A cookbook so nice, I bought it twice.

Good Food For All; Seasonal Recipes From a Community Garden

Cookbook Type: Local, Seasonal, Comfort, Healthy

Favourite Recipe: Seafood Chowder (pg. 20-210

Favourite Page: The Easiest Peach Ice Cream (pg 77)

Favourite Quote: “In early springtime, our community gardens are carpeted in snow. We spend hours poring seed catalogues, dreaming of brightly coloured heirloom tomatoes and peppers, drawing and redrawing the garden plans in order to find a place for them all ” (pg. 18)

Rating: 3/5 Larousse Gastronomiques (📕📕📕📕)

Review:

The Stop started as one of Canada’s first food banks in the 80’s, and transitioned to a community garden / food centre that has fed thousands of Torontonians dealing with food insecurity over the years. The work they do is incredibly important, not just in providing that level of nutrition to it’s community, but in teaching the skills needed in food production. They do so much more outside of that as well, so please take the time to read about their heroic efforts.

Out of that labour of love, came this labour of love - The Good Food For All cookbook. Released in 2009. The reason I own two copies is because if you look carefully you can see pages in the first copy are out of the seam. I have cooked from this book for years and every time I pick it up I am inspired to cook from it again. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I’ve made the seafood chowder (come over, Auntie’ll make it for you!) or the Rhubarb-ade. It inspires me to think local, and think seasonal.

When it comes down to it, it’s lovely book with a handful of really wholesome recipes. Like The Stop itself, this book encourages its guests to learn new skills, nourish themselves, and show gratitude for our community.

You can sometimes snap up a used copy at your local used bookstore, or on Amazon.