"Forest + Home" by Spencre McGowan is a beautifully written and profoundly moving exploration of the connection between nature and the human spirit. Through poetic prose and personal anecdotes, McGowan invites readers to embark on a journey into the heart of the forest, where they will discover not only the wonders of the natural world but also the deep-seated longing for a sense of home. This book is a testament to the healing power of nature and the way it can nourish our souls and provide a sanctuary in our fast-paced, modern lives.

McGowan's writing is nothing short of exquisite. Their lyrical and evocative descriptions of the forest create a vivid tapestry of imagery, allowing readers to feel the rustling leaves, hear the birdsong, and smell the earthy scents of the woods. At its core, "Forest + Home" is a love letter to the natural world, a heartfelt reminder of the solace and inspiration that can be found in the embrace of trees and the serenity of untouched landscapes.

Beyond its poetic beauty, the book also delves into the emotional and psychological aspects of our connection to nature. McGowan skillfully weaves together personal experiences with the broader themes of belonging, identity, and the search for a place to call home. "Forest + Home" is a compelling and soul-stirring read that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt a deep affinity for the natural world and the profound sense of belonging it can offer. It is a book that celebrates the transformative power of nature and reminds us to cherish and protect the precious landscapes that hold the key to our inner peace and connection to the world around us.

5 of 5 stars
Pub Date: 27 Sep 2022
#netgalley #foresthome

Anyone who loves to cook with herbs should pick up Spencre McGowan’s excellent book, Forest + Home: Cultivating an Herbal Kitchen, which is a book dedicated to herbs, and full of excellent recipes using them.

This book has well-written chapters on which herbs to grow and harvest, and hints on storing herbs (although no how-to instructions on actually setting up a kitchen garden). It also includes a list of herbs used for medicinal purposes, as well as culinary purposes and edible flowers. Kitchen essentials and pantry essentials are also listed. While the lists aren’t exhaustive and don’t cover all herbs, it does cover most herbs that we will want to include in our own herb gardens.

The recipes are organized according to the seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. They are very appealing, and include plenty of herbs that we can grow or purchase at the grocery store. There is a variety of recipes covering beverages, breakfasts, mains, breads and crackers, appetizers, sauces, and desserts. Many are very appealing, and will inspire herb lovers to grow more herbs such as nettles, dandelion greens, and fiddlehead ferns in their own gardens.

The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions to insure that the recipes turn out perfectly. Also included are gorgeous, professional photographs of not only the recipes, but also scenery that includes the beautiful herbs.
Anyone who likes the idea of having a personal herb garden as well as cooking with herbs can learn to do it right by picking up this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

A lovely book that connects nature to the kitchen with an emphasis on herbs. Beautifully done and well written.

I will fully admit I didn’t know much beyond the classic herbs before this book. While I know I won’t use a lot of these recipes in my everyday rotation, I am very glad I know I can.

“Food influences all of us, whether or not we realize it. It sustains us, frustrates us, gives us something to talk about, and allows us to experience the world in our own way.”

Spencre McGowan says her goal “is to bring the aspects of the healing outdoor world into your home” From the beautifully written opening pages to the helpful list of resources at the end, Spencre does just that. She makes you want to live amongst the pages of this book. I’ve long believed that food is healing – food heals our bodies and food heals our souls. In a world of fast paced cooking and taking the easy way out, we’ve lost a lot of that in today’s kitchen. Spencre teaches us how to gradually and realistically bring the healing art of food back into our homes. Forest + Home is divided by season, encouraging the reader and home cook to use what nature is currently gifting us. As a certified herbalist, Spencre is also able to teach the reader what the ingredients can do in our bodies. Once you learn that many herbs not only compliment a recipe palette-wise, but also in a medicinal sense, you’ll experience the full beauty of nourishing your body well. As Spencre points out, one meal won’t heal all your ailments. However, when learning to incorporate herbs into your daily life, you will find that it will strengthen your body, and your soul, over time.

I appreciate the breakdown of each herb, its properties, and its medicinal benefits. The recipes are well written and easy to follow. Beautiful photography rounds out the book. And, again, lovely written pages encourage the reader to begin incorporating herbs and edible flowers into daily food.

While there are certainly some recipes in this collection that may take a little more bravery in sampling, there are plenty of familiar enough recipes. I pretty well think that if a new-to-this-idea reader and cook begins with a not-as-intimidating Perfect Roasted Potatoes, then maybe a night with Dandelion Greens with Molasses and Onions can soon follow. In fact, many recipes, such as No-Bake Peanut Butter and Reishi Cookies are actually herb-improved twists on well-known classics.

This book will soon come home to live on my shelf. Perhaps I’ll bake a Blueberry Lavender Pie when it does. Or sit down with a cup of Moon Milk while flipping through the pages.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley, Andrew McMeel Publishing, and Spencre McGowan for the experience of this digital ARC edition of Forest + Home, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am a forager and budding herbalist and I can't express enough enthusiasm for this book!

