Farmhouse Weekends: Menus for Relaxing Country Meals All Year Long

by Melissa Bahen

Overview

Serve up comfort classic recipes for casual weekends with family and friends.

2022 Praiseworthy Awards, FINALIST: Lifestyle

Farmhouse Weekends is the cookbook for anyone who daydreams of country life. Prepare meals and experiences to enjoy in the easy companionship of family and friends—everything you need to create the perfect farmhouse weekend, no matter where you live, is found within these pages. Each chapter provides recipes inspired by author Melissa Bahen’s weekend jaunts in the country: apple cider donuts and white bean chili after a day of picking fresh apples in the fall; buttery cobbler full of ripe, summer berries after a trip to the farmers’ market; hot, flaky biscuits slathered with butter and homemade strawberry freezer jam to start out a spring day. You’ll find brunch, dinner, and dessert recipes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter: 65 recipes to entertain and enjoy good company all year round.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423656722
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	397,726
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Melissa Bahen started Lulu the Baker in 2008, a popular online source for recipes, projects, and snapshots of modern country life. Since then, she has published Scandinavian Gatherings: From Afternoon Fika to Midsummer Feast, and her modern farmhouse kitchen has appeared in Rachael Ray Everyday, Better Homes & Gardens, Belong Magazine, Taproot Magazine, Eugene Magazine, and Cloth Magazine. She is a recipe and project developer for online brands, including Canada Dry, Albertsons, Hidden Valley Ranch, and many more. She lives with her husband, four children, and many animals on her farm near the community of Pleasant Hill in western Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2021

Lulu the Baker blogger Bahen (Scandinavian Gatherings) makes a convincing case in this winsome outing that one doesn’t have to live in the country to “slow down and enjoy good people, delicious food, and experiences worth savoring.” Though she and her family moved into their “dream farmhouse” in 2014, she and her husband have kept up their regular nine-to-five lives during the week, but during the weekend things take a bucolic turn, with much time spent in the kitchen. Here, Bahen lays out the kinds of things that occupy her weekend, and which she suggests are just as easy to do for city-bound cooks. Recipes are arranged by season and lean toward classic comfort fare, with, for instance, parmesan risotto for spring, a “Height of Summer Salad,” two kinds of chili for fall, and a potato-leek soup for winter. Dishes cover the bases, from sweet and savory breakfast options to both light and heavy desserts, with a number of salads, sides, and soups to sit alongside the mains. Recipes feature easy-to-find ingredients, are accompanied by gorgeous photographs, and include options that will appeal to any palette (kids might especially appreciate the pan-fried chicken tenders). Home chefs with picky eaters, or those craving good-old-fashioned comfort food should take a look. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

This recipe book is for everyone that loves country life and wants to invoke that feel-good lifestyle in the kitchen.

Manhattan Book Review - Elizabeth Konkel

When your better half says ‘You better make these again,’ you know it’s a good recipe.

Leite's Culinaria - Craig Relyea

… allows us to bring all the things that we love about cottagecore to the table when it is time to dine, regardless of where you are located.

Athleisure Magazine

Farmhouse Weekends is a delightful cookbook full of beautiful photos, approachable recipes, and easy banter that will make you feel like you are relaxing at a country home for the weekend. It’s really just a lovely book – I almost want to get another one to keep clean, because I am a messy cook (mainly because I get ‘help’ from my kids), and some of the pages in my copy are already well-loved. [The book] would make a fantastic gift for anyone looking to add a taste of down-home country cooking to their repertoire.

Seattle Book Review - Julie Blum

Farmhouse weekends are for relaxing, taking on the projects that require more than a few minutes, and enjoying family and friends. Melissa Bahen, author of the blog Lulu the Baker, shares her favorite tips and recipes for living a farmhouse life no matter where you reside…country, city, condo, apartment, or your very own farm. So, if you happen to stop by the farmers’ market and you find some garden peas and a couple stalls down they have some lovely fresh ricotta, you’re on your way to dinner. A lemon, ricotta and pea pasta is simply heavenly for twirling on your fork.

Leite's Culinaria