Zizka - The Newlywed Table: a Cookbook to Start Your Life Together

Maria Zizka

Photographs by Aya Brackett

Artisan | New York

For Graham,

with all my love

Contents

Introduction

A few months before my wedding, a friend sent me a letter. She had been married for some time and wanted to share a little secret. The best is yet to come, she wrote. I was overjoyed to be engaged to a wonderful guy, and we were having such fun planning our wedding. I felt as if life couldnt possibly get any better, so how could the best be yet to come?

But slowly I started to realize she was right. Graham and I married, moved into a new apartment, and set out to make our home a cozy and welcoming space. We were cooking a lotfor ourselves, for each other, and for family and friendsand in the process of learning how to be together in our new kitchen, we were figuring out even more about each other and our relationship. During our first months as newlyweds, there were moments when I felt closer to my husband than ever beforeand they often occurred in our kitchen.

We had enjoyed eating and cooking together since we met in college, but over the years, we learned some valuable lessons and skills. On one of our very first dates, I invited Graham over for dinner at my apartment, a tiny one-bedroom at the edge of campus. Ill never forget the menu: winter squash soup, warm whole Dungeness crab, and sauted Brussels sprouts. Yes, Brussels sprouts! I mustve been too nervous to consider that Brussels sprouts dont exactly scream romance. Despite my questionable choice of side dish, I had the best time sitting at the table late into the night, eating slowly, laughing, and getting to know Graham. We would go on to cook frequently for each other and to cohost many dinner parties and brunches for our friends. By graduation, we were writing a weekly recipe column for the student newspaper, and in the years that followed, we spent as much time in the kitchen together as we could.

There are countless ways to express love through food, and my hope for this book is that it gives you the tools to feel confident cooking for and with the person you adore. Whether youre newly engaged and beginning to dream about making a home together or youve been living under the same roof for a while, it is never too early or too late to cook together.

Cooking is, at its core, a way to nourish yourself, but it is also a creative, satisfying endeavor and a learning process. Cooking with someone you love is all that, times two. It can also be doubly messy. Youll most certainly encounter roadblocks, moments when everything isnt going according to plan. Thats all very normal and nothing to worry about. If something goes wrong, dont lose heartcheck out . As you read this book, youll learn how to plan ahead as much as possible, how to put together a balanced menu, and how to host with grace and warmth.

An important goal to keep in mind is that cooking at home should be a pleasure. Of course, sometimes you just need to eat, but other times you can linger and really enjoy the processits key to learn to cook so you can do both. When you cook together, share all the responsibilities. Learning to cook with someone you love requires unselfishly covering for their slipups and gracefully recognizing when they cover for yours. Celebrate everything, even (and especially) the success of a delicious weekday dinner for just the two of you. Always hold on to your sense of humor. Things happen. Do not beat yourselves up if a dish doesnt taste exactly as youd hoped, and never apologize for food youve cooked. Not every meal will be perfect, but perfection is not the pointyour home is not meant to be a restaurant; it is a place to feel at ease, to gather with the people you love, and to have fun together.

Cooking as a couple can be incredibly romantic, but its also worthwhile for its practicality. Buying groceries and cooking meals at home will always be more affordable than going out to eat. Whenever possible, consider making a double batch of a recipe so that you can have leftovers stashed away in the refrigerator, ready to be enjoyed. Packing a lunch is a terrific way to save money and also a sweet thing to do for someone.

As you begin your life as a newly married couple, youll figure out your own way to divide household tasks. For too long, the duties of cooking fell to the wife. This is a ridiculous default, because a persons gender has nothing to do with that persons aptitude for cooking, and a marriage in which both partners work full-time is not at all unusualplus, spending time in the kitchen and creating meals with another person is more enjoyable. Lets do away with any notions of who should be responsible for cooking and start with a clean slate. Youre in this together. Youre a team.

Keeping teamwork in mind, youll quickly find that there are certain aspects of cooking and entertaining that one of you enjoys more than the other. For example, some people loathe washing dishes, but plenty of others dont mind it. You may love making cocktails for friends, while your partner may prefer baking dessert or shopping for groceries. Youre probably both capable of chopping an onion, but one of you might enjoy it more or be able to accomplish it faster than the other person can. Its up to you as a couple to figure out who ought to take out the trash, put away the clean dishes, rinse the lettuce, make the coffee or tea, and so on, all based on what makes the two of you run smoothly as a team. Be honest with each other, and remember that things change over time and no two couples are the same.

This book gives you all the recipes you need to start your life together: weeknight dinners, meals to entertain the in-laws, menus for holidays and other celebratory occasions like your anniversary, and much more. The chapters are organized by level of difficulty and serving size, from recipes for two to meals for up to six or eight..

With every meal comes dirty dishes, but Id like to make a case for the peace of cleaning up together. After a romantic dinner for two or a festive gathering of friends, theres something so satisfying about sharing a glass of wine as you take turns scrubbing and putting away pots and pans. Its in these quiet, special moments, as Graham and I talk about the night, reminisce, or plan for our next party, that I feel most thankful for the man I love and for every chance I have to cook with him.

Your first years together as newlyweds will be sweeter than you can possibly imagine. Theres much to celebrate: birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and more. Through it all, youll have the love of your life by your side, and together you can do anything. I wish you every success and joy on the delicious adventure youre about to have! Dont sweat the small stuff, and always remember that the best is yet to come.

Kitchen Equipment and Tools

Set up your kitchen with a solid foundation of essential equipmentthe basic pots, pans, and small tools youll use regularly. Its much better to invest in just a few high-quality, durable tools thatll last for years, maybe even a lifetime, than it is to outfit your kitchen with every new gadget on the market. And while there will often be two of you in the kitchen, you wont need two of everything.