Many, many thanks to Ann Treistman, Aurora Bell, Isabel McCarthy, Nick Teodoro, and everyone at The Countryman Press who has helped nurture this project—you make me look so good! I have loved working with you.
To my agent, Sharon Bowers, the voice of reason and bottomless well of support—thanks for continuing to cultivate and support me as a writer. You’ve helped me find my voice and have taught me that being myself is the only way to actually get through writing a book. Duh, I know. You’re the best. Truly.
Jamie Meadows—thank you for making me look good. Literally. It was a long time coming.
To my amazing friends and extended family, to whom I owe or have owed phone calls, emails, texts, and long-ago-borrowed Tupperware: thank you for your patience and support as I’ve finished this project. You’re the best taste-testing, recipe-trying, cheerleading group of rock-solid supporters that ever there were. There’s no way I would have been able to pull off a fourth (fourth!) book without you. Thank you all so much.
To my parents, who taught me that food and family and friends are inexorably intertwined, and that the table is the best place for good food, conversation, joy, and—more than anything—love. It is because of the two of you that I see the world though the nourishing, nurturing, creative, food-obsessed lens that I do. Thank you for believing in me, for raising me to be a little bit of a risk taker (and a little bit insane—but in a good way), and for teaching me to believe in myself. Thank you for the example you’ve set for me—in so many ways. I love you.
Mikey, as I was writing this book, concocting all sorts of wacky flavor combinations, I was often reminded of the tasting game we used to play when we were kids—you know the one I mean. While I can’t quite thank you for the gag-errific chocolate-sauce-on-a-Dorito or the other assorted culinary “surprises” you fed me way back when (I, of course, would never have done anything of the sort to you, wink wink), I am grateful for the good-natured ribbing, the big laughs, the arguing, forgiving, love, and support that we have always shared. You’re the best little brother in the world and I’m endlessly thankful that we are in this together.
Mitchell, my love, my best friend, and my partner in crime, you didn’t just make this book possible—you make everything I endeavor to do possible. You are an enthusiastic taste-tester, a fantastic editor, an honest sounding board, and unwavering source of support. There is no greater gift. I am beyond thankful for your belief in me and also for maintaining your post as Chief Laundry Administrator, even in the face of turmeric stains. You are everything and I love you.
Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what you, my little MJ and IA, are made of. I am so proud of who you are and who you’re becoming. Kind, funny, smart, and sweet, you girls make it all worth doing. (Keep bringing the spice—that’s the part that keeps life so exciting and fun!) I am one lucky mommy. I love you, my delicious little maniacs.