Sara Wells - Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen

2011 Sara Wells and Kate Jones.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from thepublisher, Shadow Mountain. The views expressed herein arethe responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the positionof Shadow Mountain. To all Our Best Bites blog fans, both those who have just joined us and those who have been with us from the very early days: This book would not have been possible without you, and we love and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. All food styling and food photography by Sara Wells Art direction by Richard Erickson Book and cover design by Sheryl Dickert Smith Cover and author photos of Sara by Rebecca Smith Cover photos of Kate by Lydia McDaniel Hutson Author photo of Kate by Sam Jones Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wells, Sara (Sara Smith), author. Our best bites : Mormon moms in the kitchen / Sara Wells and Kate Jones. pages cm Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60641-931-1 (hardbound : alk. paper) 1. Mormon cooking. 2. Cookbooks. I.

Jones, Kate (Kate Randle), author. II. Title. TX715.W464 2011 641.5'66dc22 2010040573 Printed in the United States of America Publishers Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Acknowledgments Thank you to my sweet family, especially my boys, for suffering through many cold meals, and sights of goodies that couldnt be eaten, because everything had to wait to be photographed! Thank you to my wonderfully supportive husband, Eric. Eric, I appreciate so much the endless amount of energy and excitement you share about my hobbies and interests. I couldnt have completed this project without your support, encouragement, and patience.

Thank you to my parents, especially my mother, who taught by example the value of gathering the family around the dinner table. Mom, thank you for the many years of love and the millions of dirty dishes washed. They are noticed and appreciated! A big thanks to my little sister, Becca, who is often the silent assistant in my projects. Thank you, Becca, for helping me brainstorm, for editing my grammar, and for sharing your amazing creative talents. Lastly, thank you to my partner in crimeKate! How grateful I am for our surprise friendship and where it has taken us thus far. Sara Wells A huge thank you to Sara, for being an amazing blog and business partner, not to mention a wonderful friend! I also want to thank my wonderful family and friends, wherever you may be, for your love, encouragement, and supportI truly love you all.

Thank you, Young Women of the Alexandria and Pineville, Louisiana, Wardsyou guys were my ultimate taste-testers, kid-watchers, and hug-givers. Thank you to my parents, particularly my dad, for letting me scramble the eggs every morning and for reading me a book every night. Thank you, Dad, for being unfailingly supportive of me and whatever my dreams may have been at any given time, because that support of those dreams has led me here. Clark and Meredith, thank you for your sweet patience and love during the time Ive spent working on this book. Finally, I want to thank my husband, Sam, who has been my greatest supporter, who picks up the slack and has never complained (at least not very loudly) when we have cereal for dinner because Ive been too busy writing about food. Kate Jones Introduction Hello! We are Sara Wells and Kate Jones and we want to welcome you to our little cookbook! We are good friends whose paths crossed many times long before we ever knew each other.

When Kates husband, Sam, and Sara grew up in the same ward (and when Sara became best friends with Sams little brother, Seth), no one had any idea that, years later, we, as new moms, would bump into each other on an Internet message board. We became fast (yet anonymous) friends because of our similar senses of humor, tastes in TV, and cooking styles. In the spring of 2008, we started a little recipe blog. It was never intended to be more than a way of sharing our favorite recipes with our families and friends; after all, with one of us in Idaho and the other in Louisiana, and because we both had very little kids, we didnt really believe that it could be anything more than that. Over those first few months, our friends and families told their friends and families, and our blog began to grow. We changed our name from The Daily Bite to Our Best Bites and found that even as our readership grew, really, at the heart of it, we are just two moms trying to make it work every day, which is something that keeps both us and our blog very real.

We both come from different cooking backgrounds, but we both arrived at essentially the same place: cooking fresh, fun, flavorful meals that wont destroy our grocery budgets and dont require a lot of work. In this cookbook, weve included favorite recipes from our blog as well as over forty new recipes. Additionally, weve included tips, both big and little, that will make your life easier in the kitchen. Because we both spent a lot of time as broke college students, we hate wasting ingredients, so weve included an index of rollover ingredients. That way, if you buy a bunch of cilantro or a quart of buttermilk that you need to use up, check out the index for other recipes that use those and other perishable (and slightly unusual) ingredients. Generally speaking, our recipes are based on the best basic ingredientswhen we say butter, we mean real butter, like from a cow; and lime and lemon juice we like freshly squeezed, not from a bottle.

We love the taste of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. We really feel like its these simple changes that make people fall in love with (or rediscover their love for) cooking and eating at home. We are so thankful to those who have supported us during the past few years. Please enjoy our cookbook and, if you havent already, come join us and our friends at www.ourbestbites.com! Love, from our kitchens to yours, Sara Wells and Kate Jones Appetizers and Drinks Dill Dip Makes about 1 12 cups Make Ahead Quick and Easy Vegetarian Tip: If the texture of cottage cheese bothers you, you can blend it in a food processor with the mayonnaise before mixing with the other ingredients. Serving Suggestion: Serve with crisp vegetables. This is a good, basic veggie dip thats a great alternative to ranch.

Cottage cheese adds both texture and protein. 12 cup mayonnaise 1 cup small-curd cottage cheese 1 tablespoon dried dill 1 tablespoon dried minced onion 2 teaspoons parsley flakes 18 teaspoon seasoned salt Combine all ingredients. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip Serves 1216 Make Ahead Vegetarian Tip: This can be assembled 12 days ahead of time, covered tightly, refrigerated, and then baked for an additional 510 minutes. Serving Suggestions: Serve with crackers, vegetables, baguette slices, tortilla chips, or pita chips. If youre not crazy about spinach, feel free to leave it out. Either way, this cheesy, flavorful dip is perfect for big parties or small family fun nights. 1 (9-ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed and drained 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup sour cream 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon hot sauce 2 teaspoons dry parsley 14 teaspoon black pepper 14 teaspoon kosher salt 1 (15-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1.