Book excerpt: IACP AWARD WINNER • 100 recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes from the owner of the idyllic Catbird Cottage B&B in upstate New York. “Melina Hammer shows us that there is beauty all around us when we cook seasonally. . . . A joyful, inspiring book for cooks, bakers, artists, and dreamers.”—Amanda Hesser, founder and CEO, Food52 At the foot of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge lies the hamlet of Accord, New York, dotted with orchards and farms, population 562. There, Melina Hammer welcomes guests from near and far to stay and eat at Catbird Cottage, a B&B run out of her charming home. Her eclectic table is set with meals that showcase stories and ingredients from her own garden, New York’s wild landscape, and her travels around the globe. In her debut cookbook, Melina shares the beloved recipes from this special place, all presented seasonally just like the meals at Catbird Cottage. These recipes are organized by season, since the seasons dictate what’s on the Catbird Cottage table. Whether it’s Wild Salmon Gravlax, Scallop-Shiso Ceviche, Buttery Scrambled Eggs and Chanterelles, Sour Cherry Pie, or a fall-apart persimmon served with triple-cream cheese and freshly baked sourdough bread, Melina’s food is deeply satisfying and sustaining—and emphasizes cooking and living in a more connected and joyful way. Melina also shares her foraging and preserving know-how, allowing readers to stock their pantries, cupboards, and freezers. But these recipes don’t require you be a fully-fledged homesteader, expert forager, or connoisseur of global flavor. The book takes the foundations of these sustainable practices and integrates them into an accessible kitchen vernacular of complete nourishment. The food of Catbird Cottage is community on a plate—grown, harvested, persevered, and presented with love—and shared with cherished companions.