Warm Your Bones

When cookbook author and Los Angeles–native Vanessa Seder moved to Maine, she expected cold. But, she hadn’t fully anticipated the intensity of the chill — or the quiet — that can run from October into May. Warm Your Bones, her newest cookbook, sprang from her need to use “cooking as a cold-weather coping mechanism.” Mainers, she says, “use food … as a way to generate literal and figurative warmth during the cold season — a sort of antidote against solitude and cabin fever.” That said, this isn’t just a book of so-called comfort food. Many recipes include bountiful seasonal produce. (After all, you really need your vitamins during cold season!)

The dishes are cozy and nourishing, whether they’re intended for breakfast at home or campfire potlucks. Appealing recipes include Baked Eggs with Spinach Pesto and Wild Mushrooms; Roasted Spatchcock Chicken over Alliums; Miso-Smashed Peas; Gingersnap Baked Apples; and a Black Currant Glogg. Traditional and elevated recipes for popcorn and treats — including a savory s’more recipe — add extra fun.