Seton - Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen : Recipes, Crafts and Comforts from the Heart

Other Pleasures from Susannah Seton:

Simple Pleasures

Simple Pleasures of the Home

Simple Pleasures for the Holidays

Simple Pleasures of Friendship

Simple Pleasures of the Garden

365 Simple Pleasures

First published in 2005 by Conari Press,

an imprint of Red Wheel / Weiser, LLC

York Beach, ME

With offices at:

368 Congress Street

Boston, MA 02210

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2005 Susannah Seton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel / Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Simple pleasures of the kitchen : recipes, crafts, and comforts from the heart of the home / edited by Susannah Seton.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-57324-871-1

1. Cookery. 2. Handicraft. I. Seton, Susannah.

TX714.S578 2005

641.5dc22

2004022558

Typeset in Sabon by Suzanne Albertson

Printed in Canada

TCP

12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Simple Pleasures of the KITCHEN

From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting. On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.

E. B. White

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writers from around the world responded to my call for stories about the joys of the kitchen. I thank each and every one of them profusely for their wonderful contributions. You'll find their names at the end of each story.

Once again, I was assisted in collecting the recipes, crafts, and other goodies for this book by Annette Madden. Thanks, my dear friendI couldn't do it without you.

Appreciations are in order, too, to the able Red Wheel / Weiser / Conari folks who edit, design, market, and sell my work: Jan Johnson, Brenda Knight, Jill Rogers, Michael Kerber, and the sales and PR teams.

Last, but not least, I thank you, the reader, for being interested in the simple pleasures of life. The more of us who connect to the joys that are available to us in every moment, the happier we all will be.

FOREWORD

My kitchen is without a doubt the heart of our home. I relax the minute I walk into the sunny yellow room and take a minute to look at whatever is in bloom through the glass doors leading out to the kitchen garden. I love to cook and entertain, and my kitchen was designed for just that. There is plenty of room, lots of counter space on the granite island for helpers, and a great pantry stocked with staples. The coziness of the brown-leather seating area is perfect for reading cookbooks or chatting with guests with a glass of wine before dinner. All this makes our kitchen a room we truly can live in.

This is a far cry from the small kitchen of my childhood. With five siblings, the kitchen was always a busy, noisy, and hectic place. But even with all the spills, chipped dishes, and mismatched place settings, the memories are vivid, funny, and full of warmth and love. We were a family that dined together every evening, sharing stories and laughs. My mother was a great cook and made everything from scratch. It's often said that scent is the predominant trigger for memories, and I have to agree. There hasn't been a time when I've sauted onions and mushrooms for a homemade sauce that memories of Mom cooking on that tiny stove didn't surface.

It isn't the size or look of a kitchen that makes it so special. Tiny and quaintly cluttered or large with lots of stainless steel and minimalist design, each has its own personality built from the experiences enjoyed inside the space. Life's small moments of contentment and cheer, peace and comfort take place in all kitchens. The simple pleasures I enjoy in my home, those I am sure you enjoy in yours, require no definition. A familiar scent of something cooking, a breeze blowing in an open window, or a pattern of wallpaper will often bring back clear recollections of wonderful times spent with family and friends in the heart of the home.

This enchanting and entertaining book reminds us of the importance of these times, how the simplest events and day-to-day activities all blend to create cherished memories. Editor Susannah Seton has collected stories, quotes, and recipes from generations and compiled them into a charmingly nostalgic piece that you will enjoy picking up again and again, finding tidbits to savor each and every time. From childhood memories of Bosco stirred into milk, homework done on a Formica-topped table, or learning how to crack an egg the right way, these mini memoirs will call to you loud and clear. With humor and sweet charm, you will find your mind not only traveling back to earlier pleasures of your kitchen but also becoming more conscious of those you experience every day.

Feel the warmth, safety, and joy of your kitchen as you sit with a cup of tea and browse through Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen. And don't forget to cherish the time.

Jonathan King, cofounder of Stonewall Kitchen February, 2005 York, ME

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

J. R. R. Tolkien

Of all the simple pleasures in the world, none are so basic, so fundamental, to the human experience as those found in the kitchen: food, family, camaraderie, ritual. This book celebrates our human tendency to raise the necessity of eating to a shared experience of meaning and celebration, and to find deep pleasure and joy in making the kitchen the heart of the home.

The writers in this collection sent their stories from around the globe, sharing love of certain foodschocolate figures prominently, but also artichokes, pickles, and cabbagesand treasured family recipesbrisket and meat loaf as well as cookies and cakes of all sorts. They captured moments toomoments of laughter, of cooking errors, of holiday feasts and solitary pleasures. They offer peons to their appliances, to reveal passions for collecting and arranging the stuff of the kitchen.

But far and away the predominant theme here is the joy of learning to cook with beloved others. Not all of us had a cookie-baking grandmother, but many of us did, and if not, a mom or aunt or uncle was often there to provide instruction and a lifetime of recollection.