By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

My kitchen cabinet always has had one shelf devoted to cookbooks. Although some move into this place of honor and some move away to the less-used living room bookshelf, there are a few cookbooks that are always there. They’re the ones I turn to when I’m looking for a favorite recipe or, sometimes, just for nostalgia’s sake.

     One classic that has lived on the kitchen shelf for the past 30 years is Peaceful Palate by Jennifer Raymond. As you can see, it’s been used frequently and is missing the cover and has some loose pages that are tucked into the book. A newer edition is available, but I plan to keep this one. It has a note from my mother who used it to make banana muffins for us when our first child was born. There are my notes on various recipes – “also works with TVP,” “nice crunch,” and “EVERYONE ate this one.” There are marginal notes from doubling and tripling recipes for potlucks and other gatherings. The tofu burger recipe is almost unreadable; it’s been used so many times and shared with friends. No matter, I have this one memorized. There’s the Spicy Pumpkin Soup I’ve brought to friends who needed comforting, the Bread Dressing that’s always on the Thanksgiving table, and the Fresh Peach Cobbler that I make most summers.

     It’s funny how one spiral-bound book can hold so many memories. Thanks to Jennifer for her gift of this cookbook.