Three years ago, Brilliant Daughter and I embarked on a journey to document all of our favorite recipes and publish a cookbook. Hence Eat Drink Merry was born. That volume contained many of the recipes on this blog. Some were handed down from my grandmothers or shared by my mother-in-law, others came from food blogging friends or published sources, and then there were the creations of our own design. We were touched by the immense response and gratitude from those we gifted with a printed copy. So, we decided to do it all over again, just for them.
This time around we wanted to personalize the book in a
different way, a way that would be recognizable to the wonderful people who
have sat down to a meal with us, cooked in our kitchen, and shared our
lives. They all know that for us,
as it is for many families, the center of our household is the kitchen. Whether
scrambling eggs for a simple family breakfast or serving Christmas Eve tamales
to 50 guests, we naturally gravitate to this space on a daily basis. For
fifteen years, the focus of our kitchen was a 4x6-foot standard schoolroom
chalkboard. Our “communications center,” this utilitarian wall décor served us
well, keeping track of shopping lists, phone messages, chore duty, family
contact information, and, during holidays, became an oversized greeting card
for our guests. And although it was retired when we remodeled, the fond
memories linger and became the inspiration for the cover of our new cookbook,
which we named after this blog.
The blog, born in 2006, has always been a labor of love, a
way for me to share not only great recipes with friends and family, but to
allow a glimpse into our personal—and fairly typical—suburban life. I firmly believe that those of us in
suburbia need to break out of the roast chicken, barbequed ribs, pork chop mentality
and spice up our kitchens with the food of the world. We need to leave the
canned veggies, packaged cookies, and oversweet jams on the shelves, and dig
into the garden and flour bag and treat our families and ourselves to something
better. Hence the blog and these cookbooks, which keep me happily covered in
flour and bacon grease much of the time!
Perusing through my posts, I find that my cooking style and
habits have evolved over the years. I now experiment with higher-end
ingredients, adapt recipes to suit what comes out of my garden rather than the
store, and I no longer have the pressing need—due to school and athletic
activities—to prepare the majority of our food in advance or in a rush. Our
lives have slowed down a bit, as I now work from home, and I relish the time I
can spend in my renovated kitchen, in the large suburban garden that my son
helped build, and take the time to share new recipes with my family during our
weekly Sunday dinners.
I am aware that not everyone has such luxuries; life,
children, work get in the way and minimize the amount of time in the
kitchen. To that end, the cookbook
still contains quick and easy-to-fix recipes, and we’ve found new tricks to
make life a bit easier when time is short. For time-crunched cooks, whole
roasted chickens and conveniently chopped vegetables are available at almost
every grocery store and can be used in several of the recipes.
New this year is a section of appetizers—tried and true
recipes–like our holiday ceviche, quick caprese skewers, and our new favorite
gazpacho shooters (first served this summer at our son’s engagement party). Ten
lunch items also grace these pages; several tasty sandwiches and salads, as
well as a really simple Asian Noodle dish with a Thai flair.
But we haven’t forgotten the basics: Breakfast, Dinner, Sides
and Sweets, not to mention our free-for-all miscellaneous section—titled Other
Flavors this time around—that contains the best 5-minute artisan bread that
will ever come out of your kitchen. (No kidding!) We’ve tried to cover a lot of
bases and provide you with some lip-smacking ideas.
For a limited time, you can download an e-version of the new
cookbook free. Just click here. In late January,
the book will be available on Amazon in both hard copy and e-version for $14.95.
So delve in, try a few things, and let us know what you
think. We’re not above criticism or praise and we appreciate the feedback.
—Mrs B and Brilliant
Daughter
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