Debbie Macomber - Debbie Macombers Cedar Cove Cookbook

Breakfast
at 16 Lighthouse Road with Olivia Griffin

Lunch
at 204 Rosewood Lane with Grace Sherman Harding

Tea
at 6 Rainier Drive and the Victorian Tea Room with Justine Gunderson

Appetizers
at 311 Pelican Court with Zach and Rosie Cox

Dinner
at 44 Cranberry Point with Bob and Peggy Beldon

Dessert
at Harbor Street with Roy and Corrie McAfee

Easter
at Eagle Crest Avenue with Ben and Charlotte Rhodes

Fourth of July
at Pacific Boulevard and The Waterfront Park with Troy and Faith Davis

Thanksgiving
at Seaside Avenue with Bobby and Teri Polgar

Christmas
at Sandpiper Way with Dave and Emily Flemming

As Ive often said, Im a frequent eaterbut Im a frequent cook, too! In fact, I spend more time in the kitchen than I do in the dining room. I remember, when I was only four, begging my mother to let me help her make dinner. She was a gifted cook who never let a recipe get in the way of being creative; not surprisingly, working in the kitchen (and enjoying it!) is part of my family heritage.

I think its fair to say that, thanks to my mother, I became proficient at cooking over the years. Good thing, tooin high school, the cooking part of Home Economics was all that got me a passing grade. Im a terrible seamstress, so my ability to cook saved me from a certain F. (Who knew there were so many incorrect ways to sew in a zipper?)

In the days before the many cookbooks now availablecookbooks for every conceivable type of cuisine and diet and specialtyrecipes were often preserved on index cards. My mom had several small green boxes stuffed with them. And after her death I found a notebook in which my grandmother had written down recipes and cooking hints she felt her daughter (my mom) should have when she left home. I savored every word and learned cooking hints I still use. For instance, I discovered how to gauge when bean soup has simmered long enough to reach its maximum flavor. According to my grandma, Helen Zimmerman, you can tell by the aroma. As a thrifty and inventive cook, she also had lots of suggestions for substitutes and alternative ingredients, and different spices to try in particular recipes.

Like my mother, Ive collected recipes all my lifeand yes, I have the same small green recipe boxes crammed with carefully handwritten notes that date back to my grade-school days.

Years ago, I chose some of those recipes and created my own envelope-size recipe booklets as a thank-you gift to my loyal readers at Christmas. In return, readers sent me their own favorite recipes. This was my first venture into cookbook publishingbut not my last!

You may have noticed that meals play an important role in all my stories. This is certainly true of earlier series like Midnight Sons and Heart of Texas, as well as the Blossom Street books. But cooking and preparing meals, and sharing them with family and friends, is perhaps most significant in my Cedar Cove series.

If youve read any of these stories, youll recognize Charlotte Jefferson Rhodes. Shes known and loved by just about everyone in town. Not only that, her reputation as a superlative cook is well-deserved.

In this book, Charlottes going to take you on a tour of the kitchens and dining rooms of Cedar Cove. Shell share her best recipes, including those she was given by members of her family and her many friends. Shes also going to fill you in on whats been happening with the people in townher daughter, Olivia Griffin, her granddaughter, Justine Gunderson, Zach and Rosie Cox and Grace Harding, to name a few.

Like Charlotte, I believe that food is central to the important relationships in our lives. Serving a meal is probably the ultimate expression of hospitality and friendship, and a good dinner sustains us in more than just the obvious ways. For me, for Charlotteand, in fact, for most of usthe preparation of food is associated with enjoyment, comfort, love .

While sharing food is a social activity, sharing recipes can bind us with others, toowith friends and perhaps especially with our families. Its about forming and nurturing traditions, which help us create a sense of continuity from one generation to the next.

Quite a few of the recipes I use today came from my mother and grandmotherrecipes Ive passed on to my own children. Just as some of Charlottes recipes come from her mother and were passed down to her daughter, Olivia, and now her granddaughter, Justine.

Justine, whos opened a tea room in town, has asked Charlotte for recipes and menu ideas, hoping to make her restaurant as wonderful as a visit to the fragrant kitchen she remembers from her grandmothers home. Happy to comply, Charlotte has collected her favorite recipes in this book. You might recognize some of them from scenes in the Cedar Cove stories.

Ultimately, the genesis of this cookbook is my readers requests for these very recipes, the ones Ive mentioned in the novels. My goal is always to give you a satisfying reading experiencewith something extra. I like to describe myself as a value-added author, and this cookbook is one way of offering you that extra value. So are Charlottes introductions, in which she reveals her insights about the people of Cedar Cove, and her personal comments on various recipes.

Please join Charlotte and everyone in town for lots of delightful adventures in cooking and dozens of memorable meals. I hope these recipes will be as treasured in your family as they are in Charlottes (and in mine).

Its a privilege to share my own kitchen heritage with youa heritage of good food and good times.

Happy readingand happy eating!