Lane - Comfort and joy: cooking for two

Copyright 2015 by Christina Lane All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages. The Countryman Press Woodstock, Vermont www.countrymanpress.com A division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110 www.wwnorton.com For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W.

Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830 The Library of Congress has catalogued the printed edition as follows: Lane, Christina, 1984 Comfort and joy : cooking for two /
Christina Lane. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-1-58157-342-8 (hardcover) 1. Cooking for two. I. Title.

TX652.L2459 2015 641.5'612dc23 2015018975 ISBN 978-1-58157-550-7 (e-book) To Camille. Ive loved you ever since the thought crossed my mind that you might be a sweet little girl growing in my belly. To Brian. My rock. My love. My everything.

This book would not have been possible without you. Every time a husband loads and empties the dishwasher for his pregnant wife, an angel gets its wings. There are so many angels in Heaven because of you. CONTENTS Please bookmark your page before following any links. Pancakes, Muffins, Oats, Eggs, Bacon Salads, Wraps, Soups, Sandwiches Poultry, Beef, Pork, Seafood Pastas, Casseroles, Finger Foods Cookies, Cobblers, Cupcakes, Pudding First things first : I wrote this book while I was pregnant. Whew.

It feels good to get that off my (rapidly expanding) chest. There were a few benefits to my state. Mainly, food tasted absolutely amazing to me during my entire pregnancy. My mind flooded with cravings and flavor combinations all the live-long day. As I wrote and tested each recipe, I felt like an artist expressing myself in food. It was a good time to be a pregnant lady.

There were a few downsides, though. The larger my belly got, the closer it got to the flame. I bear a little scar on the right side of my belly from frying sausage for Angel Biscuits and Gravy one morning. I apologize immensely to my unborn child for this, but then again, I also hope to sometime tell her the story of how it came to be. Im curious what will happen to the scar when my belly shrinks. This belly will shrink, right? Right? The other downside was that the constant raucous in my brain of cravings made it hard to sleep most nights.

I was kept up imagining the perfect ingredients for each recipe. I debated between Thanksgiving for Two side dishes for so long one night that I had to spray lavender oil in the room to calm myself down. And the perfect flavors for decadent weekend oatmeal? Oh, that led to an epic oatmeal-eating binge when I ate nothing but oatmeal for breakfast and lunch for weeks. Luckily, my doctor approved of my whole-grain and fresh fruit binge. I may have lied by omission about the crunchy sugar-crust topping, though... KIDDING. KIDDING.

Life is probably hectic with two dogs, a baby, and two jobs. The only hope I have for my future self is for weekend mornings. I hope that we can still manage to relax on Saturday and Sunday mornings and cook our favorite breakfasts from this book to enjoy in bed. Although my weekday breakfasts usually consist of toast with an endless rotation of nut butters or smashed avocado, the weekends are when I pull out all the stops. It can be a chance for me to use up the veggies left in the crisper, or to make one of those extra-large breakfasts that holds us over until supper, giving us plenty of energy to accomplish yard work. If Im looking for something hearty to fuel us through a Saturday full of running errands or doing yard work, I always turn to big southern-style breakfasts.

Where Im from, grits are always savory, never sweet, and sometimes even spicy. I also proudly hail from the land of the breakfast taco, and you better believe this quick handheld, on-the-go breakfast has a permanent place in my kitchen. It just never gets old. The lunch recipes that are included here are easy things that have been in rotation for years in my kitchen. From my first days of living on my own to the present these are the things I commonly eat for lunch. I was so thrilled to finally put pen to paper and record these recipes.

Ive had friends stop by for lunch too many times, asking for my Smoky Black Bean Soup recipe or my Skillet Pizza recipe, only to have to shrug my shoulders and say, I just winged it. Not anymore. Everything is written down here for you with precise measurements. Although the measurements are precise, please feel free to double or triple the recipes to feed your crowd. Savory recipes are easy to double, and I can certainly understand wanting leftovers of Green Chile Chili. We have a habit in our house of treating Sundays the right way: with long and slow southern suppers.

Both my husband and I, though we are Californians at heart, were raised in the South and grew up with leisurely Sunday meals. Not only is the food important on Sundays, but so is the way you eat it. I scaled down my southern favorites for you. I included some classics, too, because who doesnt love a pan of lasagne for a cozy dinner before another hectic week begins? The recipes of which I am the most proud in this section are my holiday meals. If you must spend the holidays without your family, at least you can have all the same foods without the leftovers. That said, we are known to make Thanksgiving for Two in the middle of the summer just for a taste of whats to come in November.

Im sure you know, but petite desserts for two are my true passion in life. I included a small sampling of my favorites in this book. If you need more, just ask me. Im always full of dessert for two recipes. I hope yall enjoy this book. I certainly had a fantastic time writing it.

Love and cupcakes , Christina I scaled down a recipe for a small batch of pancakes back in my college days. The minute the first few pancakes came out of the skillet, I wanted to eat. College girl was too hungry to wait for the rest of the batch to cook! This recipe makes six pancakes; thats two perfect stacks of three pancakes each. Plus, I promise the first pancakes will still be warm by the time you finish cooking the whole batch! Yield 2 stacks, 3 pancakes each 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 cup buttermilk 1 large egg, beaten 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for griddle teaspoon vanilla extract Strawberry Coriander Compote (), for serving In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Set aside. In another small bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg, the 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and the vanilla.