Hello
I'm Shari Bayer
One of the things in life I am truly committed to is making a family dinner at least 5 nights a week. I can honestly say for the past 12 years or more I have pulled this off - more often than not - which still shocks me to think about it.
Each weekend I use my favorite cookbooks to plan my meals for the week.
I actually look forward to it. Looking at all the beautiful pictures and imagining all the great things we are going to be eating is so fun for me, which is why I decided to create a blog about cookbooks.
Each Saturday I create a menu which covers Sunday through Thursday (at least) and write it down on a huge chalkboard I have hanging in my eating area.
I make a grocery list based on the ingredients I need from the menu taking into consideration our calendar.
On busy nights I plan for quick and easy meals and on really busy nights I try and make something in advance that we can pop in the oven and have ready to go.
I also have a husband that supports my habit of cooking and blogging by doing many things, one of which is going to the grocery at 7 am every Sunday morning to purchase the items on my list.
Why does he do this? Well, he loves me! And as a very early riser he insists that with the store practically empty he can shop in a fraction of the time, allowing us to use that time for other things?
I am a firm believer that no one has time to cook and go to the grocery store every single day. If you take the big grocery shop out of the picture (don’t get me wrong I do need to stop for one or two items on a regular basis) you will find the time to cook.
The reason I go through all this effort is that, selfishly, dinner is my absolute favorite time of the day. I have a saying on the wall of my kitchen that "The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table."
I believe this with all my heart as nothing is better than having my favorite people around me sharing a home-cooked meal. After a long day at work and school, it’s a gift of time together. Sharing, talking, laughing, and eating gives us time to relax, reconnect and nourish ourselves. My favorite cookbooks make this possible.