Jessica Merchant - Seriously Delish 150 Recipes for People Who Totally Love Food

Copyright 2014 by Jessica Merchant

Photography copyright 2014 by Jessica Merchant

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-544-17649-2 (cloth); 978-0-544-17653-9 (ebk)

v1.0914

TO MY INVISIBLE INTERNET FRIENDS, the readers on my blog, the eyeballs on that little corner Ive created on the web. You are my friends, my community, my soul mates, and my muse. You make every day better and inspire me to grow as a person, a cook, and a writer. My life would be unchanged had you not entered it. I LOVE YOU.

TO EDDIE, the love of my life. Thank you for eating the meals I make night after night, when I know that youd much prefer some regular food like spaghetti and meatballs or cheeseburgers without all the fancy stuff. Without you, Id be a lot more irrational and a lot less loved. You complete me, Jerry Maguire style.

TO LACY, the taster of many foods, the deliverer of many iced coffees, and the listener of many meltdowns. You teach me how to be a friend, but most importantly, where all the best restaurants are. Youre the best faux sister there is. P.S. Thanks for letting me jack your chicken pita recipe for the book.

TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS. I apologize for forcing all of my leftovers on you every single day of your lives. Thank you for always eating every last crumb and telling me when things totally suck or are the best ever. And of course, for your constant love and support. Always.

TO STACEY GLICK, my agent and friend. Thank you for helping me put my thoughts into words, my ideas into stories, and my dreams into a manuscript. And for introducing me to the pretzel croissant at City Bakery. OMG.

TO MY EDITOR, JUSTIN, and the entire team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thank you for believing in my vision for this book, supporting my occasionally nonsensical made up words, and helping my foodie dreams come true in book form.

TO MY GRANDMOTHERS, LOIS AND VIRGINIA, two hugely influential women in my life who now look down on me from heaven. I hope to carry your legacy throughout the rest of my life. You showed me the true meaning of strength and elegance.

So hi.

I put things in a book for you!

... where should we start?

For as long as I can remember, my world has revolved around good food.

I grew up in a house where my mom cooked dinner nearly every single night. Every.single.night. Super lucky, I know. These days, the mere thought of making dinner for a family of five or more makes me shudder, and I dont even have children yet.

Heck, I dont even have a pet to feed.

The apple didnt fall far from the tree, though. My mom grew up in a house where homemade dinners were on the table every evening. Her mom, whom my dad (lovingly, of course) nicknamed Mother Lovett, wasnt so much of a cook as she was a baker. The woman didnt touch an onion until the 1980s and used tons of packaged goods, even forgoing real whipped cream for her beloved boxed Dream Whip. For some households, like the ones where 80-year-old Italian grandmas spent the entire day making meatballs, sauce, and even noodles from scratch, this was practically considered a sin.

Her food was still delicious. But I think thats a requirement of grandmas or something, right? Years of love are poured into a recipe. She was always cooking for someoneher siblings, my mom, my aunt, her husbands. Yes, plural. She married brothersat separate times, of course. Like, she married one, became a widow, and then married the other... but thats another story for another day.

Thats kind of where it all began. Its the basis for how I ended up talking about my favorite treats on the World Wide Web to a bunch of my invisible Internet friends. It wasnt my only influence, however. I was quite possibly one of the luckiest people on earth, being able to share more than 25 of my years with TWO incredible grandmothers. My dads mom, my Grandma Lois, was the absolute epitome of class. When it came to entertaining and hosting guests, she did so with an elegant simplicity that I have never seen anywhere else. She was known for having the perfect spread of snacks set out the minute you arriveda few crackers and cheese, a bowl of pretzels and nuts, white wine and cocktails already chilled. There was never too muchnever enough to get full on before dinner. It was just the right amount.

Her table was always impeccably set. There were place cards where our names were scribbled with her unmistakable penmanship. We used her wedding crystal to drink ice water, and she had multiple mini salt and pepper shakers scattered on the table. After dinner, chocolate mints were always served from a local (and fabulous) chocolatier here in PittsburghSarris Candiesand to accompany dessert we had demitasse served in flowered china cups that she collected over the years and displayed on a shelf in her dining room. If it sounds pretentious, I promise you it was anything but. It wasnt even overly fancy, but it made you feel special. Seriously, that womans picture should be in the dictionary under the word lady . When Grandma Lois passed away suddenly in 2009, it felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. I still had so many things to learn from her! And thats when I decided that she had already taught me many of the important things. I wanted to be exactly like her and carry on her traditions. I wanted to make others feel extraordinary while sharing a meal.