The Cottage Kitchen by Marte Marie Forsberg

The Cottage Kitchen by Marte Marie Forsberg is part autobiographical story book and part cookbook.

 Forsberg was born and raised off of the coast of Norway. She grew up learning gardening, foraging and cooking delectible meals from her mum. Then she ended up living in England after going to a university and traveling for a time. She has a popular blog also entitled, The Cottage Kitchen. This book is divided by seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn and then concludes with an extra section on Afternoon Tea. Each section contains a mix of stories and seasonal recipes.

I enjoyed reading this thick lovely book. Some of the recipes look a bit challenging for finding ingredients locally for me. Otherwise, I think many of the recipes look like fun. Many are different than the recipes in my area. Clearly the culture is different, but that is what I like about this book. I can try something new and fun. Even recipes like waffles and pancakes don't look like what I am used to in the Midwest--large thick stacks of pancakes with Maple syrup are not found in this book rather they are thin pancakes, almost like crepes, with blueberries. Still they look yummy to me. Recipes that I think look fun to try include: My Mother's Garden Soup, My Mother's Rye Bread, Caramel Popcorn, Fig and Pecan No-knead Bread, Rhubarb Lemonade, Norwegian Waffles with Strawberries and sour cream, and Cucumber Salad, among others. Some of the recipes do look like they will take more thought as they have weighed ingredients and not the standard measuring cups found in the United States. I have a food scale but I don't often use it. I like that there is a good index in the back of this book making it easy to find recipes that you are seeking.

I especially enjoyed reading the stories and recipes in the Afternoon Tea section and I think many of my tea peeps will as well. Afternoon tea recipes include almond celebration wreath, orange cinnamon knots, Prosecco Scones, and Lise's Carrot Cake.

If you are looking for a lovely cookbook with a mixture of interesting reading and some more unusual recipes not found in the States, then this is a book you will likely enjoy.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.