Fix-It and Forget-It

We have been reading our cookbooks whenever we can these days to find fun, festive dishes for our holiday gatherings that don’t require a lot of effort but still look and taste fabulous.

This recipe fits our needs and goes beyond our expectations. Not only does it taste great and look appetizing, it also gives us meat and one side dish in the same pot. All you need to add is something green, and your meal is complete and looks lovely.

You can impress your guests but still spend time with them when they arrive. This recipe makes entertaining easy.
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So you know how it is when you need something done around the house. You ask those people who always know this kind of stuff. Who the best furnace-repair outfit is. Which doctor really listens. Which sheets last the longest.

Well, our house needed to be repainted, so I asked a guy who’s done some book photography for us for a suggestion. He knows what’s going on, plus he’s got a great eye.

He told me who he’d recommend, and I lined up an appointment for the painter to drop by.

The painter and I did all of our business—talking about house colors and the crews’ work schedule—and just as we were winding up, the guy paused and asked, “So what cookbook are you working on now?”

I had no idea he had any clue about my work (and this passion I have). I filled him in a little, and then he said, “Well, we’ve cooked tons of meals from your Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook! Beginning when our kids were in elementary school, and then as they got older, once a week or so, my wife or I would bring the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook to the dinner table. And when we had finished eating, one of us would read recipes to the kids, asking them to pick several recipes that sounded good to them.

“It was a fun way to have them think about how food actually gets to the table. And because they helped to choose what we would have for dinner, they were more enthusiastic eaters.

“They also learned how to read recipes and imagine their outcome. Isn’t that what good cooks can do so well?!”
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