Picking cotton, shucking corn, boiling sorghum, and harvesting tobacco are all part of the rich agricultural heritage of the South recalled in this text. Leighton attempts to convey her sense of wonder at the connection between humankind and nature which she discovered in the rural South.

The southern garden produces delights in all four seasons, from asparagus to tomatoes, apples to collard greens. Make use of the bounty of your garden or farmers' market with new twists on familiar favorites. Recipes for Apple Radish Salad and Bacon Apple Burgers break up a fall parade of crisps and crumbles. Instead of roasting, make Whiskey Braised Sweet Potatoes or Sweet Potato Peanut Stew and add greens to Shrimp and Grits. Recipes for preserving herbs, pickling peaches and berry jams mean that your harvest will never go to waste. Let experienced gardener and cook Cathy Cleary walk you through four seasons of fresh, flavorful cooking.

“Inventive, sumptuous recipes” from the writer of the award-winning food blog Harvest and Honey, a Saveur Best Blog finalist (Sonja Overhiser, author of Pretty Simple Cooking). Showcasing the flavors and modern cooking techniques of Appalachia and the Blue Ridge Mountains: With over seventy delectable recipes and eighty stunning photographs organized by seasons, Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest is an evocative cookbook rooted in Appalachian ingredients and flavors that takes readers and cooks deep into the heart and soul of America. Lauren McDuffie uses modern cooking techniques to transform traditional comfort food with a mountain sensibility into inspired meals and menus for anyone. Each chapter opens with storytelling that echoes the folklore and tall tales of the region. Beautiful color photographs capture mouthwatering dishes for all occasions—from morning beverages to a show-stopping berry buckle—as well as the tools, fruits, flowers, and scenery of life in the Mountain South. From the mountains of southwestern Virginia, Lauren McDuffie is a writer, food stylist, photographer, and creator of the blog Harvest and Honey. Menu suggestions and wine pairings encompass a variety of meal occasions, from small plates to soups, salads, mains, sides, drinks, dessert, along with tips and techniques on canning, pickling, and preserving. Mouthwatering recipes include Shaved Summer Squash Salad with Pickled Pepper Vinaigrette, Slow-Roasted Onion and Golden Apple Soup, Baked Pork Chops with Cran-Apple Moonshine Compote, Drunken Short Ribs with Smoky Gouda Grits and Mountain Gremolata, Pan-Seared Carrots with Bourbon-Maple Glaze, Triple Orange Cake with Honey-Lavender Buttercream, and many more. “[An] intimate and charmingly rendered collection of inspiring recipes.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From golden and bubbly pies, cobblers, and crisps to decadent cakes that are drizzled, frosted, and glazed with fall flavor, these seasonal favorites are the perfect way to showcase the splendor of the season. The book includes over 75 harvest recipes and photographs to fill your kitchen with autumns warm flavors and aromas.