Overview

Fifty years before the phrase ""simple living"" became fashionable, Helen and Scott Nearing were living their celebrated ""Good Life"" on homesteads first in Vermont, then in Maine. All the way to their ninth decades, the Nearings grew their own food, built their own buildings, and fought an eloquent combat against the silliness of America's infatuation with consumer goods and refined foods. They also wrote or co-wrote more than thirty books, many of which are now being brought back into print by the Good Life Center and Chelsea Green. Simple Food for the Good Life is a jovial collection of ""quips, quotes, and one-of-a-kind recipes meant to amuse and intrigue all of those who find themselves in the kitchen, willingly or otherwise."" Recipes such as Horse Chow, Scott's Emulsion, Crusty Carrot Croakers, Raw Beet Borscht, Creamy Blueberry Soup, and Super Salad for a Crowd should improve the mood as well as whet the appetite of any guest.

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9781890132293

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Simple foods for simple living, from that frugal housewife and scrupulous soul who would keep a leftover stockpot even if I were a Rockefeller ; who eats most foods raw, even some grains and potatoes; and who not only shuns flesh but apologizes to the radish, the carrot, and the head of lettuce she must eat. Nearing believes that a meal should take no longer to prepare than to eat (hence, bread gives way to plain boiled grains); that cooking destroys nutrients, starches should be eaten sparingly, and humans should base their diets on raw vegetables. People should eat for sustenance, moreover, not pleasure. Perhaps readers can take that last assertion with a grain of sea salt, for Nearing also boasts of how her more sophisticated visitors have admired her pristine meals. As they are all made from fresh whole foods, they have to be good (though more spartan diners might eschew the molasses, honey, and maple syrup as well). Her recipes are so deliberately simple that they take up less space than her personal observations on food. These range from succinct arguments against meat-eating to refreshing comments on the recipes themselves: Salads, says Nearing, need not be hampered by recipes ; and, on soups, I can only say that my soups are often a surprise to me. Both the recipes and the advice on storing and preserving the fruits of the garden make this a handbook for aspirers to the good life; but epicureans as well will savor the observations. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Helen Nearing left city life with her husband, Scott, nearly sixty years ago to move first to Vermont and then to their farm in Harborside, Maine. The Nearings' food and living philosophies have provided the guidelines for many who seek a simpler way of life.

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