The author's take on Nettle Soup added just the right ingredients to smooth out the flavor that had been missing from mine. Her dandelion hushpuppies? They are earmarked to try next spring! And the witchy bliss balls are the perfect afternoon snack for my kids.

I loved the aesthetic of the book as a whole, the stunning photos, and how the book is broken down by seasons. Overall, definite recommend!

I absolutely adore this book. It's the perfect cross between homesteader and hipster cooking. I can easily picture these recipes on the menu of any swanky eatery in San Francisco. But, at the same time, they are so herb and produce forward, that they can easily come from the kitchen of any home chef.

This cookbook is perfect for gardeners, foragers, homesteaders, herb enthusiasts, and hipsters.

Forest + Home is a lovely book which focuses on the mental, physical and mind healing properties of food which is especially delicious and gratifying to serve food you've foraged yourself. Even those who live in extreme climates such as myself (from -40C to +40C) are able to pick a few rose petals at the very least. Small touches can be hugely aesthetically and healthily impactful. Not only that but experimenting with food is incredibly fun and educational!

Through anecdotes and knowledge as an herbalist, Spectre McGowan delights and informs on equipment, cultural and medicinal significance of plants and a glossary of herbal actions. She also lists several common plants, parts used, what they complement and where to find them.

I like that several recipes (listed by season) contain accompaniments to serve with them such as Tulsi and Rosemary-Roasted Tomatoes with Peppered Mushrooms and Ginger French Toast with Marmalade Cream. The latter component is simple but smart. Her chimichurri version looks marvelous, one I will definitely add to my repertoire. We all make herbed sour cream the inclusion of smoked paprika is an aha moment. And why had I not thought to add sumac to cucumbers? The Elderflower and Chamomile Midsommar Cake looks sublime...though I have celiac, I can easily substitute my own gluten free cake. The Lilac Peachy Pops are not only stunning but sound so refreshing! Simple syrups are wonderful but I do not make them enough...here is the inspiration I need. Amongst the first things I'll make are Crispy Lemon Balm Leaves (big fan of textures and lemon balm). Rosehip Hot Honey (love hot honey) and Roasted Grapes with Floral Goat Cheese (as grapes are currently in abundance) and Rosemary-Caramelized Onion Jam (my version is a bit different). Lots of variety in this book.

Though one can forage in rural or urban environments, this is definitely a niche book. Foraging is one of my greatest pleasures; however, I do not mindfully use herbs medicinally. Yet. Some recipes may sound complex, but when you break them down into parts they really aren't. All cooking levels will find something to be enthusiastic about.

My sincere thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the privilege of reading from and salivating over this delicious and informative book.

This book was really good. The recipes were seemed delicious. But I think that it was lacking pictures from the recipes. I tried one or two recipes myself (I'm not a great cook to be honest) and I didn't know how it was supposed to be looking because there was no photo. Otherwise it was really good.

First off, this was a lovely book based on aesthetic alone. The information and storytelling was also rich, informative, and practical. As someone who loves bringing nature into my home and body, this was a wonderful resource.

I wasn’t sure I would find this cookbook very useful — oftentimes I feel like I read herbalist-inspired cookbooks and walk away going, “Well, that was fun, but I’ll probably literally never make any of those recipes.”

Not so with this one! I bookmarked twelve different recipes to try, which for me — an amateur herbalist at best — is quite a few! I’m most excited to try the Lavender Macaroons, Stewed Pears with Rose Petal Sauce, and Creamy Adaptogenic Pumpkin Sauce.

Also loved the photos and the sort of homespun-y feel to the book. I wasn’t familiar with the author before reading it and will probably check out more of her work in the future.

Four stars because she did ramble on a wee bit too much for my tastes in a cookbook, and her stories didn’t draw me in nearly as well as her recipes did.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
If you enjoy foraging or growing herbal plants, this book is for you. Well organized and written, highly informative book with recipes and remedies.

What a beautifully crafted book! The aesthetic choices of the book are quite lovely. Everything from the photography to the font choices gave rise to this real sense of coziness. I'd love to go through this cookbook more slowly with the seasons, taking my time to cook through the recipes as intended. In a perfect world I could go foraging, but I'd have to visit a more rural area to get that done! The FOMO is real!

The recipes themselves seemed like a good starting point for someone looking to experiment with adding herbs and adaptogens to their diet in a way other than taking a bunch of pills. As someone who loves ashwagandha, I was immediately drawn to the peanut butter cookies!

This book would make the perfect gift for the more "crunchy" members of your friend group. I plan on picking up a copy for my sister and her girlfriend. They're already fans of foraging and this cookbooks seems perfect for them.

