This is not a cookbook per se, but a memoir written for my children and grandchildren, recording what they have eaten under my roof, as well as the whys and wherefores that colored their existence before they were old enough to control their own destinies.

It covers what I learned from a lot of people who influenced me, starting with my father, and consequently had a bearing on everyone I have cared for and influenced since. This has been something like a daisy chain; you help me and IÂ’ll help somebody else, because thereÂ’s no way to repay you. It has been complied from scraps written down through the years because I did not want to forget. What has been joyous or painful, or strange or commonplace, seems to be significant today only because it was unusual in what turned out to be the last half of a millennium.

It has been my lot to have been interested in a great many things: art, food, architecture, history, plants, travel, men, and my family. IÂ’ve had ups and downs, survived and been a personal witness to the ability of the human spirit to overcome all sorts of unexpected blows.

This book is for people who love to read about cooking, who know a little bit about it, and truly enjoy it as an indoor sport. ItÂ’s for people like my children and their spouses, who cook together, not always looking for the shortcuts, but always looking for the best.

As Virginia Woolf so succinctly put it, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

I have led a wonderful life, enjoyed the best of this continent and Europe, never having been a star, a celebrity or wealthy, but claim only to have been a keen observer in a very interesting and unusual period in history. IÂ’ve learned what is truly important in life, what is transitory, and IÂ’ve tried to convey these discoveries to make otherÂ’s lives a little more productive and satisfying. The secret, the essence of the good life, in a nutshell, is productivity, and much satisfaction lies in serving oneÂ’s family. Children, especially the most promising, must be nurtured as only a mother can. Many mothers donÂ’t see how important their roles are, and perhaps by talking about food enthusiastically, even romantically, I can get them to look on one aspect of housekeeping with new eyes, and find satisfaction where there was once drudgery. Enjoy.