I’m so happy to present to you, my lovely friends, my fourth cookbook: Dinner Just for Two! When I started this blog over 9 years ago, I never knew it would give birth to four cookbooks. When I was writing my first book, Dessert for Two, I thought it would be the only chance I got to ever write a book. I put my entire heart and soul in that book. As such, I included every type of dessert I could think of in that book–I wanted it to be a definitive guide for how to scale down any dessert recipe that you love. When I wrote my second cookbook, Comfort and Joy: Cooking for Two, I focused heavily on the foods that I grew up on and loved. Plenty of Southern comfort foods, breakfast dishes, light lunches, and romantic dinners for two. The book came together so quickly, because it consists of the recipes I make all the time for my family. I had the opportunity to write another dessert for two cookbook next, but as I was compiling the recipes, I noticed a trend: the recipes were so easy and required such few ingredients! The recipes in Sweet and Simple: Dessert for Two use less than 10 ingredients and come together in a snap. After running a blog for many years, my cooking and baking style naturally turned towards ’easier’ and ‘faster’ recipes. This is what you guys request and love the most, so I’m so happy to develop recipes like this! After 3 books, I thought my days of writing books were over. Honestly, writing books takes me far away from the blog and social media, which is where I connect with you guys on a daily basis. Writing a book very much feels like a solo effort in attempt to climb a mountain at the fastest pace possible while also somehow attempting to avoid burnout. My publisher very generously gives me at least a year (usually more) when writing each book. As for this latest book, we ended up deciding to move back to my home state of Texas, so the timeline was even more delayed.
Dinner for two ideas:
Overall, though, writing Dinner Just for Two was a very natural process. I simply aimed to make our dinners very exciting and vegetable-centric for a year. In that year, I kept a notebook and wrote down what we liked the most. Then, I re-tested the recipes a few more times, and then photographed everything. I started out by finalizing two to three recipes a week, but by the end, it was more like three in a day for several days each week. My Mom came over a lot to help me cook and clean dishes. None of my books would have come together without my parents’ help with dishes and childcare, hah!
Dinner recipes for two:
Ok, so let’s talk about the cookbook: Dinner Just for Two! There are 9 chapters:
Dinner for two healthy:
At first glance, you’ll notice this book has quite a few vegetarian options. This is because my family only eats meat a few times a week, and Meatless Monday is my favorite day of the week! I hope this makes you happy; if not, add sliced chicken to anything! When I take the dinner for two healthy slant, I want you to know that the flavors are still big and bold. I have a barley bowl that’s studded with butter-roasted mushrooms and chunks of Brie cheese that melt and stick to the barley. The sprinkle of fresh thyme on that recipe combined with mushrooms makes it so meaty and satisfying! Do I even need to talk about my ways with a pan of quinoa that are all one-pot: so healthy and so fast! Typically, we do healthy dinners for two as actually our lunch, and so many of the recipes in this book are great for quick lunches to pack. Between veggie tarts that are great at room temperature and peanut lime noodles that Camille begs for weekly, you’ll find plenty that’s healthy in this book. Speaking of healthy, you shouldn’t miss my Toaster Oven Cooking for Two e-book that is right here on the site–no trip to the book store needed. Just click and download; you’ll love it!
Other dinner for two info:
There is a section in this book for leftovers! I don’t mean leftovers from the recipes, because when you’re cooking for two, you shouldn’t have much leftover. I’m talking about leftover ingredients. Cooking for two only requires half a pound of ground beef, yet the smallest package we can buy is a full pound. So, if you find yourself with leftover ground beef, turkey or chicken, head to the ’leftover ground meat’ section and see the other recipes you can use it in! Also, we’ll never use a whole bunch of cilantro or parsley for a dinner recipe for two, so flip to this section to see a list of all recipes that use herbs! This applies for leftover beans, leftover buttermilk, eggs, cheese, and canned tomatoes. The leftover section of this book is something I’m very proud of, because I’m all about reducing waste in the kitchen! Use it, and you won’t throw wilted herbs or the last portion of beans from the can in the trash! Ok, friends, thank you for listening to me ramble about my latest cookbook. I am so proud of this book, and plus, my publisher put it in a lot of effort to make it beautiful, too! The gold embossed letters on the front make it so gift-able for wedding season, or as a retirement present. Speaking of, every empty nester in your life needs this book, especially your parents!
