I have many people to thank for their help with this book—both the original version and this new edition. A special thanks to my original testers: Anne Barfield, Jamie and Lisa Bridges, Julie Cary, Caroline Herdle, Debbie Lee, Chrissy Rowland, Judy Sarver, Chris Silker, Leen Spear, Anne Washburn, Betty Wass, Cecile Weed, and Sue Weilgopolan—and to their families and friends for lending their critical palates to the tasting process for nearly 10 years. I truly appreciate your contributions!
And in the past 10 years, these recipes have been reviewed, revised, and reworked thanks to input from students in my cooking classes, attendees at the trade shows where I have been an exhibitor, and the many friends and family who have gathered around the dining table in my home. I confess: Although we enjoyed each other’s company over those meals, I was also gathering information about the food for this cookbook. Did it taste good? Did it look attractive on your plate? How could it be better? Notice how I deftly worked those queries into the dinner-table conversation?
To all of you, thanks so much for your help. You made this a better cookbook.
I am also deeply indebted to the following professionals who gave me their wonderfully informative and constructive feedback on this book: Shannon T. Bishop, RD; Mary Bonner; Shelley Case, RD; Helke Farin, MD; John H. Hicks, MD; Cynthia Kupper, RD; Betsy Prohaska Hicks; Janet Rinehart; Peggy Wagener; and Ann Whelan.
Special thanks go to my marvelous agent, Lisa Ekus, and her team—Sally Ekus, Sean Kimball, Corinne Fay, and Jaimee Constantine. You have been so wonderfully supportive of my work, and I cannot imagine traveling on this journey without you.
I am also extremely grateful for my superb editor, Linda Ingroia, at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and her assistant, Molly Aronica. They make my books so much better! Thanks also to Jackie Beach and Jamie Selzer in production; Michaela Sullivan for a vibrant, enticing cover; and Joline Rivera for an engaging book design. Photographer Jason Wyche, food stylist Chelsea Zimmer, and prop stylist Kira Corbin delivered gorgeous photos of my recipes and were a joy to work with.
And finally, thanks to my wonderful family—especially my husband, Larry, for his patience, support, and encouragement. To those of you who don’t know Larry, no recipe gets into my cookbooks without his approval, because he tastes everything. If he doesn’t like it (and, by the way, he is not gluten-free), it doesn’t go in the book. Thank you, Larry!