Farmer's Daughter - A Review

Dawn Stoltzfus shares the recipes from her recipe box from her days growing up on a Mennonite farm as well as being a restaurant owner. She also includes little stories through out the book that tell a little more about her life. The recipes are simple and hearty.

I've never reviewed a cookbook before. I love cookbooks, though I don't use them as often as I should. I'm not saying that I can't cook, because when I take the time, I can. Most of my cooking is baking. There are several recipes in this book that I am looking forward to trying - Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and Cinnamon Rolls for example. I have tried a couple of the recipes - Baked Rosemary Chicken and Creamy Hot Cocca.

Here's what I thought about the cookbook in general.

• Organization - well put together. Sections are easily divided. There was even a simple section that includes things like making a dishwasher rinse agent and laundry soap that I found very helpful.
• Pictures - there weren't any. I like to see a picture to know what the finished product is supposed to look like.
• Index - the index isn't broken down by ingredients, but more by title. I think it could have been broken down by subject or even ingredient to be more helpful.
• Recipes - written in very simple and easy to understand steps. For a non-cooker, that's great. 

Overall, I'm glad to have tried the recipes in the cookbook and I will be using more. This is definitely one cookbook I'll keep!

Rating - 4 stars

I received this book for free from the publisher, Revell Books for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Find Farmer's Daughter at your local bookstore in October 2012 from Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. 

Here are pictures of the recipes I tried.

Creamy Hot Cocoa

The hot chocolate was really simple to make. It was so smooth and so yummy! It was a perfect temperature.

Baked Rosemary Chicken

The Rosemary Chicken turned out tender. It was also really yummy. The entire house smelled of rosemary and garlic as it cooked. This recipe called for using a roasting pan covered in foil. I used my Pampered Chef deep dish covered baker and it turned out beautiful.

As part of my review, I am allowed to include one recipe. I am including the Baked Rosemary Chicken.

Baked Rosemary Chicken

1 (3-5 lb) whole roaster chicken
1 small onion (I used yellow)
1 apple (I used a Gala)
2 stalks celery
1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
1/4 c fresh rosemary (pull the leaves off of the twigs first) OR 2 Tbs dried rosemary
8 garlic cloves, peeled, sliced thin or minced
1 Tbs seasoned salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Place chicken in baking dish. Chop onion, apple, and celery into large pieces and stuff inside the chicken cavity. Melt butter in a small saucepan, add rosemary, garlic, seasoned salt, pepper, and paprika. Heat through, then remove from heat and pour over top of chicken. Rinse sauce pan with 1/2 cup water and pour water into baking dish. Cover dish with foil and bake 3-3 1/2 hours. Serves 5-6.