Life in a Northern Town

We're in the process of updating our website! Learn more about what that means and how you can help create history..

Cooking, Eating, and Other Adventures along Lake Superior

Mary Dougherty

This one-of-a-kind cookbook is a locavore lovers’ collection of global recipes with a North Woods twist, a small-town heart, and a farm-to-table setting.

208 pages, 7.5 x 9, 183 color photos
Hardcover: $29.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-828-7
Ebook: $19.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-829-4
Publication Date: 8/15/2017

BUY

-

Description

When Mary Dougherty and her family moved from St. Paul, Minnesota, to the tiny Bayfield peninsula in far northwestern Wisconsin, they set out to become part of the local tapestry, one woven of waterfalls, beaches, farm stands, and a quintessential small town of 487 people. As she incorporates what is grown and raised in northern Wisconsin into her own kitchen, Dougherty continues a cultural tradition begun by immigrants to the area hundreds of years ago. In Life in a Northern Town, she brings it all together—tasty recipes, warm and witty stories, and dazzling photos—in a loving tribute to a unique corner of the Upper Midwest.

Chef, mother, author, and foodie Mary Dougherty explores what is grown and raised in northern Wisconsin to produce an enticing collection of globally and regionally inspired recipes featuring local cheeses, meats, and produce from the farmers in and around Bayfield and the Apostle Islands—pho made with beef bones from a farm in Mellen, Indian meatballs with curry powder made in Washburn, chowder with corn and potatoes from a farm stand in Ashland.

As she knits herself into the Bayfield community, Dougherty comes to more fully grasp the intricate relationship between food and place and what it means to nourish a family and a community.

Author Bio

After a sailing trip to Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands, Mary Dougherty transplanted her family of seven (plus four dogs) to Bayfield, Wisconsin. She opened and co-ran Good Thyme Restaurant, recognized as one of the top dining experiences in northern Wisconsin. She went on to create the Cookery Maven blog and Words for Water, a photography project about the importance of fresh water. She was voted Wisconsin’s 2016 Progressive Leader of the Year. You can find her most mornings at the beach with her dogs and most nights in her kitchen cooking.

Mary Dougherty lives a big-hearted, generous life in this small town. She shares the wit and the wisdom born of harsh winters and splendid summers, stories of raising a family and working with friends, laced with poetry and prose to buoy spirits. And Mary’s food—oh, her food! Inspiring, intelligent, bold—this book satisfies on so many levels.

Beth Dooley

Chef and author of ‘In Winter’s Kitchen: Growing Roots and Breaking Bread in the Northern Heartland’

“Life in a Northern Town is proof that people can appreciate local terroir through heartfelt meals made with a conscious nod to the abundance of the land and waters around them.”

—Kyle Cherek, culinary historian, food essayist, and former host of PBS's Wisconsin Foodie

“What Mary Dougherty writes is a love story that does not stop with her passion for good food made with local ingredients and influenced by global flavors. The author adds intimate glimpses at the rhythms of life in rural Bayfield, the myriad moods of Lake Superior, and the seasonal changes that redefine Apostle Islands luster. Her unpredictable array of recipes will delight average home cooks and those who seek culinary challenges.”

—Mary Bergin, author of Wisconsin Supper Club Cookbook and the syndicated “Roads Traveled” column