Writing a cookbook is a shared experience. This one would never have taken form without a lot of help from others. I owe deep thanks to the following:
Helen Hauschild, Elaine Monarch, and Rosie Wartecker for assisting in medical research.
Betty Wason, Rita Nicoll, and Susan Kidd, cooking teachers, for their valuable suggestions on foreign cooking.
The food editors of papers and magazines, especially the Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Sacramento Bee, Bon Appétit, Better Homes and Gardens, Best Recipes, and Sunset, for ideas about the latest in food trends and healthy eating.
The McCormick/Shilling Spice Company and Crescent Foods, Inc., for supplying information and literature on spices, herbs, and condiments.
My testers, who not only tested the recipes but fed them to family and guests. Special thanks go to two friends: Donna Jo Doepkin, who insisted I start this book, created several recipes, and tested about one-fourth; and Mary Gunn, who furnished recipes, read every recipe, and tested most. I will be forever grateful to the other testers, some of whom I have never met except by letter or phone call, for taking twenty or more recipes: Alys Carrasco; Penny Coffin; Robert Conklin; Carol Dolan; Deborah Groesbeck; Elsie Janthey; Mary and Katelynn Kiefer; Katherine Losch; Loretta Malloy; Janis Petrich; Janet Rinehart; Pam Templeton; Debbie Turner; Margaret Voelker; Joe Warren; and Eleanor Westling. A final heartfelt thanks to Gerald Koblenz for being my bread machine tester.
Elaine Hartsook, R.D., Ph.D., and the Canadian Celiac Association for suggestions and a careful medical review of this book.
My writing group, which is still waiting for my “Great American Novel.”
Finally, to my wonderful editor, Beth Crossman, for her unwavering faith in this book.