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Dinner: The PlaybookGeneral

Dinner: The Playbook

By March 20, 2014November 21st, 2014102 Comments

Yes, that’s the cover of my new book, to be published soon, but before I go into more detail on it I want to know one thing:

Are you with me?

I need to know this because, while this book is going to be a lot of things — an adventure, a game-changer, a how-to manual for the family meal — it is first and foremost going to be a personal challenge, a commitment.

Loyal DALS readers have heard the story of The Great Dinner Rut of 2006 — that period, back when our girls were 3 and 4, when Andy and I were drowning in a sea of plain. Plain pasta, plain burger, plain chicken, plain pizza. Our once-solid dinner rotation had been reduced to what you’d find in your average minimum security prison. On any given night, we’d have a breakthrough — Flounder! Abby ate flounder! — until the next time we’d present it to the Li’l Lady of the Manor and she’d drum her fingers against the table and stare at us with cold, cold eyes, as if to say “For real? You think I’m gonna eat that?” I don’t want to go on too much here — you guys know the deal — but for two working parents who loved to cook and just wanted to end the day with a glass of wine and a meal that wasn’t beige, the situation was far from ideal.

“It’ll get better,” everyone told me. “You just have to wait out the toddler years. You’ll see!” But I didn’t want to wait out any years — years! —I wanted to eat real food again, food that I was excited about cooking and introducing to my kids. So I took control of the situation. One night, I made an announcement: We were going to embark on an adventure. (“Adventure” seemed like a key positioning strategy.) We were going to cook thirty new dinners in the next thirty days, and the only thing I asked was that they had to try a bite of every single one of them. One bite. They didn’t have to like every meal, but they did have to try every meal.

It always surprises me how game kids are in situations where you least expect it.

But not as game as Andy and I were. We got into it — scouring old cookbooks for recipes we’d always wanted to make, texting ideas back and forth on our commute, asking anyone we saw what their go-to dinners were. I’m talking about dedication I hadn’t seen since the days when we were planning our honeymoon. We came up with a  line up and got cooking.

Was a little nuts for two working parents to take this on? Yes. Did we almost give up along the way? Absolutely. Was every meal a hit? Not exactly. Abby puked up the trout (day 19) onto the dinner table and Phoebe moved her chair to the living room when we placed a bowl of gnocchi in front of her (day 16). But did it transform the way the kids (and their parents) thought about dinner?  Well… I hate to sound all gimmicky here, but yes. What we discovered was that Family Dinner is a contract. You buy in, or you don’t. This can mean lots of things to lots of different families, but for us, it meant cooking most nights and constantly looking for ways to keep it fresh. We didn’t know it then, but this project set us on our way, expanded our horizons, established dinner as a priority in our lives, and killed the chicken nugget dead once and for all.

So if my first book, Dinner: A Love Story, was a romantic yarn about the evolution of the family meal through marriage, babies and family, then Dinner: The Playbook is its nuts-and-bolts, down-and-dirty, roll-up-your-sleeves, LET’S-DO-THIS-THING companion. It tells the story of our grand experiment and everything I learned along the way, including:

  • Key shopping and organizing strategies
  • Guerrilla tactics for picky eaters and sauce-o-phobes
  • Tips for scouting new recipes that “keep the spark alive”
  • 80+ easy, kid-vetted recipes
  • Weekly meal plans that show you how to put all those recipes together over the course of 30 days — or even just seven days if that’s more your speed.

In short, it’s got everything you need to help bust you out of your own dinner rut. Even when you are working full time. Even when you would rather crawl into a dark hole than think about dinner.

Over the years, I have received so many emails from readers asking me: I am so busy and overwhelmed, and I want to put dinner on the table. How do I do it? Where do I start?

This book, I hope, provides an answer to that question.

So what do you say? Are you in? Please say yes!

Dinner: The Playbook will be out in late August — just in time for back-to-school bootcamp — but is available for pre-order with all the usual suspects: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebooks, and Ballantine.

The masterful Kristina DiMatteo designed the cover and the interior of Playbook, and it’s filled with the sweetest little details. The dedication page is one of my favorites. As is the Gina Triplett-illustrated spine on the cover. (Remember my recipe door? That’s Gina. I like to keep things in the family.)

