Cheryl Sternman Rule - Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables

Text 2011 by Cheryl Sternman Rule
Photography 2011 by Paulette Phlipot

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ISBN 978-0-7624-4024-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011939380

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-4497-7

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Book design by Amanda Richmond
Edited by Geoffrey Stone

Running Press Book Publishers
2300 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

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To Colin

and to Rudy

Contents

I offer my gratitude to all the friends and family who stood behind me as I completed the photography for this book. Pouring my passion for fruits and vegetables into a project like this is something I have thought about for many years.

Meeting Cheryl Sternman Rule reignited this passion. After setting eyes on her writing, I knew she was capable of bringing a fresh enthusiasm to produce, which is so everyday to most, but which I have always adored. I could not have imagined working with a more talented or creative food writer for this book.

I thank my parents for sharing their love for gardening and good food with me. I also thank my husband Rudy for his enthusiasm and for always keeping an eye out for the best looking produce at the market (and for always asking, Can I eat this or do you want to photograph it first?) Finally, to my baby Cassidy: I so look forward to being in the kitchen with you, cooking and eating the recipes in this book together.

Paulette Phlipot

A smorgasbord of magnificent people helped me turn a rather vague artistic vision into the book you now hold in your hands. Let me introduce you to them.

First is Paulette Phlipot. Paulette has been my partner-in-crime from the get-go, and without her creativity, talent, patience, and easygoing disposition, this book simply wouldnt exist. Her photography inspired me from this projects pre-beginning to its final instant and at each incremental point in between. I couldnt imagine a better copilot.

Paulette and I would jointly like to thank our candid, kind, and ever-responsive superagent Jenni Ferrari-Adler of Brick House Literary Agents. Jenni expertly shepherded us through the minutiae of book dealdom and beyond, and we continue to benefit greatly from her counsel and encouragement. Joint thanks, too, to our editor, Geoffrey Stone, and the terrific designer Amanda Richmond at Running Press. Geoff allowed us to fill this book with a huge number of color photographs, something for which we are especially grateful. A tip of the hat as well to indexer Suzanne Fass, a consummate professional in all realms.

Wed also like to thank the many farmers not only in and around Sun Valley and San Jose, where we make our respective homes, but to farmers everywhere. Without their efforts, we would not have been inspired to walk this particular path, and the book in front of you might be about packing material instead of produce.

To my dream team of recipe testers: Cheryl Arkison, Katrina Brinkman, Erika Bruner, Jacqui Gal Cohen, Meloni Courtway, Stacy Dobner, Kate Fichter, Cynthia Graber, Elisa Koff-Ginsborg, Don Lesser, Kathleen Lingo, Katharine Norwood, April Paffrath, Liz Phillips, Diana Pisciotta, Susan Russo, Julia Schiff, Elaine Schultz, Melissa Shafer, Jennifer Simons, Jackie Vail, Heather Walker, and Dana Wootton I offer you all a curtsy of gratitude so deep I fall over. Thanks too to friends Alison Brunner, Andrea Mello, and Liz Linehan, and to farmers market vendors Grace Vanoyan Yepremian and Donna Borchard.

Special thanks to Tara Mataraza Desmond, Lisa Hoffman, and my sister Julie Sternman, who not only tested recipes but provided invaluable feedback and support during some hairy times toward the end; I am forever in your debt. To my dear friends Jill OConnor and Denise Marchessault: thank you for contributing recipes for Roasted Pumpkin Gingerbread and Mango with Lime Crme Anglaise, respectively, and for your tremendous friendship.

To my brothers, Mark and Matt, my father, Joel, and my stepmother, Barbara: thank you for your keen editorial eyes and words of long-standing praise and encouragement. And to my in-laws Clifton, Ian, and Beth: thank you for all the support.

Finally, to my husband, Colin, and my sons, Andrew and Alex: feeding you feeds me. I could not ask for better stomachs to fill, or for better souls with whom to share each day of my life.

Cheryl Sternman Rule

The first time I saw an iPhone was in the lobby of a New Orleans hotel when a food photographer Id just met named Paulette Phlipot asked if I wanted to see her portfolio. I nodded, and in an instant, my professional world changed.

The screen showcased ripe cherries, purple eggplant, and tall blades of wheat. Weathered farmers, hearty entres, and tables set for twelve. I wanted to blow up Paulettes photos and tack them to the ceiling. I wanted to meet that farmer, to sit at that table. But most of all, I wanted to pluck those cherries from her screen and thrust them in my mouth, all at once, stems, pits, and all. I wanted to lick her touchpad.

Eventually I handed the phone back, but those photographs had left their mark. Paulette has the ability to make colors pop, to make textures dimensional, to tell a fully realized story through her skillful command of the lens. And her facility at showcasing the natural purity of food, particularly of fruits and vegetables, moved me deeply.

The genesis of this book happened there in that hotel lobby, though neither of us knew it at the time.

While Im a classic omnivore and Paulette eats fish, we both prefer the freshness, flavor, and simplicity of produce. On any day of the week, at any time of the day, wed just rather make out with a juicy watermelon than a floppy piece of chicken.

If you like meat, go ahead and eat it. Im not here to judge, much as I hope you wont judge me. But do embrace the vegetable; behold the fruit. Not because theyre good for you, though they are. Not because their footprint is lighter on the earth, though it is. Not because a pound of snap peas costs less than a pound of tenderloin, though it does. Gorge on green beans and favas, pomegranates and peaches, Swiss chard and honeydew because theyre beautiful, flavorful, versatile, and undeniably delicious. Canoodle them because you crave what they offerfreshness, color, snap, and taste. Kiss them, love them, hug them, squeeze them, and enjoy them morning, noon, and night.

Dont eat your fruits and veggies because your mama told you to. Eat them because you want them in every sense of the word. Because seeing them in the market, at the produce stand, on an iPhone, or in the pages of a cookbook accelerates your pulse and makes you very, very hungry.