Big news from the Full Belly Farm Kitchen: We wrote a cookbook!
Wow, I think it may have been 10 years or more since you last heard from us in these pages. A lot has happened! We have three beautiful children who are or are about to enter their teen years, a new farm dog, and in 2015 we moved into our Farm Kitchen. Perhaps you have been out to the farm for a pizza night, a farm dinner, Hoes Down, or an open farm day visit in the past and have seen this space for yourself. In case you have not, it is a big redwood building that looks like a grand old barn with a water tower on the side. The landscaping has grown up along with us, and there are vines of jasmine and wisteria climbing the walls. We have butterfly bushes, vitex, native grasses, and big trees that provide much needed shade in the summer months. There is a big lawn out front that has been danced on by thousands of feet, and witnessed many, many happy occasions and gatherings of friends and family.
Over the years we always had a secret dream of writing a cookbook. People would ask us when that was happening, and we demurred ~ feeling too overwhelmed with the busyness of raising young kids and keeping a business going all at the same time. We never knew how it could fit into our daily to do list that was already too long. At the same time, we kept plugging away at our farm dinner series, creating new recipes and testing them out on our guests. After so many years, we realized we had quite a compilation. At one of our dinners about two years back, Hannah’s book agent and her photographer were guests. At the end of the evening, they pointedly asked, “So, when are you going to do YOUR book?” We both said, “Let’s go for it.”
It took about two years to write this book from start to finish. We were incredibly lucky to have a wise and supportive book agent, photographer and publisher who guided us along the way. This book is a cookbook at heart. In it, you will find 100 recipes inspired by our farm dinner series, events, and what we cook for our family as we move through each season. We also wanted to bring you, the reader (we hope!), on a visual exploration of the farm. There are scenes of our workdays here intermingled with the food photography. There is also an assortment of essays about life on the farm. We talk about issues salient to farming today, including water and labor issues, and share the joys and challenges of living and working on a family farm.
We are at the vulnerable part of the process where the book is finished. No more changes or alterations can be made. We are now in the phase where pre-orders are available, which we are told is important (we still are newbies in the publishing world!). We would be so honored if you would consider supporting us by pre-ordering this book, which you can do here. We hope it makes you feel closer to us and can transport you out to our little corner of the world. As always, thank you for being a part of our farm community.
Jenna & Amon Muller
Make this salad! Recipe here.
