling and help answer the question of what to do when you have received an enormous amount of vegetables from your CSA, or your garden suddenly decides that everything you planted is ripe for harvest within the same month.

The recipes are varied and clear, easy and straightforward. The photographs are of vividly colored produce, romantic farms and lush gardens. Many have been provided by Shutterstock.

While there are a lot of recipes that include meat, there are also a wide variety of fruit and vegetable dishes. Because these have been submitted by so many people, it is impossible to form an opinion on the overall cooking style or quality without testing every recipe.

I love the double index! One is an index by ingredient, and another is divided into recipe types (salads, sides, etc.). This would be a great idea for other cookbooks to adopt, even though it might work best in this type of cookbook.

Although this book is said to be "by" Wanda E. Brunstetter, it clearly is a compilation of submissions from over a hundred people. There is a complete index of the contributors' names and locations. I feel rather like she just put her name on a book for monetary reasons, because I found no contribution from her inside, other than her name on the title page. Nevertheless, it is quite charming, and could be quite useful.

***The publisher notes that "Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses" so there are biblical references and quotes throughout.***

**eARC Netgalley** ( )

I fell in love with this cookbook as soon as I started going through it! It starts out with some stories, advise on planting, weeding, managing bugs in the garden and goes on to so much more. The recipes are wonderful and the photography in this book is gorgeous! There are chapters for salads, soups, main dishes, sides, deserts, snacks/extras, canning/preserving and even recipes for the freezer.

I have a list of recipes I want to try and so I'll list a few of them here ~ Pumpkin cookies, Harvest Loaf, Bundt Zucchini Cake,
Canning ~ Apple Pie Filling, Canning ~ Old Fashioned Apple Butter ... don't they all sound delicious? Ms. Brunstetter's Amish Friends Harvest Cookbook is a treasure trove of recipes!

Thank you to Shilo Press, Barbour Publishing and Netgalley for the free gift of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I love reviewing cookbooks! And my family reaps the benefits with tasty dishes that grace our table. Wanda E. Brunstetter’s Amish Friends Harvest Cookbook is a pure delight. Beautiful photographs of food, produce and scenic countryside accompany mouth-watering recipes that are not only easy to follow, but use everyday ingredients — ingredients that can come from your own garden or farmer’s market. Designed to help use and preserve the bounty of a harvest, this cookbook is perfect for anyone who 14088574_1130416330338101_1958811029683205891_nloves good food. It also contains advice from Amish gardeners who are experts on getting the most out of their gardens. I loved the recipes for planting, fertilizing and dealing with pests. These tips will come in handy next year when we plant our garden. There are also great recipes for preserving when you have an overabundance of fruit and veggies. Recipes were compiled from real-life cooks in the Amish and Mennonite communities, too. This year we had a bumper crop of blueberries, so I made Blueberry Cream Pie from the Dessert section. Quick and easy, this pie was a big hit with my husband and daughter — 2 slices a piece! With its crumb topping and delicious filling, it reminded us of lemon squares, but with bursting-blueberry flavor instead.

For those who love to garden or would like to, or for those who can’t stay away from the farmer’s market, Amish Friends Harvest Cookbook is a winner!

Recommended.

(Thanks to Barbour Publishing for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) ( )