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introduction
forget the facade
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Julia Child started a food culture revolution in America when her show, The French Chef,
came on the air in the 1960s. Her influence changed the way we judged what food was
acceptable to serve our families—in our own kitchens. In the 50 years since then, many new
lifestyle experts have arrived on the scene and preached similar concepts to generation
after generation of women. Food bloggers and Pinterest have only served to raise the bar
and reinforce ridiculously high expectations by making these images even more pervasive
throughout our society.
For decades, modern women have been told that we can have it all. We may have evolved
beyond mere housewives and mothers into educated, modern women who have begun
breaking glass ceilings in order to claim our seats at boardroom tables throughout the
country, but we are still are expected to do the majority of the domestic chores. At the same
time, mealtime expectations have also increased—making it more and more difficult for us to
meet the standards society has foisted upon us. Until we, as women, decide together that it
is okay to set our own standards, the unrealistic expectations for us to dominate domestically
will continue.
The pendulum has swung too far when popular food bloggers and lifestyle experts encourage
their audience to, “take a few minutes off work and make your kid the most creative and fun
breakfast ever!” It’s also clear that expectations and standards have gotten out of control
when several websites are dedicated to kitchen fails. These days, we’re being told that the
only worthy meals are those that require expensive ingredients or extensive time to prepare.
Making meals shouldn’t be so difficult. It’s time to lower our standards and give everyone
permission to once again enjoy simplicity.
It may seem inane to think that modern women need a cooking and survival guide, but it’s
true. We’re going to let you in on a secret. Not every woman is born knowing how to cook,
and there are many more of us who just don’t like it. Some of us get anxiety at the thought of
having to cook or simply don’t have the time or money to do it well.
It’s time to forget the façade and let this book be your guide back to the realm of normalcy.
This is where simplicity reigns and a basic recipe repertoire provides the answer to, “What’s
for dinner?” Say goodbye to those cookbooks with too many options. So many options can
just cause more anxiety and decision paralysis because of choice overload. It’s also time to
refuse to accept recipes with weird or unusual ingredients that require too much time and
research to locate. Let’s get back to basics and embrace balance and simplicity. It’s okay to
serve foods with the same ingredients our mothers grew up eating.
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