is my absolutely favorite kind of cookbook! It has all sorts of recipes (covering about the entire range from Escoffier-style to school-lunch-style) local to the myriad islands of Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound, but its real strength is the vast store of wisdom in these pages. Barbara Stetson addresses geographical differences, historical significance of dishes, specialties of specific farms and mills, how to buy fresh fish, and every other thing under the sun that you need to know if you want to know about the cuisine of Rhode Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

The recipes are all over the place, really! Mock pizza from elementary school and harpooned swordfish. There's a recipe that calls for a cup of Tang! Chicken barbecue for 150. Raspberry vinegar. Dandelion Wine. Green Tomato Mincemeat. Fried Dough. Coffee Jelly. Indian Pudding.

Eight pages on Jonnycakes!

I have lots of cookbooks. Some I go to often, some I go to rarely. Some I go to for a specific recipe, others for general inspiration. But The Island Cookbook is like going home to hang out with friends and family!