“Once upon a time, my marriage fell apart and my girlfriends booked and paid for a trip to Mexico, where they gave me a homemade shirt with a Photoshopped picture of me and Jason Bateman ironed on it, because I had once told them he was my perfect male archetype.”
Jen Hatmaker goes on to tell how she and her friends ordered the habanero cream soup at the resort where they were staying and “promptly lost our minds.” With help from the internet she devised a home version served in bread bowls “so beautiful, you will want to make an iron-on shirt with its picture.” She gives you the formula in “Feed These People: Slam-Dunk Recipes for Your Crew” (Harvest, $30).
Hatmaker is a bestselling author, speaker and podcaster based in Austin, Texas, with a largely female fan base that includes Jennifer Garner, Joanna Gaines and Martina McBride. She writes the way she talks — whether the topic is family, faith, justice or even recipes.
Her primary credential for cookbook-writing, she confesses, is being an enthusiastic eater who loves to cook for her five now-grown kids, extended family and friends. She shares how turning her focus to the kitchen helped her heal from heartbreak after her 26-year-marriage came to an unexpected halt.
For all the self-deprecation, Hatmaker’s unfussy, bold-flavored recipes (think Green Chile Chorizo, Pulled Pork Sliders with Spicy Slaw, Grilled Shrimp with Hot Honey and Coconut Rice) are expertly written for any home cook to execute with confidence. Humorous stories and irreverent side notes along the way keep you both entertained and informed.
For example, to tell if Creme Brulee is done, she offers this visual cue: “the edges should be set and the middles a little jiggly (the title of my next book, a body memoir).”
And if you’re new to cooking, she offers this advice: Don’t be afraid to screw up. “You can murder the crab cakes with lemon caper butter sauce at first, and who really cares. It’s just food. Keep going.”
Susan Puckett is a cookbook author and former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow her at susanpuckett.com.
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