102 Comments

  • Jackie says:

    Definitely in!!! Preordered and can not wait until August.
    My copy of Dinner: A Love Story is well loved and always a favorite dinner resource!

  • Elizabeth Batte says:

    How exciting ; I’m in! Congrats – I love the cover as well. Reminds me of home.

  • Avatar Katherine says:

    I’m totally in! Just placed my pre-order with Amazon. My girls are almost 3 and almost 6 and I feel like you are speaking my language!
    Thank you!!

  • Avatar Ellie says:

    Thank you, Jenny! I am joining the chorus of happy people celebrating Book 2! I don’t have kids yet but I am recently married and we are freezing flattened Ziploc bags and mastering the weekly shop, DALS style. So grateful for your voice on the web.

  • Avatar Julie Carlson says:

    We’re in. Have been waiting for this book for two years since we’ve basically already cooked everything in DALS.

  • Avatar Carrie says:

    Cannot wait! You guys are doing your thing and it’s so fun to watch (and read!). Although my little one is just baby and I pray she’s never picky (hardeharhar), I want this on my shelf ASAP!

  • Avatar Dara Peppard says:

    I can’t wait. I CAN’T WAIT! I love to cook and love cookbooks but DALS has been my “go to” for months. I will be pre-ordering! Congrats! I am clearing a space for it on my cookbook shelf!

  • Avatar Molly says:

    Love it! Can’t wait!

  • Avatar mary says:

    Jenny, I love the cover!!

  • Avatar Kathy says:

    I’m in. DALS has been my dinner bible for a couple years now — so much so that the binding has failed and the pages simply fall out if I’m not careful. My husband made me an honorary Swede the first time I made you Swedish Meatballs, LOL !! So looking forward to your new book. Congratulations!

  • Avatar Veronica says:

    I’m in! (and I’m not usually one to say ‘yes’ to these sorts of things).

  • Avatar molly says:

    Hi Jenny! I am utterly thrilled! The playbook sounds amazing, and I CANNOT wait. It sounds like just what we need 🙂 xo

  • Avatar molly says:

    And PS > it’s beautiful! Congratulations!!

  • Avatar Katie Erin says:

    I am so excited about this! Thank you for working so hard on yet another beautiful book.

  • Avatar Katie Erin says:

    I am so excited about this! Thank you for working so hard on yet another beautiful book. I just pre-ordered it 🙂

  • melanie says:

    yippee!! i’m totally in!

  • Avatar Carrie S. says:

    I’m so excited! Your first book and the one and only cookbook I’ve ever read cover to cover. It is my food bible, I love it so much! Cannot wait for this new book, August better come fast!

  • Carlinne @Cook with 2 Chicks says:

    Beyond excited! I love your 16 pic collage and am grateful you didn’t include day 19 and the trout

  • Avatar Melissa says:

    What makes you think I can wait all the way until August??? (said in my best whiny voice, that I learned from my children)

    Can’t wait! I read DALS 3 times in a row…because it truly was a love story. Clearly, it would have been weird to read a cookbook cover to cover 3 times in a row, but not a love story.

  • A Life From Scratch says:

    I could. not. be. more. excited. I’m going to buy like 10 copies, 1 for me and 9 for my closest friends. I love the cover!!! Great work – congrats…!

  • Avatar Carrie says:

    I just pre ordered it through Amazon! I don’t know if I can wait until August. We are in a major dinner rut here in Boston! I am really excited to read it!

  • Avatar yajie says:

    Hi, I’m a student at Boston University and we are developing a new cookware and would like to listen to some opinions from our potential consumers. I would be greatly grateful if you could take a few minutes to help our team fill out this survey! Thank you!
    https://bostonu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_089hBllYxugV8yx

  • Avatar Blythe says:

    In. Pre ordered. Yum!!

  • Avatar D says:

    Look forward to it – we have hit the picky eater phase of toddlers and I need inspiration! Tator tots don’t go so well with red wine…and I miss enjoying meals.

  • Avatar Jill says:

    Sweet! and a great subtitle.

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