Holiday Cooking Made Simple

We consider our patients an extension of family and as such, we love learning and sharing their many interests and talents. We recently learned that Janne Taubman is the author of two cookbooks, and with the holidays just around the corner we thought it might be nice to learn more from a resident chef, before tackling the task of cooking this year’s Thanksgiving feast. Janne’s cookbooks   offer at-home cooks some great recipes and instruction. When we spoke with Janne about her books and holiday cooking this is what she had to say:

AD: What inspired you to write a cookbook? 

When we lived in San Diego years ago, my hairstylist mentioned that she was hosting 17 of her family members from Phoenix for Thanksgiving.  I remarked that I knew that she didn’t cook much and asked if she was nervous. She replied that she had plenty of time to practice.  Thanksgiving was nine weeks away. Three weeks before Thanksgiving I was back at her salon and she said, “I know you cook a lot, can you tell me how you make mashed potatoes?”  I knew then she was in trouble!  I offered to go to her house soon and help her plan. When I arrived and looked in her pantry and found only salt, pepper and garlic salt, dinner plates for 4 and a small set of cooking pans, I knew she really needed my help.  We sat down and planned her menu, and I wrote out the recipes and a timetable. If I hadn’t, I knew she would be putting a frozen turkey in the oven.  After Thanksgiving, she thanked me and said, “I don’t know what made me think I could pull that off without help. You ought to write a cookbook for people like me.” 

For the next year, I took some notes when we entertained for holidays and parties and DinnerOn Time: Holiday and Special Occasion Cooking was born.  I immediately started working on the second book, DinnerOnTime: Serving Hot Things Hot and Cold Things Cold, was published in 2008.  Now that I’m retired, I feel a third book is on the way. 

What kind of recipes will we find in your books? 

Both cookbooks include a variety of down-home cooking recipes, many of which came from my mother who taught all eight of her children how to get a meal on the table.  The thing that sets my holiday book apart from other cookbooks is the timeline I provide with all the recipes and menu to help coordinate the preparation so that the meal comes together at the same time.  I also include a prepared shopping list to ensure that when you start cooking you are not missing an ingredient needed for the recipe.  In my second book, I have a chapter of make-ahead meals where you can spend an afternoon in the kitchen and end up with at least 10 dinners to store in the freezer.  Another chapter focuses on entertaining and includes everything from a fancy sit-down dinner to feeding a crowd for a football game. 

What are your some of your favorite dishes to cook?

It’s tough to narrow it down to a few dishes. We have been blessed to travel to Italy a number of times and I love real Italian food.  I like to experiment and try to recreate those simple dishes at home.  Steak the Italian Way, Tomatoes and Mozzarella au gratin and Onion Mushroom Risotto are a few of my favorites.

Any special plans for the Thanksgiving holiday? What will you be cooking?

I will actually use my own cookbook menu and timeline for Thanksgiving.  It really makes it easy on me to not have to think about it.  The shopping list is done and all I have to think about it what time we want to sit down to eat and look at the timeline in the book.  We will have our local family, friends and stragglers that don’t have family in town. Some years, we have as few as 8 and other years as many as 24.  We have many blessings for which to be thankful. 

If you could invite any three people in the world to dinner, who would they be?  I would be hard pressed to choose 3 because I would give anything to have my Mom and Dad and grandparents at our table again.  I always miss them, but the holidays especially shine a light on their absence from my life. 

How long have you been a patient at Artistic Dental?  My husband and I moved to Phoenix in 2004. After settling in, we looked for a dentist that was on our plan and located near work.  Dr. Dougherty’s name came up and we decided to give him a try.  We have been going to him for more than 10 years now.  He is the most progressive dentist I have known and everyone in the office is great as well. Coming to the office feels like visiting old friends now.  

Where can people purchase your cookbooks?   

People can contact me directly at jstaubman@cox.net or call me at 602-354-2910 to purchase either of my cookbooks or both. The price is $19.95 per book plus tax and shipping.