MEDIA

"Make Golden Corn Stock With Those Leftover Cobs" - Bon Appétit

“As we wade through another corn-filled summer—with corn salads, corn pastas, and corn soups galore—keep this trick in your back pocket: After making a recipe, stash the stripped cobs in the freezer for later. Then, when you have a lazy afternoon, make a pot of stock." —Melina Hammer, Bon Appétit

"IACP Cookbook Award winners" - Eat Your Books

“The International Association of Culinary Professionals announced the winners of its 2023 Cookbook Awards (along with other food media and writing awards) this evening at its 2023 Summit held in rain-soaked Brooklyn, NY. Winner: Food photography and styling: A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life by Melina Hammer" —Darcie, Eat Your Books

"Braise & Roast Your Way Through Fall With These Cozy Recipes" - Food52

“As we exhale and enter fall, we become reacquainted with cooking again. Sturdy fruit and veg return on the scene, asking us to ply them with high-heat roasting and low-and-slow braising, showered with every aromatic to entice us back to our kitchens. Here is a collection of fall favorites for when you’re on the lookout for a quick lunch, dreaming up your holiday menu, and everything in-between, all guaranteed to elicit wows and bring comfort for colder days." —Melina Hammer, Food52

"Catbird Cottage's Melina Hammer Stays Cool with Her Summer Weeknight Dinner Prep, Here's How She Does It” -  Martha Stewart

“Melina Hammer is many things: recipe developer, food stylist, food photographer, bestselling author, and the owner of Catbird Cottage in New York's Hudson Valley. The idyllic bed and breakfast was the inspiration for Hammer's newest book, A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life, which features recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes from Hammer, plus her tips for foraging and preserving. The book is divided into four sections inspired by each of the seasons. As we head into the hot weather, who better to ask for weeknight dinner tips for summer than someone who wrote an entire section of her book about just that? Here, Hammer shares her ideas, pantry staples, and favorite recipes for summer weeknight dinners." —Abigail Abesamis Demarest, Martha Stewart

"Cottagecore Cooking Gets Its Close-Up” -  Taste

“The culmination may be this book, which was crafted around the house—and gardens packed with strawberry mint and dwarf basil—Hammer bought with her husband, Jim Lafferty, four years ago. The chapters unfold through the seasons, while detailed sections about foraging and preserving show the author’s range as an observer of naturalist cooking." —Matt Rodbard, Taste

"All the new cookbooks (and easy recipes) we're looking forward to this summer” -  USA Today

“At the corner of summer reading and summer eating, you’ll find cookbooks. Filled with mouth-watering photos and delectable recipes, cookbooks are capable of transporting readers to tables around the world from their own kitchens. Regional American flavors get their due in […] “A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life” (May 31), in which Melina Hammer celebrates upstate New York’s idyllic bounty. " —Jennifer McClellan, USA TODAY

"The New Hudson Valley Cookbook Canon” -  Chronogram

“A Year at Catbird Cottage, influenced by Hammer’s love for cooking for family and friends, captures the warm feeling of eating with your loved ones. Along with her personal recipes, Hammer includes advice for foraging and harvesting wild ingredients from the forests of the Hudson Valley. Since many of her ingredients are locally sourced, the 100 recipes are organized by season." — Micaela Warren, Chronogram

"Holy moly! A nostalgic dessert gets a boozy update — and it couldn't be easier to make” -  Salon

“while her new cookbook, "A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life," brims with beautiful scenes from a life of cooking, entertaining, foraging and gardening that is far from the takeout and Netflix reality of my own, her recipes and advice — for comforting but inventive seasonal fare like scallop-shiso ceviche or maple-gochujang ribs — remain somehow eminently attainable." — Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon

"Q+A with Melina Hammer of Catbird Cottage” -  HVNY

“after meeting the delightful Melina Hammer and flipping through her debut cookbook – “A Year at Catbird Cottage, Recipes for a Nourished Life,” out on May 31, 2022, and full of 100 recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes that Melina not only cooked up, but beautifully photographed herself – I feel a bit more confident, armed with her resourceful approach, a food processor, and a lot of invasive garlic mustard in our backyard." — Niki, HVNY

