Berries: A Country Garden Cookbook

"Berries: A Country Garden Cookbook" is a book of beauty about berries and lovely recipes with spring-like results. Open it and out spills photographs of berries and garden settings for simple, cool meals and treats with berries. I love books like this. It reminds me of that thrill that bubbles in the heart when the first blip of green lines the edges of naked, cold tree limbs, when shoots pop their way out of just unhardened soil, when life is renewed again in nature. It's an exciting moment. "Berries" is like that--full of beauty and grace and poetry in pictures. Kathryn Kleinman captures berries and berry products in two types of photographs: the sharp focus to depict the lush color of the fruit, the prickle of the stems, the fuzziness of the leaves. The other type is grainy, hinting at the antique quality of canning, vinegars, dessert glassware, special jelly jars and serving spoons. One of the most unusual of these is a still life with a wooden bowl of mushrooms, a basket of blackberries, a scattering of huckleberries, some plums, red onions and a pod of garlic. The senses are seared by the odd combination and teased into considering a dish with these ingredients. Another shows a dull blue and gray basket of blueberries, a bottle of port, a spray of lavender, sitting next to a handful of mushrooms, upturned and mysterious. They combine to make "Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms, Cranberries, Blueberries, and Port." Text and recipes are by Sharon Kramis. I love books like this. They make me think I could live another life--one of beauty and grace. Let's try the "Marionberry Peach Crunch," a lovely combination of tart berries and sweet peaches. If marionberries are unavailable, try blueberries. The dish is delightful and easy to make. Or try the exquisite "Chilled Strawberry Soup with Pound Cake Croutons" and served in pink Depression glass bowls. Or exotic "Warm Roasted Chicken and Watercress Sandwiches with Cranberry Orange Apple Relish," served on warm slices of baguette bread. Whatever you prepare, take it outside to a little bistro table with cozy chairs and pillows under a tree, or in a quiet nook. I have been creating just such a place with irises, ferns, a purple wandering vine, small azaleas with coral blooms, this tiny green trailing sedum, and several varieties of hostas. A big fir tree shades it and drops its threaded leaves to create a rich compost over winter and into a rich, fertile soil filled with giant worms. How about a "Strawberry Grapefruit Mint Compote" in clear, footed Depression glass dessert bowls to welcome a cool spring afternoon?

I own this and all the Country Garden series of cookbooks. They are all visually gorgeous, and all written by professional chefs. Each book surrounds a featured ingredient which is seasonal. I must admit that many of the recipes could be considered "chi-chi," but for cookbook collectors, this series is really wonderful. I'm sorry they stopped adding to these books, and very sorry that they are going out of print.