"As the Under Secretary of Agriculture I was responsible for the purchase of cranberries for USDA's school lunch program. After observing Liz's cooking class on cranberries, I was amazed at how versatile and delicious cranberries can be when prepared with flair and imagination." -Michael V. Dunn, former under secretary, United States Department of Agriculture "It is a real pleasure to read a cookbook that combines excellent food history with good home cooking. The team of Liz Clark and James Baker could not make for a happier combination of talents. Baker, the historian, leads us through the tradition-rich mythology of the American cranberry while Clark serves it up in the most taste-tempting recipes. The pork terrene with figs and cranberries is certain to win friends." -William Woys Weaver, food historian and contributing editor, Gourmet About the Authors: Liz Clark was born and raised on a farm at the juncture of the Des Moines and Mississippi Rivers in Southeast Iowa.

Besides this book, Liz wrote Fresh Bread Companion, co-authored Apple Companion, contributed to Barbara Grunes's Heartland Food Society Cookbook, Susan Hermann Loomis's The Farmhouse Cookbook, and the James Beard Foundation's The James Beard Celebration, edited by Barbara Kafka. Liz operates a cooking school and a private, by-reservation-only, restaurant on a bluff above the Mississippi River in Keokuk, Iowa. Jim Baker was born into an old Plymouth, Massachusetts family, and grew up with the story of Pilgrims and the traditions of the town. After receiving his Masters' Degree, he accepted a position as librarian at Plimoth Plantation, becoming Head of Research the following year. From 1975 until 2001, he worked at the Plantation. Jim spent years learning period cuisine and becoming a practiced antiquarian cook, overseeing the preparation of feasts for groups such as the Plantation Trustees, the Culinary Historians of Boston, and a period Thanksgiving for Julia Child on ABC TV. He is now Curator for the Alden House Historic Site in nearby Duxbury.