A very Special Cookbook

I didn’t have much mad money when I was a student at Syracuse University. My parents generously paid for school, clothes, books, and other essentials, and I had a work study job (that often paid me even when I didn’t show up ‘cause I was too busy studying) to keep me stocked up on beer and non-dining hall food. I had plenty for which to be grateful, and I satisfied my book lust at the library.

When I moved into my own apartment, I went through an Italian cooking phase that taught me how to make homemade pesto and tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad; a Thai phase that required a trip to the Asian grocer for fresh lemongrass and other ingredients to make curry paste from scratch (My advice? Just buy the damn paste in a jar and make everything else yourself.); and an “I should eat beans instead of meat” phase.