Bootstraps and Biscuits: 300 Wild Food Recipes From the Hills of West Virginia

In the hills of her family’s West Virginia farm, Anna Lee Robe-Terry explores and forages for wild food stuffs, which she turns into tasty down-home cooking. Bootstraps and Biscuits is a collection of her recipes, which are delicious, interesting, and easy-to-follow. With recipes ranging from the more common — honey butter and wild strawberry shortcake — to the more unusual — Jerusalem artichoke salad, squirrel pot pie and dandelion wine — this book is perfect for anyone wanting to make their cooking and eating more adventurous. And, as Terry points out, you’ll probably appreciate your meal all the more if you’ve gotten some fresh air while gathering the ingredients.

From the Introduction

In 1976, I found myself with a disabling illness. Pretty soon my job, home, car and furniture was all gone. I kept three pieces of jewelry that had special meaning to me and they got stolen. My insurance company went bankrupt. I was left with nothing and sick to boot. My nursing career helped me in that department and my childhood experienced helped, too. I had a very small income. If the world gives you wild grapes, you make jam and that is about what I did.

I moved to the milkhouse on my family’s old farm, nothing fancy. Really it was little more than a shack, but it became home for me. I could not exercise but the doctor said walk a mile everyday. I began walking and I would find all this wild food. Remembering my childhood, I started gathering my food and working on ways to use it. I also gathered pretty flowers, grasses, etc., and used them to make gifts and decorations.

If I found a plant I didn’t know I tried to learn about it. I’m still learning new plants but I believe I have now learned all the trees growing about. I have also been able to learn about the wildlife that abounds around here. I still walk most everyday but it becoming more difficult to make that mile. My book is finished now and for that I am glad because it seems my sense of taste and smell are going so I could not taste what I had developed.

I could not have done all this without the help of family, friends, and neighbors. For them I am grateful. I cannot but help to think that the way of life has slowed this crippling disease down. Peace of mind and learning to accept what I can’t change have helped also. How long I will be able to continue I don’t know but I do know I have inherited a stubborn will and know how to continue. My son and his friends were always tasting and asking questions about all these wild foods. They decided we should do a video of these plants and things. I really never felt is was that important and we never got around to it. Then when my son died it became very important to get this down on paper as I had no one to leave this knowledge to. Only a mother who has lost her only child will know how that affects you.

Once again, I pulled my self up by my bootstraps and continued my life. This book is the results of that trauma. I hope many others will earn and perhaps use this information.

Anna Lee Robe-Terry

June 29, 1992

Set in the hills of West Virginia on her family lands, Anna Lee Robe-Terry forages for wild foods and describes their preparation and uses. In her own colorful language, Anna Lee shares a rural family heritage in a narrative generously laced with anecdotes about life in the mountains. The result is a rich compilation of hundreds of delicious recipes, the ingredients available and free for the picking. From paw-paw pudding to mincemeat pie using wild meat, a reader will find fulfillment for the soul, palate, and pocketbook.