Your next favorite ingredient might be hiding in plain sight in your own backyard. Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to millions of fans as Black Forager, invites you on an adventure to discover the abundance around you. Alexis captivates people with her joyful enthusiasm and deep knowledge of foraging and inspires them to explore the bounty of their own backyards, parks, and trails, and now she does the same in her eagerly awaited first book.

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Part foraging guide, part plant-based cookbook, Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! shows you how to turn common plants, flowers, and fungi into yummy, vegan meals during each season—no wilderness survival skills required. In spring, you’ll learn to pickle Magnolia flowers and turn Japanese Knotweed into a refreshing granita. Summer is for frying up Milkweed Buds, making Juneberry Hand Pies, and crafting Rosewater Baklava. When fall arrives, you’ll be making savory mushroom dishes (a.k.a. chicken of the woods) like Maitake steak and bacon. And in winter, cozy up with Pine Shortbread Cookies and Oyster Mushroom Chowdah.

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With helpful plant identification photos throughout, this book is an essential resource packed with practical tips on ethical foraging and crucial safety information (so you “don’t die”) for people across the northern hemisphere. With her signature humor and infectious spirit, Alexis proves that foraging isn’t just for survivalists—it’s for anyone who wants to connect with nature and add exciting new flavors to their table.