History of the Project

This project began, a decade ago, with a late night call from a niece. Adelle was eighteen and in the middle of her freshman year at the University of Michigan when she called to announce that she and Matt, three semesters ahead of her at Michigan, were planning to get married. Soon. Probably eight or ten months hence. So young, we said; too young, we thought. What can an aunt and uncle do, we thought. What insights can we pass along which might reduce the risks? Counseling books were pulled off the shelves. Hours were spent on the phone. And the cookbook project was born.

Our intent from the beginning was to go beyond sharing a few favorite recipes. We were more interested in sharing our convictions about the importance of good food to good relationships, especially marital ones, but more casual ones as well. The recipes were always understood as a means and an aid to the project's real end, a long and joyous life together for Adelle and Matt.

Along the way, all sorts of friends learned of the project, tested individual recipes with us, and asked to be on the subscribers list when the "book" was done. That changed the character of the project somewhat. For such an audience, we decided it would be better to let the project's original focus move to the level of subtext. The friends didn't want to read--and we didn't want to impose upon them--page after page of the sort of thing we wanted to share with Matt and Adelle. So, here and throughout the book, we will talk only about the food and trust that you will sense how and why we think good food important.

Three years later, we undertook a significant revision and expansion of the cookbook. Again, we were energized by thoughts of a niece. In our memories, Lisa, who has never been terribly interested in eating, will always be associated with cooking. Shortly after one of her visits, she called in a mild panic. What's the recipe for flounder with mustard sauce, she asked. Apparently, she had volunteered to cook the family dinner after picking up some flounder from the store and hoped to recreate the meal we had prepared together. Lisa was the first member of our extended family to know us as a couple. She was then, and she is now, a very special person in our lives.

For years, we swore there would never be a third edition. We would continue to cook, to entertain, to collect recipes, but we would not go through the considerable effort of assembling those recipes into a single volume, fleshing out the descriptions, verifying the instructions, and figuring out how to "publish" them. Two extraordinary young ladies, Robin and Mary Margaret, gave us the reason and energy to get on with it.