
Member Reviews

Wonderful book full of beautiful imagery, tasty and nutritious recipes, farm life snippets and lots of knowledgeable write-ups on sustainability.
Thanks Netgalley and Chronicle Books for giving me an ARC of this book to view!

This was a great cookbook. It has easy-to-follow recipes. I would highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for the ARC.

I always love adding new recipies to chase the boredom out of my kitchen. This book gave me several new ideas - espeically for a family favorite: risotto. Beautiful pictures and a heartwarming set of stories from a family who loves food and where food comes from.

Readers who are interested in recipes using goat cheeses and other cheeses made on the Tomales Farmstead Creamery will want to pick up an interesting cookbook, Feasts on the Farm: Over 60 Seasonal Recipes and Stories of Sustainable Farming from Tomales Farmstead Creamery. While this cookbook has stories and interesting facts about living on a farm, it also includes recipes. The recipes aren’t however, doable in most home kitchens because most (not all) of the recipes call for difficult to find ingredients, especially special cheeses that are featured at the Tomales Farmstead Creamery. Most of us don’t have access to them, or must order them online. I’m sure the cheeses are of the highest quality and taste wonderful, but they are more expensive than most of us can afford.
The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions to make them easy to follow. With that said, many aren’t recipes that regular people would make. Some are gourmet, some are not particularly appealing, and some are cost prohibitive.
The book, however has beautiful photographs, not only of the dishes, but also of scenes from the farm, including goats, which they raise for many of their cheeses; those goats are adorable.
This is a book that is fun to read, and one to curl up in a corner to enjoy. Most of the recipes aren’t that appealing.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I loved this book. The recipes are broken down by seasons and then by starters, mains and sweets. But my favorite part was the stories and details of life on the farm.
I’m rating this a 4 (4.5 if I had the option) because some of the ingredients will be harder to find in certain areas also I wish there were more pictures because the ones included are wonderful.

The title and cover intrigued me. I do love a farming cookbook. I was a little disappointed however. The text is a mix of farm living, sustainable advocacy with an emphasis on inclusion which bordered on the political. I guess that’s to be expected due to regional thought. Filled with lovely photographs and recipes, the book is one for the area, not necessarily for the nation. This is due to the inability of the reader to find the products in some recipes for the simple fact they do not ship outside of California. Thus, I would recommend this book to someone wanting local California farm products, sustainability in their produce and recipes of the region itself.

I like the seasonal organization and the interspersed essays. This style of book feels part memoir, part guide to the farm and its practices, and part cookbook. The inclusion of the farm’s cheese names in the recipe titles was confusing for me as a newbie to the author and company. If the intended audience are the existing customers and those visiting the farm, this makes sense. I worry that any new cookbook audience would be similarly confused. I would have preferred the recommended cheese type in the receipt title, the specific name in the recipe copy and ingredients list could have both. Overall I plan to make a few of these and many seem like a basic way to show off the farm’s product.

I love the farm-to-table offerings of this cookbook! The food presented is sustainable, and the author proves to be knowledgeable in the ingredients they are writing about. The recipes themselves are practical and approachable for anyone who is looking to eat more locally. It's also beautifully presented with great photos and illustrations.
I will say, these recipes are not made for someone who is new to the kitchen. They can be a bit on the detailed side and not written for a novice.

I loved this book.
The recipes are so tasty and wholesome, even the ones containing meat can be tweaked easily for a vegetarian like me.
Absolutely recommend.

The pictures were gorgeous. Sadly many of the ingredients are simply not available in my small farming community. The focus was on their cheese which is understandable. However a more approachable group of recipes would make a bigger impact.

Beautiful, delicious, and sometimes aspirational recipes. I appreciate how this book is organized by seasons through starters, mains and sweet. I loved reading about the farm, creamery, and the sustainable practices in the communities through education. I like that so many recipes are straightforward and are made with wholesome ingredients and I liked reading the little introductions/stories behind each one.

I received an ARC of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a wonderful cookbook. The recipes are delicious and the pictures put the book over the top!

Such a great cookbook especially if you’re looking for a farm fresh feel. I loved reading about their year on the farm, animals and products they make. This is a super wholesome cookbook that I will definitely be purchasing! I think this is going to be one of my mom’s birthday gifts, YUM!

The photos in this book were amazing, and made me want a pet goat!
Even though I found the book beautiful and understood that the recipes were separated by season, I wish this was addressed a little more directly. Maybe, a separating page that said the season in big print and then dove into the different courses.
I do appreciate a cookbook where I feel I have the skills to make the recipes, this was one of those cook books. Even though some ingredients are more rare, they provided substitutions for many of them.
I tested a recipe today of the Apple and Marmalade Grilled cheese which is everything I would want in a grilled cheese. This is a cookbook I would definitely look at buying this cookbook.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free
ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

An interesting read, but the recipes and ingredients do not seem very accessible for most people. That being said, for someone looking for an elevated farm to table type of cookbook this is a great one.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the beautiful photographs of the food. Some of the recipes I immediately noted down to try, some of them felt intimidating. Also there are so many beautiful farm animal pictures!

Feasts on the Farm is, among other things, a very visually appealing book. The authors intersperse recipes with seasonal information and stories. In the continuing shift to and popularity of farm-to-table this would be a slightly more advanced how-to for those wanting to eat more seasonally. Most of the ingredients will be familiar to readers, and it's educational with new ingredients (to this reader) such as kenne. Cheese, glorious cheese! is highlighted as well as vegetables and fruit, with some protein sprinkled in. If you enjoy watching Chef's Table (Netflix), you'll like the delectable photos.

This book is incredible! Very welcoming cover. I wasn’t familiar with the farm or author… but was shocked to see it was a farm based in Marin County! There’s a ton of adorable goat photos throughout the book! There’s even some watercolor art work that is a very nice touch. The recipes look delicious, even ran off and made the lemon pasta right away. There’s is truly an excellent cook book, great gift, or something to keep on your coffee table.

Feasts in the Farm is a feast for the eyes filled with seasonal recipes beautifully photographed and lots of adorable baby goat pictures just waiting to ensnare you! They share quite a bit about their regenerative farming practices, the ethos behind their operation and the intentionality in what they do, the little watercolor illustrations that accompany those sections are lovely. There’s many recipes including their specialty cheeses that they do not ship outside of CA due to carbon footprint reasons but they suggest substitutions and for the average bear it may take some hunting around their local co-op or farmers market to complete their meal.
It was lovely and transportive to read through. Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

The first thing that struck me about this book was how beautiful it was, from the striking, sunlit photography to the effervescent watercolor illustration on the sidebars. Flipping the pages was a feast for the eyes, transporting me across the US to a lovely and clearly adored farm. And yes, those baby goat photos are so precious I could cry!
The recipes themselves are well-organized, laid out, and written. They are a bit on the fussy/fancy side. You'll likely find yourself scouting for ingredients. A rummage in your fridge or even a casual farmer's market jaunt probably won't do you. That said, the writers do offer substitutions, which is absolutely necessary in the case of the many, many uses of cheeses literally impossible to obtain on the East Coast. As an added bonus, even the chef-penned recipes aren't over-reliant on expensive specialist gadgetry. You may need to win the rhubarb Hunger Games to proceed, but you're not required to own a sous vide or an outdoor pizza oven.
There's a very good chance I will be picking up a permanent hard copy of this book when it comes out in August. Not only do I want to support Hicks and MacLeod in their championing of sustainable, accessible farming, but I'm bound to want that Maple-Crusted Butternut Squash recipe when butternuts are in season, and my test batch of Herbacious Cocktail Cookies has already been decimated.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.