The Shaker Kitchen: Over 100 Recipes from Canterbury Shaker Village

As resident chef at Canterbury NH Shaker Village, Paige focuses on simplicity, tradition and local ingredients. Recipes for dropped dumplings, corn chowder (with five variations) steamed brown bread, Sister Rebecca's cold pickle and Sister Ethel's deep-dish custard pie are accented with Shaker photos and essays on such traditions as Shaker brick-oven baked beans and Shaker Thanksgiving as well as snippets of advice from The Shaker Manifesto, their 19th century newsletter. This is a charming and useful New England treasure with recipes to try on every page, from a simple fiddlehead fern saute or creamed oysters to potato-crusted salmon on creamed Maine crabmeat; venison meatloaf or butternut squash puree with cranberries.

This is the best, the easiest, the tastiest way to re-create your grandmother's cooking. Simple directions and easily-found ingredients plus appetizing-looking pictures of the food get you going. Preparation and cooking times are included.We have been to the Shaker Village in Canterbury, eaten at their candlelit dinners - and then I have come home and followed the recipe in the book for what I ate the night before - and it both looked as good and tasted as delicious as when their chef prepared it.This is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks.