Hedgebrook Cookbook: Celebrating Radical Hospitality by Julie Rosten (Author), Denise Barr (Author)

She Writes Press: Hedgebrook Cookbook: Celebrating Radical Hospitality by Julie Rosten and  Denise Barr 

For those of us who have not (yet) spent time at Hedgebrook, this cookbook is a wonderful inside look at the radical hospitality the cooks bestow on their visiting writers. Some of the recipes, such as the blessedly simple pan-roasted Parsnips and Carrots, have already received a five-spoon rating around my kitchen table. Others (Full Moonssaka, Pho Bo, Pear Galette) are just complicated enough that I'll gladly hold out, hoping to experience them firsthand at Hedgebrook one day.

The recipes are interspersed with photos of the stunning Hedgebrook grounds, its people and animals, and of course, the show-stopping food, as well as essays by the women who have come to write there. While many express delight in being nurtured in order to focus on their craft, Dorothy Allison gets at the very reason a place like Hedgebrook is needed: "I grew up in a culture that emphasized hospitality and manners, but it was manners with an edge and hospitality that could beggar your soul. As a result, I learned to be wonderful at taking care of others, but backed away from anyone who dared to try to take care of me. So when I came to Hedgebrook, it was almost impossible for me to be comfortable with people who were determined to make my work easier, to serve me wonderful food and encourage me in every way possible to relax and focus on my writing. The first night there, I went back from dinner and sat in the darkness almost weeping. Getting used to that determined radical hospitality was one of the hardest things I have done in years--and one of the best. Who would guess that something so simple and basic could be so revolutionary?"

With its clean design, the book is a joy to read and the recipes are clear and easy to follow. My only suggestion for the next printing would be to add captions identifying the people in the photos.

I bought this book thinking it would be a great gift for a friend who writes. I now plan to buy another so I can keep sampling Hedgebrook hospitality for myself. As Karen Joy Fowler writes, "Nobody goes to Hedgebrook for the food. But everyone would stay for it if only they could."