66 Square Feet: A Delicious Life, One Woman, One Terrace, 92 Recipes

Marie Viljoen's beautiful first book draws the reader into a world of unfolding seasons, seen from the perspective of an expert gardener, cook and photographer. Each chapter is a month, divided into three parts: New York City, the author's garden, and her kitchen, each setting the stage for a lavish seasonal menu with recipes drawn from farmers markets, wild-foraged ingredients, and produce grown on her city terrace and roof farm.Named for the size of her tiny Brooklyn terrace, and the blog it inspired, Viljoen's book is a unique perspective of the concrete jungle, where the month is known by the flowers in bloom, the vegetable in season, and the migrating birds criss-crossing a Brooklyn sky. It reveals a side of the city that few people know, and inspires a thoughtful way of living that is gaining traction in the 21st century.  Set against a backdrop of growing up in South Africa and moving to the United States, meeting her French husband, and finding a culinary and emotional home in Brooklyn, Viljoen's book is a love letter to living seasonally in the most famous city on the planet.

Praise for 66 Square Feet:"With lush photographs and spare prose, Ms. Viljoen has used 66 Square Feet to record her life as a gardener, a cook and an urban forager, harvesting mushrooms from Green-Wood Cemetery, beach plums from Jamaica Bay and century-old glass bottles from the dump at Dead Horse Bay..." - New York Times"This book shows you a New York City you will never forget." - Wilder Quarterly"When people call Gotham an urban jungle, they seldom mean anything about flora or fauna. But if you don't think of this city as a living ecosystem, Marie Viljoen will change your perspective forever. This is creative nonfiction, cut from the same cloth as great nature writing..." - Edible Brooklyn"This is an engaging, grounded and gorgeous book." - Edible San Diego"This is my favorite kind of cookbook. Stories on every page with recipes tucked in between, gorgeous photos that make me see the streets of New York in a completely different light, and an emphasis on sharing meals with friends. It's the kind of cookbook that I keep by my bedside to read in the drowsy, restful moments before sleep and then carry with me into the kitchen the next day...This book is the full package!" - The Kitchn /Apartment Therapy