As I've often said, I'm a frequent eater¡ªbut I'm
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 it's fair to say that, thanks to my mother, I
became profi cient at cooking over the years. Good thing,
too¡ªin high school, the cooking part of Home Economics was
all that got me a passing grade. I'm 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
available¡ªcookbooks for every conceivable type of cuisine
and diet and specialty¡ªrecipes 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 fl avor. 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, I've collected recipes all my life¡ªand
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 fi rst venture into
cookbook publishing¡ªbut 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 signifi cant in my Cedar Cove series.
If you've read any of these stories, you'll
recognize Charlotte Jefferson Rhodes. She's known and
loved by just about everyone in town. Not only that, her
reputation as a superlative cook is well-deserved.
In this book, Charlotte's going to take you on a tour of
the kitchens and dining rooms of Cedar Cove. She'll
share her best recipes, including those she was given by
members of her family and her many friends. She's also
going to fi ll you in on what's been happening with the
people in town¡ªher 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 Charlotte¡ªand, in fact, for
most of us¡ªthe preparation of food is associated with
enjoyment, comfort, love.
While sharing food is a social activity, sharing recipes can
bind us with others, too¡ªwith friends and perhaps especially
with our families. It's 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 grandmother¡ªrecipes I've passed on to my own
children. Just as some of Charlotte's recipes come from
her mother and were passed down to her daughter, Olivia, and
now her granddaughter, Justine¡.
Justine, who's 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 grandmother's 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 I've mentioned
in the novels. My goal is always to give you a satisfying
reading experience¡ªwith 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
Charlotte's 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 Charlotte's (and in mine).
It's a privilege to share my own "kitchen
heritage" with you¡ªa heritage of good food and good times.