The author of Midwest Pie “looks to move the needle on diverse, plant-based, distinctively Midwestern cooking” (Michigan Stateside).
 
The Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen is a community cookbook created by professional and home chefs who live and work in the Rust Belt. Recipes collected here represent the diversity of the region, and include vegan versions of:

• Polish pierogis
• Detroit coney dogs
• Hungarian paprikash
• Slovak kolaches
• Mexican conchas
• German sauerkraut balls
• Cincinnati chili
• Slovenian fish fry
• Chitterings, and many more. 

The cooks and chefs collected here offer stories about their recipes as well as family and culinary traditions. The book also includes resources on how to stock a vegan pantry, guides to useful equipment, and basic how-tos for “veganizing” staples.
 
Infusing old world recipes with a new level of creativity for a changing audience, The Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen is unpretentious, accessible, and fun.
 
“Some readers will want this book for the recipes, some for the ‘unpretentious shortcuts’ that Pangrace promises, and some for the sheer crunchy wonder of the title concept.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A cookbook and guide to enjoying “America’s best secret fruit”—a rare Midwestern delicacy with a “sunny, electric, and downright tropical” flavor (Serious Eats).
 
They are found in the fleeting, honeyed weeks between August and October. They are fleshy and awkward to eat, sweetly fragrant, and they do not travel well at all. They are beloved by foragers, keepers of regional food traditions, and anyone seeking relief from the industrial food chain.

In The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Sara Bir sets the humble pawpaw center stage, with detailed information on how to harvest, source, store, and―of course―cook with these uniquely Midwestern delicacies. Here you’ll find recipes for pawpaw cornbread and pawpaw pudding; key lime pawpaw cheesecake and banana-pawpaw ketchup. Sidebars address questions as varied as “Where can I buy frozen pawpaws?” and “How do I use pawpaw in a cocktail?” Written with humor and love for a curious subject, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook will inspire you to experiment in the kitchen and get out into the woods.

“The best cookbooks convey not only how to use an ingredient but why an ingredient is special in the first place. The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook is just that sort of resource—great recipes that make me want to go foraging in order to cook them!” ―Abra Berens, chef and James Beard Award-nominated author of Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit
 
Includes an introduction by Alexis Nikole Nelson, TikTok star and @blackforager

A historical tour of midwestern pies that recalls when recipes were shared through faded note cards and junior league cookbooks.
 
New England may say it’s the “Great American Pie Belt,” but pie has a rich and varied history in the American Midwest too. Stop by any church or community event in the heartland today and you’re likely to see as many types of pie on the dessert table as there are people who made them.
 
Midwest Pie highlights the treats, both sweet and savory, that have come to define this region. Here, you’ll learn about bean pie’s origins in the Nation of Islam, the popularity of “desperation pies” during the Depression, how Michigan miners ate lunch “pasties," and much more. Full of accessible instructions and helpful sidebars, you’ll learn the stories behind a variety of pies, including:

• Hoosier Pie
• Schnitz Pie
• Ohio Buckeye Pie
• Sawdust Pie
• Runza 

Midwest Pie is the perfect collection for any home chef looking to learn more about the diversity and deliciousness of one of the region’s most enduring culinary contributions.
 
“Recipes spa[n] ‘old classic’ pies such as funeral and sawdust; regional originals like the Nation of Islam’s bean pie and Indiana’s sugar cream Hoosier pie; ‘desperation pies’ that relied on pantry staples when times were tough (chess, shoofly, mock apple); midwestern produce pies (persimmon chiffon); and retro relics (cottage cheese, chocolate rum).” —Chicago Reader
 
“[An] unpretentious little book that will summon up old memories for some and introduce others to an era when seasonality often dictated what sort of pie might show up on the dinner table.” —Booklist

A compendium of traditional midwestern cookies “along with the poignant and heartwarming stories behind each recipe” (Mary Bilyeu, Toledo Blade).
 
The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook celebrates the tradition of the cookie table with forty-one classic recipes from authentic Mahoning Valley cookie tables and cooks. What’s a cookie table? Funny you should ask! The cookie table is a tradition beloved by residents of Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and parts in between. It has its roots in a time when wedding cakes were far too dear for newly arrived immigrants to purchase. Instead, family and friends showed their love for a bride and groom by baking from scratch hundreds (sometimes thousands) of cookies and other small sweet treats to be shared at the reception. The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook is an international baking guide, including cookies from different cultures, cookies with different textures, spices, shapes, and backstories. Simple cookies, ridiculously indulgent cookies, experimental cookies―they’re all here. And most of all it shares the tradition of the cookie table, a heartfelt way of building community that has endured through generations.
 
In the tradition of the community cookbook, The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook is a must for any kitchen large or small, and a great gift for bakers and home cooks.