Book Review: Seven Years of Plenty Cookbook

I recently received a copy of Seven Years of Plenty Cookbook by Linda Olsson who also writes the blog Seven Years of Plenty.  For those of you unfamiliar with the phrase, seven years of plenty were what Joseph in Egypt knew would happen before a great famine hit by interpreting Pharaoh’s dream in the Old Testament.

Linda comes from a family with diverse cultural backgrounds, and knowing that most of the world eats much simpler with more reliance on staple foods (the wheat, beans, rice you have in your food storage), she compiled a book of recipes from around the globe that make use of basic foods.  This is a fabulous book for ideas to shake up the basic foods a bit.  I thought I had my 3 month shelf stable recipes worked out pretty well, but this book has opened up a variety of new meals that I can make with the basic foods I already have.

There are chapters on breads, rice, beans, vegetables, fruits, sweet breads & puddings, desserts, and beverages.  There are also informative parts throughout the book with tips on things like high altitude cooking, finishing a bread loaf (no, not by eating it all!  By treating it before you bake it so the crust is shiny or crusty or whatever!), and how to thicken puddings.

At the end of each chapter is a section called “in a pinch” that holds even more basic recipes for that particular chapter.  Perfect if you’re down to not much variety in the food storage.  Linda also included a chapter with basic substitutions, spices, and recipes like making your own ketchup for cooking, hot cocoa mix, and granola.  A bit on making a three month meal plan and freezing foods rounds out the book.

I’ve really enjoyed this book.  It has given me some new ideas for meals without having to introduce ingredients I’d have to special order from some ethnic food mart.

A couple of things to note:  I would have liked pictures with the recipes, but I realize that is difficult to accomplish and more expensive to publish. Also, many of the recipes take time to make.  There aren’t too many “quick” fixes, so if you’re short on time for dinner or dessert you’ll have to sort through and find something that will cook up quick.  I’ve got a few of the bread recipes bookmarked, but haven’t put the time into making them yet.

We did try a few of the other recipes out.

Here are the Chocolate Melting Moments from Australia.  Dark chocolate taste and fell apart in your mouth like butter cookies:

The Crimean Cream from Russia was a hit.  You can either chill it or freeze it, so we froze it.  Super yummy.

The Custard Puff from France.  I didn’t have canned cherries, so I used some of my frozen cherries.  While I was making this one my daughter came in and asked, “What are you making? Is it Mexican or something?”  No, dear.  It’s French.  And pay no attention to that little bite taken out of the corner–I really did have to test this before feeding it to my family!

And lest you think the book is full of desserts, we also made the Island Rice from the Caribbean.  I didn’t have orange juice, so used pineapple instead and added the optional chicken to make a meal of it.  It was pretty darn good.  The kids even ate it, which for my kids is like a miracle.  The best part is that I didn’t have to make any special shopping trips to make any of these recipes–they all used basic foods I already had in my food storage and refrigerator.  Nice.

So this is a book that I would recommend for those wanting a little variety in their basic foods cooking.  Head on over to Linda’s blog to order your own copy, or you can try to win one here!  Linda has graciously provided a copy for me to give away to one of my readers!  Hooray!  Aren’t you glad you read this far?

Sorry, giveaway has ended.  Lucky winner was Kris.  Thanks for entering! :)

Keep preparing!
Angela