After several years in the big city, I moved to a cabin in the woods of Northern California. Inspired by local ingredients I create simple, beautiful, healthy recipes anyone can make.

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Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast
Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast
Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast
Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast
Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast
Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast
Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute. There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce. By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast

Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute.

There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce.

By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast

Sunchokes (a.k.a. jerusalem artichokes) are a gnarly looking vegetable, but quite tasty! They are similar to potatoes, but less starchy. This roasted combo goes great with soup on a winter day. Photos and illustrations © Erin Gleeson www.theforestfeast.com
Sunchokes (a.k.a. jerusalem artichokes) are a gnarly looking vegetable, but quite tasty! They are similar to potatoes, but less starchy. This roasted combo goes great with soup on a winter day. Photos and illustrations © Erin Gleeson www.theforestfeast.com

Sunchokes (a.k.a. jerusalem artichokes) are a gnarly looking vegetable, but quite tasty! They are similar to potatoes, but less starchy. This roasted combo goes great with soup on a winter day.

Photos and illustrations © Erin Gleeson www.theforestfeast.com

This Persimmon Pear Cake is a nice twist on the traditional pumpkin bread. It’s denser than cake, which is why you don’t need icing. Peel, cube and cook persimmons and pears in a small pot on the stove (add a bit of butter and water to get it simmering).  Mash it up until you get about 1 cup of puree (depending on the size of the fruits, you may need another persimmon or pear). Combine this fruit mixture with all the other ingredients and bake in a round spring form pan. A light drizzle of honey, plus nuts if you like… and serve it warm! Photos and Illustrations © Erin Gleeson
This Persimmon Pear Cake is a nice twist on the traditional pumpkin bread. It’s denser than cake, which is why you don’t need icing. Peel, cube and cook persimmons and pears in a small pot on the stove (add a bit of butter and water to get it simmering).  Mash it up until you get about 1 cup of puree (depending on the size of the fruits, you may need another persimmon or pear). Combine this fruit mixture with all the other ingredients and bake in a round spring form pan. A light drizzle of honey, plus nuts if you like… and serve it warm! Photos and Illustrations © Erin Gleeson
This Persimmon Pear Cake is a nice twist on the traditional pumpkin bread. It’s denser than cake, which is why you don’t need icing. Peel, cube and cook persimmons and pears in a small pot on the stove (add a bit of butter and water to get it simmering).  Mash it up until you get about 1 cup of puree (depending on the size of the fruits, you may need another persimmon or pear). Combine this fruit mixture with all the other ingredients and bake in a round spring form pan. A light drizzle of honey, plus nuts if you like… and serve it warm! Photos and Illustrations © Erin Gleeson

This Persimmon Pear Cake is a nice twist on the traditional pumpkin bread. It’s denser than cake, which is why you don’t need icing. Peel, cube and cook persimmons and pears in a small pot on the stove (add a bit of butter and water to get it simmering).  Mash it up until you get about 1 cup of puree (depending on the size of the fruits, you may need another persimmon or pear). Combine this fruit mixture with all the other ingredients and bake in a round spring form pan. A light drizzle of honey, plus nuts if you like… and serve it warm!

Photos and Illustrations © Erin Gleeson

Foragers, alert! Mushrooms are everywhere right now. I was in Santa Cruz recently and met a forager who showed me all the edible mushrooms he’d found on his walk and gave me tips on how to spot them. Often they are just little bumps under leaves…who knew!? Most of the ones he pointed our were types of Russula mushrooms. For this Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe I used Oyster mushrooms. As always, forage with an expert and use an identification book. Happy hunting!
Foragers, alert! Mushrooms are everywhere right now. I was in Santa Cruz recently and met a forager who showed me all the edible mushrooms he’d found on his walk and gave me tips on how to spot them. Often they are just little bumps under leaves…who knew!? Most of the ones he pointed our were types of Russula mushrooms. For this Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe I used Oyster mushrooms. As always, forage with an expert and use an identification book. Happy hunting!
Foragers, alert! Mushrooms are everywhere right now. I was in Santa Cruz recently and met a forager who showed me all the edible mushrooms he’d found on his walk and gave me tips on how to spot them. Often they are just little bumps under leaves…who knew!? Most of the ones he pointed our were types of Russula mushrooms. For this Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe I used Oyster mushrooms. As always, forage with an expert and use an identification book. Happy hunting!
Foragers, alert! Mushrooms are everywhere right now. I was in Santa Cruz recently and met a forager who showed me all the edible mushrooms he’d found on his walk and gave me tips on how to spot them. Often they are just little bumps under leaves…who knew!? Most of the ones he pointed our were types of Russula mushrooms. For this Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe I used Oyster mushrooms. As always, forage with an expert and use an identification book. Happy hunting!
Foragers, alert! Mushrooms are everywhere right now. I was in Santa Cruz recently and met a forager who showed me all the edible mushrooms he’d found on his walk and gave me tips on how to spot them. Often they are just little bumps under leaves…who knew!? Most of the ones he pointed our were types of Russula mushrooms. For this Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe I used Oyster mushrooms. As always, forage with an expert and use an identification book. Happy hunting!

Foragers, alert! Mushrooms are everywhere right now. I was in Santa Cruz recently and met a forager who showed me all the edible mushrooms he’d found on his walk and gave me tips on how to spot them. Often they are just little bumps under leaves…who knew!? Most of the ones he pointed our were types of Russula mushrooms. For this Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe I used Oyster mushrooms. As always, forage with an expert and use an identification book. Happy hunting!

In honor of this last day of Hanukkah, I made Sufganiyot (jelly donuts). Believe it or not, this is a Hanukkah tradition, right along with latkes.  This was the first time I’d made them so I used Martha Stewart’s recipe and they came out great!
In honor of this last day of Hanukkah, I made Sufganiyot (jelly donuts). Believe it or not, this is a Hanukkah tradition, right along with latkes.  This was the first time I’d made them so I used Martha Stewart’s recipe and they came out great!

In honor of this last day of Hanukkah, I made Sufganiyot (jelly donuts). Believe it or not, this is a Hanukkah tradition, right along with latkes.  This was the first time I’d made them so I used Martha Stewart’s recipe and they came out great!