Synopses & Reviews
In , Kurt Timmermeister recounted the toil and joy of wrestling an empty plot of land on Vashon Island, Washington, into a dairy farm. Now he tells the story of a feast made from only what the farm provides. But the story of the meal begins two years earlier with the birth of a calf, Alice. When she is grown, Alice will produce the cream to be churned into butter, made into sauce Béarnaise, and served alongside poached eggs and kale gathered the morning of the feast. Along the way we meet Leda, who trades onion seedlings for Kurt's cheese; Michiko, who forages the white chanterelles for the antipasti course; and Bill, whose large, thin-skinned tomatoes will form the basis of the tomato upside-down cake. Rich in detail, resonant in story, depicts the effort behind every meal, the farm that comes before every table.
Review
"I hung on every word. . . . Timmermeister has the knack of helping the reader imagine the tastes of the produce coming out of the earth and the smells of the dinner being made in the cookhouse." Kent Black
Review
""Delicious. . . . takes a realistic look at a world we've come to fetishize and glamorize." Boston Globe
Review
"Distinguished itself from the multitude of farm memoirs... with its scope and vantage point." Nancy Leson Seattle Times
Review
"The book shines...Timmermeister does not shrink from the honest truth." Penelope Green The New York Times
Review
"A former chef in the Seattle food scene turned small-scale dairy farmer, Kurt Timmermeister is in a better place than most to set the record straight about where our food comes from." Publishers Weekly
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"We hear the phrase 'farm to table' often, but to understand what this truly means, read ." Lindsay Abrams Salon
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"Timmermeister's narrative is an antidote to food cynicism." Shelf Awareness
Synopsis
The story of a feast two years in the making, from the farmer who harvested the vegetables, raised the animals, and prepared the meal.
About the Author
Kurt Timmermeister was a successful restaurateur in Seattle before buying farmland on Vashon Island in 1991. Originally four acres, Kurtwood Farms is now a thirteen-acre dairy farm specializing in farmstead cheese.