Jessica Merchant - The Pretty Dish: More than 150 Everyday Recipes and 50 Beauty DIYs to Nourish Your Body Inside and Out: A Cookbook

To Eddie, Max, and Emilia,

contents

introduction

Its 6:47 a.m. when my alarm goes off, and as I peek at my phone screen with one eye open, I see that I have six texts from last night at 1:32 a.m. from my cousin Lacy. Its a group textone of my least favorite things in the universebut it includes food, so that softens the blow a bit. Plus, the notifications all went off while I was sleeping and not doing something important like scrolling through Instagram and falling into the vortex of my brothers ex-girlfriends sister who just got married to a guy I went together with in fourth grade, so its cool.

Speaking of Instagram, thats what the group text was all about. Lacy sent a screenshot of a crazy dessert that she thinks we have to try out together, and she must have been scroll happy, because what follows are screenshots of things that are equally delicious and increasing in calories. A pizza supreme fondue, a peanut butter truffle doughnut, a quinoa salad that would utilize everything we could get at the farmers market on Saturday morning, and because life doesnt exist without cocktails: a blueberry mojito punch.

Thanks to her, at 7 a.m. on a Monday morning I am now starving for anything but the bowl of overnight oats that sits in my fridge, waiting for a sprinkling of chia seeds and dried raspberries.

There is nothing worse than the dreaded Monday breakfast, when youre still in a food coma from the weekend and craving all sorts of crispy, crunchy tacos with white Cheddar queso and an endless pitcher of margaritas.

Gosh. This just keeps getting worse.

Food is one of the things that tie Lacy and I together; its one of the ways that we honor our grandmother and one of the activities that we enjoy doing together. Eating and cooking, that is. It seems like in the last 4 years, time has both sped up and slowed down. When I was pregnant with my son, Max, everyone told me over and over again how it would be life-changing, and boy were they right. The thing was, though, that I didnt quite feel like I had changed. My life and circumstances changed, and it took a lot of adjusting to the new normal to feel like things were back in place.

Which is totally a joke, because I think Im still adjusting to the new normal! Two-and-a-half years later, here I am secretly pregnant (only Eddie knows!) with my second child as I write this book, preparing to enter the next new normal that will come with the pitter-patter of multiple baby toes under my own feet.

Of course, there were times in my sons newborn stage when I didnt think I could even manage to make it into the kitchen. Nights when we ate egg sandwiches for dinner, and certainly not ones that you would see on the cover of Food & Wine. I had running lists of recipes that sounded so fantastic, but days that were rather exhausting and led me to make quick chicken quesadillas for dinner instead.

One thing that has remained constant is my complete and utter adoration for sharing food with people I love. Its funny, because I often tell others how I really have no desire to be a chef in a restaurant and cook for strangersmy true passion lies in cooking and sharing food with people I know and love.

That totally includes you. Writing a blog on the Internet has been world-altering for me, even if my parents (and occasionally even my husband, Eddie) ask, Wait, what is it that you actually do? Is this reallywork?

Writing the blog has been such gratifying work that it has changed my life. While Ive never claimed to be a professional chef or culinary expertand I relish the fact that Im mom-taught, grandma-taught, and, lets be real, Internet-taughtsharing the experiences that Ive had making thousands of recipes over the last 8 years has been so much fun. I have met some of my closest friends this way and feel an incredible connection with the community on my website.

Because of all that, I find that my love for sharing food is twofold. Sharing recipes with readers of my blog, new readers of my cookbooks, and general invisible Internet friends (I know youre real!) has bridged the gap with so many people that I would have never been able to connect with otherwise. Its an easier way to find others who share the same tastebuds that I do, who have a passion for home cooking, and who possibly even enjoy reading the ridiculous rambles that find their way onto the pages of my little corner on the Internet.

However, the other part of this love is that this entire experience has broadened my expertise in being able to share food with family and friends. One of Eddies and my favorite things to do is host a homemade pizza night, which includes grilled pizzas in the summer or baked pizzas in the winter, and Ive learned to let go of the stress of cleaning up the mess while we entertain others.

The meals in our home are not always picture-perfect. There are many nights (occasionally, even once a week) when I will eat cereal for dinner or Eddie will make pancakes and eggs. Cooking and sharing food does not have to be glamorous or even Instagram-worthy, though of course I do love a great social mediainspired cheese plate. We have our days (and weeks!) that include plain peanut butter toast, bagged salad, and more cups of yogurt than I can count. But what I like to emphasize most in our house is feeding our family and friends with love and joy, even if it isnt perfect.

With all of this in mind, there is a big constant in these recipes: Almost all of them can be made in 60 minutes or less! 98 percent of them, to be exact. I bent the rules when it came to a few recipes, mainly ones that include use of the slow cooker, because sometimes that is just more convenient. And while those recipes may technically take 6 to 8 hours to cook, the prep and hands-on time is still well under an hour.

I want our food to taste amazing, but I want it to be made in an amount of time that doesnt make my head hurt. Im a true member of the Internet generation, and I want our time with family, friends, siblings, children, girlfriendseveryone!to be taken up with good conversation and lots of ice-cold ros (okay, not for the kids), and not while Im slaving away to make sure a three-course meal will fit the bill.

Self-care is a trendy term these days, and I find that cooking and sharing a delicious meal with people is my own form of self-care. And, perhaps, self-indulgence! In the best way possible, that is what I hope you take from this book that is so full with recipes from my own head and heart. I want you to take care of yourself and your loved ones. I want you to read the pages of this cookbook like a novel and feel like you are cooking with your BFF. These recipes, from the food that goes in your belly to the food that goes on your face, are ones that you can make with your best group of girlfriends or your family on a Monday night at the start of a busy week. I want these recipes to feel like you.