A Paleo Feast: Review of the Gather Cookbook

On June 23, 2013 by Erin Fullam

**Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I bought the book on my own accord and was not compensated to provide a review. I simply had to share all this goodness with our audience. There are however Amazon affiliate links provided in this post. 

For those of you who follow the paleo blogging community, there are so many great things happening to some of my favorite writers right now. PaleOMG has her first book out, OMG That’s Paleo? And just like her site it’s true to who she is and provides great recipes for those just getting started on your paleo journeys. She keeps it real! One of our OAMM favorites Nom Nom Paleo is coming out with her book, Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans, just in time for your holiday gift list. It looks to be such a fun book the whole family will enjoy. Paleo Parents, one of my favorites just released Beyond Bacon. I’m waiting patiently for my fun money to grab my copy, but this book doesn’t look to be anything short of fabulous. As a 4-H alumni who raised pigs, I sure can appreciate recipes using the whole hog! By the way the Paleo View podcast is a great resource for those getting started and wondering how to get your kiddos to eat paleo! And Health Bent team just released Primal Cravings, which if you find yourself missing some of your pre-paleo comfort foods, pick up this book and you will find yourself more than satisfied. There are so many others too, just take a look for yourself you won’t be disappointed! But as someone who loves to cook for others I became most excited hearing and watching the journey of Haley and Bill of Primal Palate writing Gather. I just knew that it would be the positive boost for my husband to get excited about cooking again. See he loves to cook, but has to be inspired. He’s not much for freezer cooking or bulk cooking because he likes to take his time. Not saying you can’t be excited or inspired when you do an OAMM cooking day, but I like to be efficient and crank those meals straight to the freezer!  I put in for my preorder and started counting the days. The day finally came I ripped open the package and it was just gorgeous! Ryan came home from work and could not put it down. He went through page by page and started noting all he wanted to cook. Which was basically everything. That night we couldn’t wait and Connor helped me crank out the Lemon Blueberry Muffins. He is always so eager to help and this recipe was just perfect for him since it took little effort and you could not mess it up! The premise of the book is to showcase your paleo lifestyle instead of feeling burdened by food options when having guests over for dinner, having a holiday feast, or celebrating someone you love. And in a sense, trick them into seeing that paleo is not about restrictions or what you can’t have, it’s about what kind of amazing tastes can you create? No recipe is too complicated and they’re written with such ease that even the most novice chef can feel a sense of accomplishment. Haley and Bill also help you step by step in how to set up your occasion from shopping a few days before, creating a beautiful table, prepping parts of the meal ahead so you can actually enjoy your party while knowing your meal will be cooked to perfection.  Ryan took to the book to plan my Mother’s Day feast. And a FEAST it was. I chose prime rib because it’s my all time favorite splurge meal, pan fried asparagus with cherry tomatoes, then berry cobbler with homemade ice cream. He never had to ask me how to do something, he figured it all out on his own, well, with help from Haley and Bill. When typically he’s going through a recipe and having to ask me a question every few steps.  Then we put the book to a true test and threw the Tuscan Feast for my parents. I wanted to have them up for dinner just because and as a thank you for all they do for my family. We made the exact meal from the book and it was nothing short of amazing. Copper River Salmon is in season with only weeks to enjoy this deliciousness at it’s peak it was the perfect main course. The pizza was light and crispy just like my parents love it. I was hoping to remind them of their trip to Italy almost 10 years ago for their anniversary. We may not have hit the exact mark, but they sure felt loved from their bellies to their hearts. And I want to thank Gather for getting us to the table and having a meal that we all could enjoy with no exceptions made.