Not on Love Alone: A Year of Delicious Dinners and More for Newlyweds [Hardcover]

Jessie Carry Saunders (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

What could be nicer for newlyweds than to sit down to a lovely meal they made together? Not on Love Alone makes it easy. It is a cookbook for newlyweds, organized chronologically around the first year of marriage. Starting in January, each month has a main dinner menu that is based on seasonal ingredients, and a smaller menu, ranging from breakfast to lunch to drinks or dessert, for when a full menu is too much to tackle. There are also dozens of cooking tips, ingredient notes, shopping aids, and equipment pointers sprinkled throughout, accompanied by the author's own charming four-colored drawings. Having learned to cook as a young girl at her food-lover father's side, Jessie Carry Saunders writes with a tone that is both surefooted and casual. She is determined to persuade every newly married couple that they can cook, and-with her mix of delicious recipes and cooking tips-to encourage one and all that they can be relaxed about making great meals.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I wish I had a book like Not On Love Alone when I first got married. -- Hannah Storm, Anchor, CBS, The Early Show

I wish I had had a book like Not on Love Alone when I first got married. -- Hannah Storm, anchor, The Early Show

I wish I had had a book like Not on Love Alone when I first got married. -- Hannah Storm, Anchor, CBS, The Early Show

Jessie Carry Saunders is a gentle, friendly guide to the kitchen and its pleasurable mysteries. -- Nach Waxman, Owner, Kitchen Arts & Letters, New York City

Jessie Carry Saunders is a gentle, friendly guide to the kitchen and to its pleasurable mysteries. -- Nach Waxman, Kitchen Arts & Letters, New York City

Jessie Carry Saunders is a gentle, friendly guide to the kitchen... -- Nach Waxman, Owner, Kitchen Arts & Letters, New York City

About the Author

Jessie Carry Saunders was on the editorial staff of Food & Wine after graduating from Princeton University. She is now a freelance writer-researcher and runs Dinners at Home, a catering concern that provides clients with food for dinners parties of six to sixteen. She lives in New York City with her husband, who does the dishes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Marlowe & Company (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569243751
• ISBN-13: 978-1569243756
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,377,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The PERFECT wedding or wedding shower gift!, April 22, 2005

By 

Amy Belle (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not on Love Alone: A Year of Delicious Dinners and More for Newlyweds (Hardcover)

I just received this cookbook from a friend of mine (I'm getting married this fall), and it is already one of my favorite wedding presents!

The author (a newlywed herself) has divided your first year of marriage into 12 months -- then, she gives different recipes and dinner ideas for each of the months. It's so simple, and yet such a brilliant idea! She complements the text with wonderful full-color watercolors and helpful diagrams. Also, she includes very funny stories about food and married life. Her tone is charming and sweet and romantic without being "cheesy" -- which I think is the greatest accomplishment of all. Her whole theory is that with modern life so hectic, the best thing a couple can do is spend _one_ dinner a month where you sit down to a romantic, delicious meal that you and your spouse make together. The back of the book calls it a "recipe for a happy marriage," and it's totally true.

As for the recipes themselves, the few I've tried so far have been great. I'm a decent cook myself -- not trained or anything, and I'm no expert -- but I found the recipes clear and easy to follow, unlike so many other cookbooks I own. The author obviously took great care in editing and researching her recipes.

The book itself makes an amazing present, and I plan on buying many for my friends as they get engaged. It's hard-cover and very appealing looking. The pages are of the highest quality and, like I said, it's in full-color throughout. I can't believe something like this didn't exist before, but I sure am happy it exists now!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious all the way through, June 26, 2006

By 

M. Small - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not on Love Alone: A Year of Delicious Dinners and More for Newlyweds (Hardcover)

I have had success with the recipes I've tried from this book, so it already wins a thumbs up. But it's the writing that I really have to rave about--in fact, I found myself abandoning whatever novels I was reading at the time and curling up in bed with this book to read instead! It is such a wonderful conversation from someone else who is new to marriage, and her charts, tidbits, and cheese play are amusing and helpful. My husband has taken her suggestions on salt and made them law in our house.

On a practical level, this book is well put together. It does not overwhelm you with recipes but instead gives you one wonderful new meal to try each month, plus some other must-have recipes, all with the goal of getting you to sit across the table from your spouse. I also liked the book because the author is young, busy, and crammed into a city-style apartment with all its limitations. It addressed many real-life challenges I face in my own life and kitchen, making it more relevant than Betty Crocker.

Everyone we love who gets married this summer is getting this book as a gift from us.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Every Home Cook, May 27, 2005

By 

Foodie from Forest Hills "pvbm" (Forest Hills, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not on Love Alone: A Year of Delicious Dinners and More for Newlyweds (Hardcover)

I loved this book! Jessie Carry Saunders's writing and recipes combine the elegant authority of Elizabeth David with the infectious enthusiam of Rachel Ray. It's clear she knows and loves her subject.

Of the recipes I've tried so far, I particulary recommend Roasted Poratoes with Shallots and Toasted Walnuts, Green Bean and Hazelnut Salad, Roasted Asparaugs, Fried Chicken, Sort of (sounds weird but it works), Lemon Ginger Tart and Wrong Way Torte. Perhaps Saunders timed the release of the book to coincide with the strawberries that go in the torte.

Saunders's drawings are evocative and inspiring. I can't believe she did them as well as wrote the book. How talented can one young woman get?

JS (her husband, to whom the book is dedicated) must be one lucky guy. Her family sounds kind of kooky, but very close-knit and loving.

I'm really looking forward to this writer's next book(s).