The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life

After reading the Blackberry Farm Cookbook I felt as if I had been introduced to the Beall family by a very dear friend and was happily invited to spend a week at Blackberry Farm. As I spent time touring the farm (albeit virtually) and meeting various staff members and nearby neighbors I gained an appreciation for the family's passion and for the gift that we have all received as a result. What a labor of love Blackberry Farm and the resultant cookbook are. The recipes are grounded in reality, rarely calling for ingredients that are difficult to procure, although I would certainly love having a gardener like John Coykendall lovingly coaxing my vegetables from the ground. What a treasure! The fact that the cookbook is divided by seasons gives you the opportunity to leisurely work through the year on the same timetable as Blackberry Farm, imagining that you are living that life, nestled in the Smokies and surrounded by the lore of those whose roots are there. Sam also encourages you to taste as you go so that you can adapt the recipes to the sweetness or lack thereof of the fruit or vegetables that you are using and usually gives you optional ideas for putting the final product together. The photographs pull you along through the cookbook, painting images as you go leaving you hoping that your food will look half as good and wishing that you could enjoy it against a backdrop half as stunning as the grounds of Blackberry Farm. Even if you never try one of the recipes, you will love reading of the Bealls, their neighbors and their love for the Smokies and gifts that they give!!

Ok, I must confess this cookbook is food porn. It is beautiful and inspiring. It makes one want to visit the blackberry farm. The photos are perfection and the recipes sound delicious. However, they seem to laborious. I must confess I have had this book for some time now and haven't made anything from it. So, this says something in itself. Every-time that I have wanted to, the recipes just seem too long or aren't in season to make. It is such a beautiful book though and the recipes are inspirational. I have purchased some of the jams, jellies and other items in the book on gilt food (when it was up and running). Maybe more blackberry farms items will become available on provisions by food 52 and williams sonoma. It is just easier than making them from the book. Ah! maybe I am just not a farm girl but a city girl that appreciates the delectables that come from blackberry farm. I would suggest buying this but ensure you are ready to put your sleeves up and get ready to work to make the recipes in this book. Maybe instead, do a foodie tour of the farm for thousands of dollars..If you can't afford that, then this book is so worth the purchase. It is high end farm table food that inspires.

This was a gift but I did look through it before gifting. I saw Sam Beall and Blackberry Farm featured on Martha Stewart and knew my Mom would love this book(We're from that area of the world). The stunningly gorgeous photos of the Farm, land, food and Inn are worth the cost alone. Though I have not tried the recipes, they are laid out by the four seasons and look wonderfully simple, elegant and sophisticated but with a unique, totally unpretentious, Appalachian down home feel. Get this if you're looking for a special cookbook or gift for someone who likes photography, to cook, eat, farm or travel.

I purchased this cookbook since I live in the area and am familiar with Blackberry Farm and its reputation for excellence. I have toured the farm through a University of TN alumni summer college. That said, I find the cookbook to be lovely to look at and the recipes to be very doable for someone who likes to cook at home. I like the simplicity of the recipes and the fact that the ingredients are easy to find. I have made the Summer Squash Casserole, which is outstanding--I would never of thought of using manchego cheese. Kreis's TN Fire-Fried Chicken is very good as is the Sweet and Spicy Foothills Coleslaw.

I love that the recipes are fantastic... they are fancy but any home cook can make them... they are not hard and the results are beautiful... I will never be able to afford to go to Blackberry Farm's but I can make the food now.

Unlike many cookbooks that have ingredients that are hard to find, the receipes contained in the Backberry Farm Cookbook are easy to assemble. We are anxious to try them knowing they must be wonderful coming from a world class place that charges over $1,000 a night. We live close by and it is quite a sight seeing Bentley and Rolls Royce autos trying to navigate the narrow two lane country road coming from the Inn. The beautiful photography within gives a hint at how secluded the farm is being nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

I have enjoyed reading this book. The pictures are really inspiring.

This book is an absolute beauty, and makes me want to visit Blackberry Farm. What a great philosophy towards food and life! The only recipe I've used so far is for their Blackberry Vinegar, which I used to buy at Williams-Sonoma to make a reduction sauce for Pork Tenderloin with, and they discontinued. It was by far the simplest recipe for Blackberry Vinegar I've found, and worked perfectly. Can't wait to dig more deeply into the recipes in this gorgeous book.

I love the stories behind the chef and this book met all my expectations!! An awesome read and the recipes...just as wonderful!