Botany, Ballet & Dinner From Scratch: A Memoir with Recipes

The new, updated edition of Leda Meredith’s first book, a classic local food memoir, is here–with original recipes and color photographs. Leda describes how she remained deeply connected to nature, including the sources of her food, while living in New York City. She demonstrates the joys and travails of preserving food in jars that were stored for months beneath her bed–or foraging for edible plants in city parks. Her journey goes beyond New York City to include old-world family vignettes and recipes, as well as glimpses into other cultures she visited as a ballet dancer on tour, and as a botanist. Always personal, with dry wit that does not wax preachy, she explores the personal, social, and ecological aspects of eating locally-grown food.