Credibility/Research: 7, there's a bit about the science/logic behind the herbs selected, but most of it seems driven by flavor rather than medicinal purpose, which is in keeping with the purpose of this cookbook (which clearly isn't to educate you in herbalism, but provide a gateway through your tastebuds). The author's confidence and some of her flavor combinations make me trust that she knows these recipes and vouches for them.

Authenticity/Uniqueness: 8, I've read a lot of cookbooks, including several homestead-style ones. Generally, while inspiring in a cottagecore sort of way, those cookbooks are very out of reach for me as a disabled woman who doesn't have land for a garden (and I imagine also for people who don't have several hours a day to spend on foraging, canning, cooking, and baking). Not so, this book! While she doesn't use crockpots or air fryers in her recipes, Spencre McGowan freely admits to using a rice cooker to save time, being unable to successfully grow nasturtiums, having a bit of an obsession with rose petals in food, and other "flaws". She makes room for substituting herbs and adaptogens in recipes, a flexibility I appreciate, and the recipes range from "I could do that" to "I bet one of my able-bodies friends would make that for me". Overall, it's nice to be intrigued and inspired by recipes, rather than feeling guilty because I'm not eating healthily enough.

Writing: 8, I found her writing really charming in its storytelling aspect and approachability. She peppers little vignettes about the seasons (in Montana, Maine, and Nantucket, her primary haunts) between chapters, and each recipe includes a personal note about it. Overall, the tone is aspirational whilst being authentic and realistic to the fact that most of us aren't foraging homesteaders with a degree in herbalism. I also appreciate the warnings she has about gathering in parks where herbs may have been sprayed with pesticide (I did this in early 2021, gathering dandelions and friends, it was not a good time) as well as foraging precautions.

Personal Impact: 9, damn do I want to be able to gather nettles and make a nettle cake. Or burdock- which I think I've had in soda before and loved. I lack a garden of my own, and even the shared lawn in this complex gets sprayed with pesticide, so sadly, several of these recipes are out of reach for me. But not all! I plan on asking at this Saturday's farmers market if anyone has nettles I can buy, and I happen to have some reishi powder that I'm absolutely going to make things with. Also, she has things like herbed pizza dough and simple syrups one can make with bulk-bought spices. I dog-eared about 20 recipes to try (starting with fire cider dip over roasted potatoes).

Intrigue: 7, the photos were pretty and the stories were engaging. I did find myself skimming a few recipes once I realized I couldn't really make them, but also spend awhile on a few of them, noodling over them (and appreciating the photos). The blueberry lavender pie.....I mean, why would I make a pie for just myself? But also, I might be making a pie for just myself.

Logic/Informativeness: 8, the recipes are very approachable and all of them were relatively short (I think each was one page or less, with the exception of the herbed cheesecake). There's flexibility in there for vegans, vegetarians, those with food intolerances, and picky eaters, with a range of sweet and savory recipes. They're organized by season, which is charming- and thankfully the subject index in the back is comprehensive.

Enjoyment: 8, as cookbooks go, it's one of the better ones I've read. I can't wait to start making some of these delightful sounding (and rustic/hearty) recipes, and reading this has got me considering how to incorporate more nervine and adaptogen herbs into my daily eating habits.

*I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley for the purposes of reviewing it. This in no way impacted my review.

Forest + Home, written by Spencre L.R. McGowan, is a really cool book and is suitable for anyone who loves cooking with herbs. McGowan travels to several regions of the United States in this book, and also groups the recipes into the four seasons. Some recipes might be an option that you can try using herbal ingredients that can be found in the market near your home.

Forest + Home also contains some useful information for herbalist enthusiasts, including beautiful photos, beautiful layout, but I don't like the font used for the recipe titles. Overall, this book is beautiful and can be one of your choices for a cookbook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent and whimsical cookbook for the wild herb and garden enthusiast. So many twists on traditional recipes and brand new ones that I cannot wait to try out. I'm especially impressed by all the nettle recipes - one of my favorite herbs that I'm always looking for ways to use.
Gorgeous layout and photos! I was very hungry by the time I was done reading.
I would recommend this book for herbalists, gardeners, and vegetarians since none of the recipes that I recall contain meat and only a few contain eggs.

A very good book full of information about foraging with loads of photos and recipes to tempt you. Highly recommended.
I received this book from Andrew McMeel publishing and Netgalley for a review.

This is a lovely book filled with recipes that sound very tasty! I love when cookbooks are sorted by season, although I will admit that I don't fully understand the 'Winter' section here aside from a few root veggies. I appreciate seeing what people can actually cook and create with foraged plants and a variety of herbs, as that's where I often fall short after reading a foraging book or a herbalism guide.

The personal anecdotes are a nice touch, though may not be universally appreciated (I, for one, am very into the kitchen witch concept). I would love more food photos.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook . The book is really beautiful and the pictures look great. Highly recommend for all those cooks out there.

A solid cookbook with lots of cool recipes to try if the ingredients can be found of course!

thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!