Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

By Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

This book gets 5 stars. If more stars were available, I would award them to this book and to every Michael Pollan book I’ve read. This is now on my list of “Books everyone in America should read.”

The basic premise of this book is that the author’s family lived off their land (and the land of others local to them) for a year. They farmed, they raised chicken and turkey, they planned and canned, and really did everything related to their food needs (what they couldn’t grow or raise, they bought locally). This is the tale of their adventure in living locally. Each chapter revolves around a different season, chronologically, through their year. At the end of each chapter, Camille, the author’s college-age daughter (who is at Duke, of all places!), provides recipes and a sample meal plan for the food in the chapter. Throughout the book, the author’s husband provides socio-political commentary on related topics.

The recipes I’m planning to try include:

• Asparagus & Morel Bread Pudding (Chapter: Molly Mooching)
• Asian Vegetable Rolls and Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (Chapter: Gratitude)
• 30-minute Mozzarella and Friday Night Pizza (Chapter: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast)
• Basil-Blackberry Crumble (Chapter: Slow Food Nation)
• Cucumber Yogurt Soup, Cherry Sorbet, Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Disappearing Zucchini Orzo (Chapter: Zucchini Larceny)
• Family Secret Tomato Sauce and Relish, Sauce, and Chutney–All in One Day (Chapter: Life in a Red State)
• Veggie Frittata (Chapter: You Can’t Run Away on Harvest Day)
• Four Seasons of Potato Salad and Pumpkin Soup in Its Own Shell (Chapter: Smashing Pumpkins)
• Holiday Corn Pudding a 9-Year Old Can Make, Frida Khalo’s Pan de Muerto, and Dried Tomato Pesto (Chapter: Celebration Days)
• Braised Winter Squash, Butternut Bean Soup, Vegetarian Chili, and Sweet Potato Quesadillas (Chapter: What do you Eat in January?)

I will probably read the book again as the seasons change.  For now, I’m thrilled that North Carolina is having squash and zucchini season!  Tomato season is almost here too–we have four tomatoes on our plants, and more blooms that we can count.  They’re growing bigger every time it rains, it’s incredible.  Our pepper plant is about 8″ tall–it’s grown about half a foot this week.  Really neat to see!