Graydon Michael - Nothing fancy: unfussy food for having people over

acknowledgments

In a surprise to nobody, this is always the hardest thing to write because there were so many people involved and an abundance of wonderful people to thank. So in advance, if I forgot you, I am sorry! I owe you a glass of wine.

To my editor, Doris Cooper: If there is a word that means something greater than patience, thank you for having it, specifically with me and this book. Thank you, also, for being my number one fan since day one and encouraging me to be nothing but myself. I adore our friendship and working relationship to the moon.

To my agent, Nicole Tourtelot: Thank you for always listening to me and shouldering my anxieties and standing up for me and believing in me even when (and especially when) I absolutely was not believing in me. Be nicer to your book! is now etched into my brain for all eternity. I am eternally grateful we found each other.

To everyone at Clarkson Potter who waited patiently for text and images and cover approvals and proofed art and words and messengered pages, specifically: Stephanie Huntwork, Kim Tyner, and Mark McCauslin; Kate Tyler, Windy Dorresteyn, Erica Gelbard, and Allison Renzulli in publicity and marketing; and, of course, Lydia OBrien.

Aaron Wehner, who treats my books as if they were his very own. Thank you for your never-ending enthusiasm and support!

Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott: Thank you for your insane hard work, patience, creativity, and flexibility. It is such a dream to collaborate with your brilliant minds. This book is as much yours as it is mine; I hope you feel that too. Thank you, also, for bringing Adam Katzowitz into our lives. Adam, you are a treasure trove of good vibes and positivity.

Kalen Kaminski: Thank you for lending your exquisite taste to the images, bringing your adventurous spirit to the long shoot days, and sourcing every small colored glass jar, plate, and dish within a 400-mile radius. And for bringing Erica Schwartzberg along for the ride. Erica, thank you for your hard work, enthusiasm, and hilarity; we adore you.

Elizabeth Spiridakis: My favorite work wife. Thank you for designing another beautiful, user-friendly, easy-to-navigate, thoughtful layout for this book. Thank you for letting me invade your personal life and working till the wee hours of the morning on this baby. I adore you endlessly.

Lauren Schaeffer and Susan Kim: I honestly dont have enough space to declare the depths of my appreciation and love for you both. Youre my positive angels on set, off set, on text, on email, in cars, at the grocery store, at markets, at butcher shops. Thank you for everything you do to keep the food looking beautiful, the recipes working, and everybodys (my) stress levels at a minimum. Youre my whole heart!

Yewande Komolafe and Luciana Lamboy: Thank you for your thorough testing notes to make sure these recipes work, without which this book would be totally useless.

To my New York Times Cooking and Bon Apptit family, especially Emily Weinstein, Sam Sifton, Krysten Chambrot, Adam Rapoport, Julia Kramer, Meryl Rothstein, Amiel Stanek, and Christina Chaey: Thank you for giving my recipes and words a home in your newspaper and magazine and for editing me to greatness. I feel so lucky to work with each and every one of you. Im sorry for blowing past all my deadlines, but now that this book is finished, Ill be on time forever (mostly!).

Molly Mandel, thank you SO much for your guidance, encouragement, honesty, and sense of humor about all the things. I adore you and cant wait to keep working together.

Julia Schniederman and Eli Joyce: Thank you for your assisting, reading, errand running, cleaning, and schedule keeping, without which, I would be totally useless.

To my friends and family who are always down to come over for dinner, bring wine, and then clean up, all while being photographed: Michael, Eva, Mercedez, Ben, Julia, Yos, Hannah, Anoop, Elliott, Stan, James, Glo, Dana, Blake, and John.

Kate, Lilli, and Julia: Thank you for the FaceTimes and the incessant texts and for keeping me grounded, sane, and functioning. I love you so much.

Greta Lee and Russ Armstrong: Thank you for always letting me invade your home and pretending I live there. I love you both almost as much as I love garlic scapes. To Hannah and JD, thank you for letting us stay in your Livingston Manor manor, truly a dreamy space to create in.

To everyone who lent me a home to be alone and write: Sarah and Sohail Zandi from Brushland Eating House (thank you, Bovina!); Emily, Joey, and the whole Fleishaker family (thank you, Santa Fe!); and Sarina Dailey and Chris Parachini (thank you, Rockaway Beach!).

To my mom, dad, stepmom, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, and grandmother: You are my favorite people to receive texts of my recipes from. Thank you for cooking and loving me so much.

To every small business, independent bookstore, and major retailer who supported Dining In , stocked it on your shelves, and recommended it to customers: I am forever grateful.

To everyone who bought Dining In , cooked The Stew, baked The Cookies, subscribed to New York Times Cooking or read Bon Apptit : Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that youre cooking (and presumably liking!) the recipes I put into the world, which is the only reason I do it. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm, which allows me to continue doing this dream job.

snack time

Do not confuse snacks with hors doeuvres or canaps.

I would never use either of those terms. Snacks are not stressful art projectssnacks are breezy, snacks are fun. Snacks are a delicious diversion, a class of foods to mitigate the stress of realizing at 7:30 your dinner wont be ready for another two hours. You will not find elaborate mini sandwiches for twenty or anything in a blanket (sorry) in this chapter. What you WILL find are easy-ish and extremely delicious and very addicting little somethings to, uh, snack on, while you wait for the main event. Or maybe snacks are the main event, who could say?

This section includes what I consider to be snack essentials (which could also double as my favorite food groups). There are creamy dips, spicy nuts, salted fruits, tangy vegetables, and, of course, so much cheese. There are recipe-recipes and more ideas for things that you can just throw together. Theres even an entire spread predicated on your accepting smoked and tinned fish into your heart, plus a (quick-rising!) focaccia that you (yes, you!) can bake. Tonight. Welcome to my snack party, where theres no assembly required, toothpicks are optional, and dreams come true.

Labne with Sizzled Scallions and Chile (Almost Ranch)

makes 2 cups

Among some of my friends, this has become known as The Dip, and now I literally cannot attend any social gathering or host any dinner party without someone requesting The Dip. When you make it, youll know why. Its my very high-brow version of ranch dressing, and thats all the intel you need. But if youd like to know more, there is a scalliony chile oil that gets sizzled with cilantro stems (or chives) and swirled into thick, lemony labne. From there, Im sure you can assume that the combination of tangy dairy coupled with that herby chile oil already sounds incredible, and maybe you are on your way to making this right now. If you can find green garlic (which tends to be hyper-seasonal and mostly found only at farmers markets), use them (or even ramps!) in place of the scallions.