“IF YOU CAN READ YOU CAN COOK!”
Wow, that sounds easy! When my older sister and I asked Mom to teach us how to cook as young children, that was her response. My sister nodded and headed toward the kitchen with cookbooks to plan a meal. My takeaway, on the other hand, was that Mom couldn’t read! We were raised on Hamburger Helper and TV dinners. She couldn’t cook so it was clear that Mom couldn’t read! I kept that secret to myself for years until the truth came out….she just didn’t like to cook! Well, the cooking gene clearly skipped a generation and my sister and I still love to cook! We all still laugh about our mom, now age 90, who CAN read! As she’ll tell you, her favorite thing to make is reservations!
Fast forward a few years, I am now an award-winning author of two cookbooks! My husband encouraged me to write them. He heard our friends ask for my dinner party recipes and menus after having them over. It only made sense to him that I start a cookbook with complete dinner party menus, so I did. Venturing down that path, I realized how much I love appetizers as I put two into each dinner party menu. That was the brainstorm for the second cookbook.
I am a home-cook who loves food and who has taken and taught many cooking classes over the years. I don’t believe a person can own too many cookbooks. I love to create meals with many colors, textures and flavors to make the food both interesting and beautiful. We eat with our eyes first! Being invited into a home is special and food is a beautiful way to share time together. Finding out a guest’s food preferences and allergies are key to making a dinner work.
Ask before the date! This I learned the hard way when I had prepared a beautiful beef tenderloin meal…for a vegetarian! Oops!
Becoming an author was a circuitous route. I majored in Psychology in college, then earned a degree in Dental Hygiene and have worked as a Dental Hygienist for, gulp, 39 years now! Healthy teeth make the meals taste better. I love my day job and am also passionate about food and all it has to offer. Self-publishing has been an eye-opening challenge. I thought the biggest job was writing a book. I have learned a lot about marketing and business these past few years and continue to learn. The culinary journey continues with my willing husband, who is happy to try all my cooking experiments. Like my mom said, “If you can read you can cook!”
Barbara Stafford, author of Eclectic Entertaining – Complete Dinner Party Menus for Busy
People Who Like to Cook and Eclectic Entertaining – Small Plates & Dainty Desserts