"Meet Hudson Valley Cookbook Author, Food Stylist, Chef, and Photographer, Melina Hammer" - Inside + Out

“Along with her husband Jim Lafferty (also a successful commercial photographer), Melina embraces the value of slow living, connecting with community, and nurturing friends, family and guests. Their coveted social gatherings are celebrated with deliciously curated meals–nothing too extravagant, all seasonally inspired with locally sourced, grown or foraged ingredients. Melina’s culinary creations are a big part of the success of Catbird Cottage. Guests love the cozy, casual elegance of a stay at Catbird, and many book a stay to indulge in the seasonally-inspired meals and warm hospitality offered by Melina and Jim." —Inside + Out

"11 Melina Hammer Recipes With 5-Star Ratings From Our Community" - Food52

“With spring officially in swing, here are 11 of my favorite recipes for warmer-weather eating—each one of ‘em with a five-star rating from the Food52 community—complete with an invitation to add them to your own repertoire." —Melina Hammer, Food52

An Interview with Melina Hammer by Katie Fogarty of A Certain Age

"The Best Way To Preserve Summer Produce" - Food52

“I make quick, vinegar, and fermented pickles, bottle up summer sauce and jams, infuse salt, sugar, oils, and vinegars with tender aromatics, and generally work on overdrive so when days are cold and short, I have the bursting bright flavors from warmer days to keep me company. Here are a few tried-and-true methods to capture the seasons, so when cold winter days hit again, you can reap the benefits and enjoy bottled sunshine." —Melina Hammer, Food52

An Interview with Melina Hammer by Suzy Chase of Cookery by the Book

"Melina Hammer's New Book Is Perfect for Every Season” -  Food52

“Buttermilk panna cotta with roasted rhubarb. Duck eggs with crispy brown rice. Lamb skewers with labneh, ramp salt, and buttery potatoes. The hardest part about reading Melina Hammer's new book, A Year at Catbird Cottage, is picking what to make first. Driven by the seasons and inspired by her cozy home in New York’s Hudson Valley, the recipes jump off the page, grab my hand, and ask me to follow them to the farmers market, the backyard, the bustling kitchen. And I'm very happy to let them lead the way. Today, Melina is sharing one of her favorite recipes, aka your new favorite way to serve salmon." — Emma Laperruque, Food52

"Double Rye & Buckwheat Plum Cake” -  Dinner: A Love Story

“the dishes in A Year at Catbird Cottage, look like the way I would eat every night if I could, which is to say, like all the ingredients had been picked up at the local co-op, or pulled right from a CSA box or the ground itself. Think: A Dutch baby packed with pickles, pea shoots, and craggy cheese; a grand aioli summer feast; French toast with wild blueberry compote, Spanish tortilla with pickles and garlic-mustard pesto; this Double Rye Buckwheat Plum Cake that might just be my new favorite answer to the question I ask myself all summer long, i.e. “What is a simple, but special dessert that I can bring to a summer party?”" — Jenny Rosenstrach, Dinner: A Love Story

"26 Cookbooks We Can’t Wait for in 2022” - Food 52

“I’ve been a follower of Melina for years, and I’m excited about her upcoming cookbook, which focuses on her style of cooking: seasonal, approachable, beautiful, and, most importantly, always delicious." —Maurizio Leo, Author of Webby-nominated and Saveur award-winning blog, The Perfect Loaf and Food52 resident

"Catbird Cottage's Melina Hammer to Release Cookbook ” - Chronogram

“After serving dozens of guests over the last two years, Hammer is ready to share her recipes in her book, A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life. The book came together from notes she scribbled as she planned meals for her guests. Catbird Cottage is filled with furniture and art by family and friends. Hammer’s grandmother’s paintings decorate the walls of the sitting room, and ceramic pieces created by her friends fill the cabinets. That intimacy transfers to the book." —Emma Cariello, Chronogram