Contents
Guide
To the Original Doocy Test Kitchen, Peter, Mary, and Sally:
Without your ideas, suggestions, and dramatic food reviews,
this cookbook could have been finished in a fraction of the
time... but it would not have been as much fun for our family.
Contents
WELCOME TO HAPPY IN A HURRY
We know theres a happiness that comes with foods that remind us of something good. Meals or menus or restaurant smells can suddenly activate something in the Official Nostalgia Department of our brains and instantly take us back to a happy time in our lives. Its like a personal time capsule that you can open every time you turn on the stove.
Theres a certain magic to certain foods made a certain way. That was the idea behind The Happy Cookbook, and that general theme continues in this one... but theres a new twist.
Kathy and I were at a book signing for The Happy Cookbookat the Barnes & Noble in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and met a woman who told us about the foods from her childhood that still have special meaning to her. We assumed that was why she bought six copies of our cookbook. As Kathy was autographing one, she said to the woman, Hope you enjoy making the recipes!
Warming up her cooking hands.
The woman paused and said, Kathy, I dont cook...
Then why are you buying half a dozen cookbooks?
My sister got one and told me Id love the storiesand I read some in line waiting for you, and theyre hilarious! So Im buying a copy for me and for some of my friends.
Pleased with the sale, but a bit puzzled, I had a follow-up: Out of curiosity, why dont you cook?
And then she said something that we would hear so many times during that book tour: Look, I am a terrific chef... I would love to cook... but I just dont have time.
People all across America told us the same thing: Theyd love to cook more, but there just werent enough hours in the day. That is the unspoken truth of home cooking in the 2020s; chances are you wont make your next meal from scratchbecause youre busy with life.
And thats where the idea for this cookbook came from. These are still the recipes that make people happy, and as a bonus, you can whip up most of them in less than an hour. Think of it as your Happy Hour. You were going to have a glass of wine anyway... am I right?
Its not Christmas until the gingerbread is made.
We should call this cookbook Happy in a Hurry, my brilliant wife, Kathy, announced, and so we did.
The 100-plus recipes in this book are all about making people happyand about prep thats faster and easier, so you can be happy in a hurry. Just know there is an exception to that general rule, and thats our holiday recipes chapter. Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving are days dedicated to family, food, and fun. And since so much emphasis is on food, those recipes are a little more elaborate and encourage you and your family to come together to make them, and make your own new happy holiday memories.
By the way, before the lady in Florida who bought six books left, my curiosity got the best of me and I asked her, Does your house even have a kitchen?
This wont last long...
Yes, and its beautifulwe just had it redone last year, all Sub-Zero appliances!
Well, maybe one day youll have an idle afternoon and our cookbook will inspire you to turn on your new oven.
An odd look crossed her face.
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