Dinner, A Love Story by Jenny Rosentrach

I loved this book from the very start.  It is about so very much more than recipes.  It is about family and love and food and friends and the things that are so important in life.  If I'm being honest, the first entry on my cookbook review blog is less a cookbook and more a life and food book.  Jenny takes us on a journey through her life and how food became so important, the thing that was always a constant, a comfort.  She tells us how she got her young children to try new foods, how the family dinner came to be, and never once makes the reader feel guilty for not being able to make a home cooked meal every night of the week.  The recipes aren't overly fancy, but real meals with ingredients available even to those of us in smaller towns. She admits to still making macaroni and cheese from a box with ground beef occasionally.  That's a recipe I can get behind!  There are entertaining stories from her childhood, like the time her mom went back to school and DAD was in charge of dinner.  Imagine that!  Interspersed throughout the chapters are the recipes for the meals that go along with that time in her life.  Chicken cutlets from her childhood, porcupine meatballs from her mother in law, who sends a fat envelope of handwritten recipes to her and her husband, Andy, once or twice a month.  Heirloom recipes...what a dream!  There are Andy-owned recipes, like Black Bean Burritos and Arroz Con Pollo, and recipes they got from their babysitter, Davika.  There are even a few cocktail recipes, she refers to them as medicine.  Most parents can relate to that.  There are lists and tips in this book, like what types of kitchen equipment she suggests, how to stock a pantry for quick meals, and some of the best cookbooks she's read.  She helps us plan dinner parties (don't serve guests something you haven't made before!) and shows us what makes it possible for her to raise a happy family while holding a full time job.  She never makes the reader feel beneath her, food or family wise.  She's telling us what works for her.   In the end, it all comes back to the food, and how it has strengthened her and brought a closeness to her family that many of us long for in our life.

I absolutely loved this cookbook, and I think you will too!  

She can also be found on her blog, http://www.dinneralovestory.com/

Recipe #1: Great Grandma Turano's Meatballs

This one was very easy.  A little time consuming for me because I didn't prep ahead of time, and my kitchen is anything but organized.  Maybe that's something I need to take from her book: be ready to cook and things will go a lot smoother.  All that said, these are awesome.  I served mine over spaghetti, then I gave some without noodles to friends to sample.  The verdict:  delicious!  It is so easy to make your own sauce and meatballs, no need to buy jarred again!  But if you do, that's ok too, we all do :)

Recipe #2:  Grilled  Chicken  Mediterranean Plate

 This isn't really a recipe,  but a technique. Get yourself a pita  and load on the toppings.  I used homemade hummus,  but store bought is great too.  I also grilled some chicken,  although rotisserie chicken makes it even more simple and quick to put together.   My almost-6 year- old son gobbled it up,  not even asking me what it was.  I love dinners like that!

Recipe 3: Tony's Steak

I absolutely love Asian favors, so this was right up my alley!  And seriously, what's easier than throwing a bunch of ingredients in a plastic bag, letting it sit in the fridge for 4 hours, then throwing it on the grill for ten minutes?  I loved this one, and will certainly make it again!