“Let’s do a new cookbook!” We said it first in the early ’80s, and we’ve said it thirteen more times since. Arnold and Elise Goodman, our agents, have been with us every step of the way. Thank you, Arnold and Elise, you are true and trusted advocates and friends.
The first cookbook authored by The Moosewood Collective, New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant, published in 1987, featured beautiful photographs taken by Al Karevy and hand-colored by Patti Harville. It is Patti and Al who produced the enticing food photos in this book—Al the photographer and Patti the food stylist. They are a joy to work with and we love how they captured our food. Some of Al’s other work can be seen at www.karevy.com.
Michael Aman, a very good friend of Moosewood, toiled long hours back in the ’80s typing handwritten recipes for our first manuscript. He caught goofs, inconsistencies, and omissions, and kept us entertained with wry comments. He used a then state-of-the-art electronic typewriter for proofreading and correcting; it had a screen that displayed each line before it was typed by the machine. Wow! Midstream in our work on that manuscript, personal computers came on the scene. Michael learned word processing along with us on an original Macintosh; a computer and small screen all in one box. Wow! It was a whole new world. Michael has stood ready all these years to come to our aid when it’s cookbook crunch time. For this one, he once again input handwritten recipes for those among us who prefer the feeling of a pen in the hand. Thanks, Michael.
Since he emerged as a computer and robotics geek in high school, we have relied on Emilio Del Plato to troubleshoot our computer glitches, introduce us to things like file sharing, and perform little miracles here and there. Emilio just turned thirty; he works in IT at RIT and he’s the father of a lively toddler, but he’ll always be a boy wonder to us. You are dear to us, Emilio. And what would we have done without you?
Next up, Michael Flamini, our editor at St. Martin’s. Besides being an astute editor and visionary, Michael cooks and makes us laugh. He tests recipes and sends us wonderful messages that keep us going. We wish there weren’t so many miles between us, so we could feed you directly from our kitchens. We love everything about working with you, Michael. Thank you!
Michael’s assistant, Vicki Lame, makes everything easier. She has just become an editor at St. Martin’s, and just as we appreciate her, we know her new authors will, too. Happy trails to you, Vicki. And now, in the last laps with this book, we’re so pleased to work with Gwen Hawkes, Michael’s new assistant. Gwen is responsive, efficient, thorough, and personable … pretty much perfect.
At the end of a movie, if you don’t need to rush out and you’re a speed-reader, you can see the names of the multitude of people who played a part in the production. But you rarely see those vital people named in a book’s acknowledgments. Here is a list, not all-inclusive by any measure, of the St. Martin’s people who played key roles behind the scenes: Leah Stewart, copy editor; Olga Grlic, jacket designer; Erica Martirano-Red, marketing; Rowen Davis, mechanical designer; Vincent Stanley, production manager; John Karle, publicist; Brant Janeway, team leader; Eric C. Meyer; Jennifer Enderlin; Anne Marie Tallberg; Sally Richardson; and George Witte.
One of our greatest pleasures is creating good food. The whole Moosewood Collective and the restaurant staff have supported and contributed to all of our cookbooks. For their help with this cookbook and for holding down the fort at the restaurant, we especially thank Jenny Wang, Penny Goldin, Sara Robbins, Dave Dietrich, Neil Minnis, Jason Coughlin, Tim Mooney, Karen Sgambati, Lisa Wichman, and Linda Dickinson. Our customers, families, and fans are also an integral part of each cookbook. Their enthusiasm, appreciation, and presence in our lives is reflected throughout this book.