Nicole Keshishian Modic - Love to Eat : 75 Easy, Craveworthy Recipes for Healthy, Intuitive Eating [A Cookbook]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have been cooking since my early teens, following in the footsteps of my mom and late grandma. But it wasnt until I was in my early thirties, at home on maternity leave from my law job and healing from my eating disorder, that I began developing and creating my own recipes and learning how to enjoy food with zero guilt. My time in the kitchen became the ultimate form of therapy. The kitchen was once the room in my house that I feared the most, and over time, it became my place of safety, curiosity, and love. I spent hours and days and weeks teaching myself how to cook and bake, combining ingredients as if it were a school science experiment, pushing myself through all sorts of unique baking dilemmas. The first time I discovered that coconut flour could not be interchanged with regular flour was the day I decided that I loved the challenge of understanding the way that ingredients work togetherand sometimes dont workto create the perfect taste and textures. It was challenging, and it was fun, and over time, learning how to create all of my childhood favorite foods with more nutritious ingredients became my passion. Ever since the day I created my first recipe, one that was entirely my own creation, I have never looked back.

I now know that every challenge I faced in my life, whether it was the eating disorder, the feeling of being stuck in my legal career because it was the only skill set/education I had, a teenage divorce, anxiety and depression led me here: to creating nutritious, feel-good food to help other people feel good in their bodies and live their best lives and to share all of the tips and tools that worked for me along the way. Because, you see, life really is about doing something you love in the service of others. We each have gifts and things to offer the world; they just dont always look the same.

Writing this book was the hardest thing I have ever done (besides giving birth, haha!), but it was a dream come true for me.

I couldnt have done it without the amazing people in my life, starting with my dear friend Laura Lea Bryant from @lauraleabalanced. Laura Lea is one of the first people whom I connected with when I started my Instagram account several years ago and later had the pleasure of meeting her in person on a client retreat. At the time, she was knee-deep in writing her second cookbook. I remember that she kept telling me, Nicole, you need a cookbook! At the time, I brushed it off, but over the years, our friendship grew, and every time we talked on the phone or texted, she would always ask me the same question: So, when are you going to write your book? After the millionth time, I really started to seriously consider it, but realized I didnt know the first thing about how to write a cookbook. I called Laura Lea, and she spent hours on the phone with me, answering all of my questions. When I hung up, I knew I had to do it. Laura Lea gave me the push of confidence that I needed to go out into the world and just do it.

To Anna Worrall, you are truly the most incredible literary agent and human being. I knew from our first phone conversation that I didnt want to even talk to another agentit was you from day one. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being my sounding board. Thank you for picking me up during the hard times. And most important, thank you for becoming a lifelong friend during this process. You will forever be my teddy bear (if I could insert the emoji, I would).

To Ten Speed Press, I am still pinching myself that I published my very first book with you. Dervla Kelly, I am grateful for you and for your expertise; thank you so much for believing in the power of my story and giving me the opportunity to share not just recipes but also the gift of intuitive eating and my story of recovery with the world. Thank you to Art Director Emma Campion, Book Designer Annie Marino, Production Editor Kim Keller, Editorial Assistant Zoey Brandt, Brianne Sperber in marketing, and publicist Natalie Yera for all of your work in bringing this book to life.

To Eva Kolenko, your photography blows me away. It is a true honor to have you shoot Love to Eat. Ill always cherish the time on set watching you create the magic that only you can do with the camera. Thank you, Mariana Velasquez, for your beautiful food styling expertise and to you, Rod Hipskind, for the killer props! A big thank you, Anya Fernald, for your hospitality and for allowing me into your home for the cookbook shoot.

To Priscilla Rossouw and Jaques Pinard, my favorite cookie-loving recipe testers, thank you for testing every single recipe in this book and helping me perfect them until they were absolutely foolproof, delicious, picture-perfect, and as easy to follow as possible. I especially thank you for setting aside your veganism to test even the nonvegan recipes. Thats true friendship.

To Greg, my husband, I love you so much. You believed in me from the first day we met, when I was a miserable lawyer who was very unpleasant to be around. You loved me and supported me anyway. You loved me and supported me even you learned, long into our marriage, that your wife was hiding an eating disorder. You never left me or stopped believing in me. You stayed by my side, and we navigated it together. And when I told you that I wanted to stop practicing law to pursue this crazy dream of mine to become a food blogger and recipe developer, you were a tad skeptical but supported that venture, too. I love how proud you are of me and how you light up when you tell your friends and family about me. Thank you for being you, and for giving me our two boys, Gavyn and Hunter, who truly complete me. I love our little family and the life weve created together.

And to my sweet boys, Gavyn and Hunter. Mommy loves you both so much. This book is for you. I hope you read it one day and see that your mom wasnt perfect, but that imperfections and struggles always give us strength to persevere and overcome anything and that you can do anything you want if you work hard and want it badly enough. Thank you for eating all of the food that went into this cookbook, especially all of the veggies that you both still do not like. But trust me, one day, you will.

To my mom, Elizabeth. I love you with my whole heart. You are my best friend in the whole world, and I appreciate you. Thank you for always being there for me and supporting me, even during the darkest times, just like a mommy bear.

To my dad, Armen, my true hero in this world. I love you so much, and I am so blessed to have you as my dad. You came to this country with nothing, just a strong work ethic and a passion to succeed and provide for your family, and you did exactly that. You taught me the meaning of hard work. You pushed me. You never let me give up. You believed in me. And you continue to inspire me. I will always and forever be your pasha.

To my sister, Noelle. I am so blessed that I have you as my sister. You might be my younger sister, but I look up to you and admire you in so many ways. Im sorry for all the mean things I did to you when we were kids, but I hope that my delicious cooking makes up for it. I love you so much!

To Melissa Coyle, my sister from another mister. You have loved and supported me from day one, and I am grateful to call you a best friend. Although we dont live in the same city, I feel the love every day during our texts, and I hope you know that you are a forever friend and that I always have your back. And thank you for testing some of the recipes in this book and always providing honest and helpful feedback. I love you!

And to my Instagram and blog community, you are my friends and family. Every day I wake up excited to share my life and my recipes with you, so thank you for inviting me into your lives and homes and allowing me to share my journey. Without your support, this cookbook would not have been possible. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. And to think, it all started with my famous Life Changing TahiniChocolate Chip Cookies, and now we are here.