Frances Schaffer's Shortcuts to Gourmet Cooking and Family Favorites

If you think of gourmet cooking as fancy or elaborate preparation, you may think that gourmet and shortcutting are not compatible. But think again. By defining gourmet as fine food carefully prepared from scratch, even the simplest old family recipe can be gourmet. Shortcuts, in this case, do not mean using a lot of canned or prepared foods. They mean planning and using recipes, skills, and equipment to shorten time spent preparing fine, homemade cooking. That is what this book is about, and here are some of the special features: Options: Variations of basic recipes changing one food creation into another. Step Method: Recipes are broken down into steps, so they are less confusing. Staples and Equipment: Recipes are included for simple broths, mixes, and other basic homemade ingredients to keep on hand for healthier, more flavorful dishes; plus, this includes some sound advice on investing in a few quality pieces of equipment. Quick Tricks and Helpful Hints: Tips on how to streamline your cooking and eliminate steps. Plus an extensive section on classic Italian cooking. Besides providing all of the above, this book is a family memoir and a cooking adventure story to which you can relate. It contains anecdotes and asides that will amuse you as they help with your own cooking endeavors. My object in writing this cookbook is to make food preparation less stressful, more enjoyable. Food should be (1) tasty, (2) healthful, (3) look nice in just that order. That, to my mind, is true gourmet cooking, and it should, not take all your time. I want you to have the pleasure of serving your family and friends nourishing meals that taste good. And I do mean I want it to be a pleasure for you. But Frances Schaffer didn't immediately take to cooking. It wasn't until one of their five children was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) that Frances started cooking from scratch. She was a nurse by trade, but gave up the occupation for the vocation of caring for her family in a personal and specific way. She cooked everything based on the Feingold diet. This diet eliminates all artificial preservatives, flavorings, coloring, and salicylates. While not all the recipes in this book contain all natural ingredients, I have tried to use them as much as possible. Receipts that contain all natural ingredients are marked with an apple. I also include a few low-cholesterol recipes, which are marked with a heart. (Note: Some of the recipes in this book may fit the Feingold all-natural diet, but the Feingold Association does not endorse any recipes because the approved products for the diet are ever-changing.) The safe-food list for your area may be obtained with a membership to the Feingold Associations. This list is invaluable for anyone who wants to eat foods without additives. If more consumers were to choose additive-free foods, more manufacturers would offer them. For more information on the Feingold Diet, visit feingold.org. Schaffer bought fresh milk, made her own butter, cream and ice cream. She made everything from bread to crackers and really fine-tuned her Italian cooking. What benefited their son also came to benefit Grand Island. After the family bought the historic Hamilton-Donaldson mansion at 820 W. Second St., Schaffer decided to open an Italian restaurant on the main floor. Features: Hard cover, 372 pages (with index,) large section on Italian cooking and numerous other sections, including basic kitchen equipment needs, staples for a well-stocked kitchen, appetizers, beverages, breads, cakes and frostings, candies, cookies, desserts, eggs, meats and poultry, pies, salads, soups, vegetables and a Do You Know; section on how to make crackers, marshmallows, etc.