In this warm collection of personal essays and recipes, best-selling author Ann Hood nourishes both our bodies and our souls. From her Italian American childhood through singlehood, raising and feeding a growing family, divorce, and a new marriage to food writer Michael Ruhlman, Ann Hood has long appreciated the power of a good meal. Growing up, she tasted love in her grandmother's tomato sauce and dreamed of her mother's special-occasion Fancy Lady...

In this radical new approach to home cooking, science is used to explain what goes on in the kitchen. Unlike other food science books, this is a direct and practical connection between the science and the cooking divided into 50 core principles.