The Homemade Kitchen

Praise! Ordering information! Event schedule! Errata! It’s all here on this page. 

One of  Epicurious’ Best Cookbooks of 2015!

Recommended by The Washington Post!

Get your copy from from

Amazon  |B&N  |Powell’s 

ERRATA:

Turn to page 140- Minestrone. There is a sentence that somehow disappeared between the advance copy and the final book. Between the 1st and 2nd instructions, there should be another sentence! So after “Start with the aromatics,” but before the next addition, write in this sentence:

Now add the liquid–about a quart of water, stock, or whey. Bring it to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer. If you have a Parmesan rind or prosciutto end, add it now.

And come see me! Here’s a list of events in the coming months:

October 9 Book Signing, Healthy Living Market, Saratoga Springs, NY, Free! But sign up here

October 10 Book Signing, Berkshire Botanical Gardens Harvest Festival, Stockbridge, MA 3:00

October 11 From Scratch Club Food Swap, Troy, NY: Food Writing Class, 1:00, sign up here, Food swap and book signing, sign up here

October 13 “What we talk about when we talk about food” panel with Katie Workman, Shauna Ahern, and Jenny Rosenstrach, 92nd St. Y, New York Tx are here

October 17 Berkshire Fermentation Festival, Great Barrington Fair Grounds, Signing 2:00

October 18, 3:30 Book Launch Party, Six Depot Cafe, West Stockbridge, MA

October 22 Preserved Lemon Demo and Book Signing, Hazel and Dewey, Denver, CO

October 25 Talk and Book Signing, Barbara Jo’s Books to Cooks, Vancouver, BC. Canada

October 27 Cooking Class and Lunch, Hot Stove Society, Seattle, WA 11:30. Tx are here.

October 27 In conversation with Tara Austen Weaver and book signing, Book Larder, Seattle, WA

October 29 7:00 Cheesemaking Demo and Booksigning, Rakestraw Books, Danville, CA

October 30 12:30, A Conversation with Mollie Katzen, Book Passage, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

October 30 6:30 Cooking Class and Fall Dinner at Draegers, San Mateo, CA tx are here

October 31, Potluck brunch with Cheryl Sternman Rule, San Jose (free but ticketed, sign up here)

October 31 3:00, talk and signing at Omnivore Books, San Francisco, CA

November 1, talk and signing at Powell’s Books, Portland, OR

November 3, Class and signing at Cooks of Crocus Hill, St. Paul, MN

November 8, Lean In Event, Shaker Dam Coffee House, West Stockbridge, MA 3:00

November 14, 3:00 Pie Demo, signing, and party at Home Chef, Hillsdale, NY tx are here
November 18, 12:00 Xhibition Kitchen, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

November 18, 7:00 Talk and Signing, Mass Horticulture, Wellesley, MA tx are here (POSTPONED)

November 21, 3:00-5:00 Signing and holiday coping session (with treats!), Dory and Ginger, Pittsfield, MA

December 12, Signing, One Mercantile, Great Barrington, MA

December 19, Signing and Spoon Butter Demo, 10:00 Eat Boutique Holiday Market, Boston, MA

December 19, Signing and sampling, 2:00 Farm and Fable, Boston, MA

January 16, Class and Signing 11:30, Stonewall Kitchen, York, ME (signup required)

January 20, Talk, Potluck Dinner and signing, Monterey Church, Monterey, MA

January 30, Lemon Curd Demonstration and Signing, Berkshire Atheneum, Pittsfield, MA

March 19, Seedy Saturday, Keynote Speaker, Copake, NY

Praise for The Homemade Kitchen:

From Publishers Weekly:
Paging through Chernila’s comforting and satisfying book feels like having a cup of tea with a good friend. Equal parts narrative and recipes, her offering is as much a philosophy of life as it is a collection of dishes. She puts the reader at ease from the beginning with her brand of doable domesticity: “Homemade food is the opposite of perfection. It holds the stamp of its maker.” Chapters are organized according to a collection of phrases she has taped to her fridge. “Be a Beginner” encourages readers to try anything once, even jam-making, with a versatile master recipe that adapts to any seasonal fruit. A chapter called “Use Your Scraps” proves the endless virtue of stale bread with recipes for stuffed tomatoes, panzanella, and broccoli rabe and sausage bread pudding. “Slow Down” emphasizes the importance of finding a pocket of time each day for yourself, with recipes for cold-brew concentrate and a rhubarb snacking cake. Although Chernila strives to eat local, sustainably sourced food when she can, in a chapter entitled “Do Your Best, and Then Let Go,” she acknowledges how her family really eats: “Organicish. Locenough. Homemade when I can. Fresh. Good. Mine.” This honest and beautifully told account of one family’s way of life will inspire readers to forge an equally delicious path.

From Library Journal ★ 08/01/2015:
Massachusetts-based writer Chernila (The Homemade Pantry) approaches home cooking with a can-do attitude, and under her tutelage, tasks such as baking bread, making tofu, culturing kefir, and rolling sushi become approachable and entertaining. Her latest includes a balance of recipes for seasonal pantry staples and meals, which readers can use to prepare minimally processed foods every day of the week. Even though they’re simple, these dishes are special. Queen garlic with chèvre and tomatoes, spicy pumpkin hot chocolate, platter salads, and easy coq au vin with buttermilk spaetzle are just a few of many recipes you’ll reach for when you want to impress. VERDICT Never preachy or prescriptive, Chernila’s most recent offering is sure to please anyone who loves unfussy, from-scratch cooking.

 “Alana Chernila has crafted a truly contemporary guidebook to the food she loves, written from the refreshingly authentic perspective of a voracious learner. If any book will make you want to rearrange your schedule to get cooking from scratch again, the Homemade Kitchen is the one.”

Hugh Acheson, author of The Broad Fork and A New Turn in the South

“Nobody does a better job at merging the romance and the realities of everyday cooking than Alana Chernila. To leaf through the gorgeous recipes in her book is to be reminded that preparing good, simple food for the people you love is what it’s all about.”

 Jenny Rosenstrach, blogger and author of Dinner a Love Story

There is a tender-hearted quality to everything about Alana, extending to her beautiful sense of what a cookbook should be.  She nails it with this one – it is so compelling! As soon as you look at these pages, you’ll want to dive into the recipes, and everything culinary will feel fresh and new. You’ll also feel you have a wise and passionate new friend to guide you through.

Mollie Katzen, author of Moosewood Cookbook and The Heart of the Plate

 Alana’s way with everything makes the kitchen seem more welcoming, and the world a more hopeful place. This is more than a cookbook — it’s a treasure.

Cheryl Sternman Rule, blogger and author of Yogurt Culture and Ripe