Inman - Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home

for MAX and NATHANIEL

May your lives be filled with sweetness.

T HIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE small farmers who quietly toil in all kinds of weather to keep great food on our tables and the land in good health. This includes the inspiring group that runs Waltham Fields Community Farm just outside of Boston: Amanda Cather, Andy Scherer, Erinn and Dan Roberts, and Claire Kozower. Thanks also to Ann and the late Lyn Harris of Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton, Cindy and Chuck Lord of Carver Hill Orchard in Stow, and last but not least, Matt Celona of Drumlin Farm in Lincoln. Other Massachusetts farms of note: Carlson Orchards, Chestnut Farms, Chip-In Farm, Codman Community Farms, Diemand Farm, High Lawn Farm, Our Family Farms of Massachusetts, Pete and Jens Backyard Birds, Red Fire Farm, Reseska Apiaries, Verrill Farm, The Warren Farm & Sugarhouse, Westfield Farm, and Williams Farm Sugarhouse.

A huge and mighty thank you to my writers groupSusanna Baird, Jane Healey, and Rebecca Delaneyfor their nearly 15 years of writerly support and inspiration. Without them, I might never have found my agent or finished my manuscript or even bothered to get up in the morning some days. To good friends Erin Puranananda, Leslie Routman, Carolyn Manchek, Shona Simkin, Juliet Harrison, and I-Wen Chang for years of great meals and comradery. To my English teachers at Braintree High School, Mary Cunningham and Pamela Cosgrove, because it helps to be able to write a complete sentence (P.S. This is not a good example of a complete sentence). To the biology and chemistry departments at Tufts University for flunking me out of my science major, thereby forcing me to pursue a career more suited to my talents, one in which alchemy and art collide. (Thanks a lot, jerks!) To the instructors at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts for instilling in me a dangerous love of pie crusts, puff pastry, and rich yeast doughs. To Chris Kimball and the staff of Cooks Illustrated for allowing me a glimpse into a real test kitchen and teaching me some things along the way.

To John Willoughby and Rux Martin for encouraging me. To friend and faithful cheerleader Annabelle Blake, who convinced me to write a dessert cookbook despite the odds. To agent Melissa Sarver, merciful gatekeeper to the publishing world, who opened up a door I didnt know existed. And to Running Press editor Kristen Green Wiewora for not slamming that door in my face. Thanks also to designer Amanda Richmond, photographer Steve Legato, food stylist Ricardo Jattan, prop stylist Mariellen Melker, and Curt Bazemore for turning my words into something beautiful. Finally, my heartfelt thanks goes to the doctors and nurses at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Womens Hospital, including Dr. Larry Shulman, Dr. Amy Sievers, Dr. Mehra Golshan, Dr. Sarah Kent, and Dr. Charles Hergrueter, for, well, they know why. Lets not get all sappy about it.

Before there was a book, there was a blog. I owe so much to the friends, family, neighbors, and strangers who have read Food on the Food over the past seven years and provided thoughtful or hilarious commentary and just generally brightened my day. Many of them also generously tested recipes during the creation of this book. Without them, Id most certainly weigh 500 pounds, and at least one recipe would have flat-out failed (thanks, Marika!). Those testers are Pam Aghababian, Kate and David Akeson, Amy Lynn Ayers, Trish Barker, Leah Bloom, Kate Boucher, Ellen Braun, Katie Brossa, Adrienne Bruno, Amy Cerrito, Sara Clevering, Gwen Cooper, Gail Davis, Catherine Donroe, Miranda Donroe, Katherine Engelman, Rebecca Esch, Susan Haiduk Esparza, Ann Flora, Jennifer Foote, Nan Fornal, Beth Forrestal, Tara Greco, Laura Hawk, Anne Hering, Didem Hosgel, Jesse Imbach, Sarah Jang, Danielle Jones-Pruett, Deb Kaller, Lauren Kaplan, Michele Karol, Michele Kosboth, Marissa Lanterman, Sarah Lewis (who went above and beyond), Linda Manning, Cindy Martini, Amy McCoy, Susan McKinney, Sioux Mont, Maureen Brady Moran, Kimberly Patwardhan, Jessica Peirce, Maria Pooley, Kim Prause, Jill Rose, Hollis Schachner, Lynda Banzi Sponholtz, Marika St. Amand, Sandy Steiner, Caitlin Sweeney, Andrea Thorrold, Rebecca Tirabassi, John Tomase, Deb Weibley, Karen Whiting, Beth and Sam Winickoff, Linda Wolyniec, and Ann Woody. Other supportive folks include fellow writer Barry Foy, and Bob and Meghan Prestidge of The Concord Shop.

Thanks to all the cooks and food writers who have influenced me through their words, including but not limited to Julia Child, Fannie Merritt Farmer, Ruth Reichl, Alice Waters, Dorie Greenspan, Deborah Madison, Amanda Hesser, Laurie Colwin, and Michael Pollan. This also extends to the blogosphere, including Debby Morse, Jen Maiser, Ilva Beretta, Kalyn Denny, Luisa Weiss, Molly Wizenberg, Deb Perelman, and David Lebovitz.

Finally, Id like to thank my family, especially my husband, Rich, for washing an obscene number of dishes and making a variety of personal sacrifices over the years so I could try to write for a living (major air quotes around that last part). To my dad for always being there. To my mom for always understanding me. To Nonni for the cappellettis, crescia, unlimited cookies, and the only phrase I know in Italian: mangia e statti zitto! (eat and shut up!). To my sons, Max and Nathaniel, for being brutally honest taste-testers and the most delightful children you can imagine (cue Oscar music).

Okay, okay, Im done. Sheesh.

Mangia e statti zitto!

I WISH I COULD PLANT MYSELF ON THE tallest, windiest peak of the frozen mountaintops and shout through cupped wool mittens that winter is my all-time favorite season of the year! But then I would be a liar. A big, frost-bitten liar! Winter has its charms, for sure. Its sugar-dusted scenery and smell of wood smoke on the air conspire to win me over every year. But, here in New England, winter inevitably finds me very, very cold and very, very hungry. And that, my friends, is the true story behind how this cookbook was born.