"1-2-3 family bean!"

I remember a mealtime ritual from my childhood. I recall it as a fun game. Its origins are uncertain, but I'm sure my parents invented it as a means to get their four children to eat the less desireable items on our plates. Whenever someone said, "Family bean (or potato or carrot or meatloaf)!" everyone at the table was required to simultaneously take a bit of that food. As parents of young children ourselves, my husband and I now frequently invoke this rule at the dinner table. Of course, as I did, the children think it's a game.

Four years ago I decided to compile a family cookbook from amongst favorite recipes of my parents, my brothers, and their wives. Two years ago when the collection was finally complete and I was ready to take the book to the local copy shop, I decided to title it Family Bean! in honor of the dinners of my childhood.

Now I've decided to blog about the cooking adventures in my own kitchen (and the reception they get at my family dinner table--will we have to invoke "family bean"?), sharing my recipes, my successes, and (rarely, I hope) my failures. You'll see some old favorites, as well as the new recipes I invent or acquire from magazines, cookbooks, and friends.

Happy cooking...and eating!