The Hands-On Home: A Seasonal Guide to Cooking, Preserving & Natural Homekeeping

My pre-ordered a copy of The Hands-On Home by Erica Strauss finally arrived last week. I regularly stop by Erica’s blog Northwest Edible Life because I enjoy her writing style and humour, so I expected I’d like her book. Well, this was not the books I was expecting! I thought I’d be getting a floppy cookbook, instead I got a tome like the fluid mechanics textbook I used for years to hold up my computer monitor, and it’s pretty enough to go on the shelf with my pretty cookbooks. Likely it’ll join the pile of cookbooks that live on my kitchen counter that I refer to all the time (a pile my neat-freak husband kindly hasn’t tried to put away).The Hands-On Home is more than a cookbook extending into preserving, cleaning and self care with recipes fitting into each category. The book is broken down by season, so I started by trying out a couple of fall recipes.Cambazola went on sale last week and there was a red cabbage in the fridge, so I decided to try ‘Red Cabbage with Cambazola’ first. I was perfectly prepared to try a new recipe by choosing a day my husband was late getting home from work and my toddler was grumpy and hungry (she snatched most of the apple for the recipe right out of the bowl before it even made it into the pot). I had no red wine, and if I did I likely would have poured myself a glass instead of cooking with it. The cabbage was quickly ready and served beside some left over pulled pork harmony was restored to my house.The second recipe I tried was ‘Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Apple and Cider Cream.’ This soup was a simpler squash soup than I normally make (tomatoes and coconut milk tend to find their way into my invented squash soups). The recipe had curry in it, and I prefer my squash to be curried. Like the cabbage, the soup was quick and easy to make – and it was tasty enough that it will likely be making a weekly appearance in my house for the fall.Finally, I was impressed with Erica’s discussion of cleaners. I’m now clear on when to use an alkaline based cleaner or a acid based one and I’m likely to remember now. After I use up the cleaners already in the house, I’ll try making my own. Erica has even inspired me to start thinking about cleaning up the bug mausoleum that’s been amassing in the light fixtures – a couple of my lights magnify the silver fish within creating quite a horror show effect.my full review is here: http://jeannettebedard.com/2015/10/14/the-hands-on-home-book-review/

I'm so impressed - not surprised - being a follower of nwedible.com as Erica does a wonderful job with her blog. I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be so big and beautiful and inspiring given that I thought I was well on my way to happy homesteading. Lots of amazing recipes and new things to add to my list of DIY stuff to try. My husbands first response when he started perusing the book was "quick - get the post-its - there's a ton of stuff in here we will want to cook". Actually, now that I think about it - he was the one that introduced me to nwedible.com in the first place when he bought me a stick blender for my birthday a few years ago so I could make Erica's "magic mayonnaise" with our chicken eggs. BTW - it IS magic - it got him off of the hook for buying me an appliance for my birthday!The look and feel of the book is just lovely - the pictures are gorgeous, the cover is yummy, and of course Erica's words of wisdom are extremely helpful, easy to follow, a pleasure (and a crack-up) to read. I am thrilled to have this in my homesteading library and I might add that I can't believe the price on this book. I'd have gladly paid $35 for it without batting an eyelash if I came across it in a bookstore and wasn't already a huge fan who, of course, pre-ordered it. The quality of the binding, photos and content are more than worth it - it's a steal at Amazon's price.Now I better take those tamworth pork steaks out of the freezer and get started on post-it number one - Pork Porterhouse with apples, sage and Dijon-bourbon pan sauce - yum!! or maybe the Moroccan-spiced lamb shoulder chops braised with quince. Decisions, decisions...(Oh, and in case you were wondering why I took so long to review it having pre-ordered the book - it was a gift from "Santa" - *wink *wink)

The Hands-On Home by Erica Strauss is more than a cookbook, more than a DIY guide, more than a collection of exceptional garden-to-table recipes. This beautiful book is at its core a philosophy of living a thoughtful life--less consumerist, more self reliant, more in balance with the natural world. Erica Strauss is a funny, witty, hip, and engaging writer. She has a lot to say.Other reviews have covered the clever seasonal organization of the book and the matrix of content covering food preparation and preserving, self care, home care, etc. But this book is almost unique in the depth of its content. There is so much information here, so well presented, that this is destined to become a classic reference for the modern home. I expect to turn to The Hands-On Home again and again. Highly recommended.I am updating this review, two years after buying this amazing book. I turn to Erica's book again and again, making pickles, beaking bread, fresh salsa...but Hands-On Home is more than the recipes. This is a guidebook to living a more sustainable less consumer-market plastic world driven life. This is a gentle, funny, insightful manifesto. Read her text. It will change your life. Five Stars are not enough. This is the classic guide to homekeeping.