My wife Laura and I are in our 50’s. We have created a weekly ritual, every Sunday night, to do one of your meals, followed by what we call a Sunday Night Meeting; a concept we took from a book on relationships. It is a magical way to say farewell to one week, and hello to another.

Our biggest challenge is that we are largely vegetarian, and so many of your recipes are meat-based. Also, and this is kind of embarrassing, but I hate mushrooms! Maybe i can try to ramp into that, but vegetarian without mushrooms would be great. Or, maybe you can include hints for how to substitute for meats.

Anyway, we agree with those who say, we will buy anything you write. Your recipes are so creative, so wonderful, we are very grateful.

I just have to comment again because I’ve read this post three times now over the last couple days and I just can’t explain how much it resonated with me. This is a lovely, beautiful story Ashley and I just want to say thank you again for sharing your thoughts, hard work and insight with us- we are quite lucky!

Shannon

I’m sure you can guess I thoroughly loved this post through and through. As with all your writing, you are so honest, heartfelt and so insightful. I loved when you spoke about your dream of writing a book and the challenge of it versus everyday life and self-doubt. It’s so unnerving to put something like that out into the world! I think people often forget how hard it is to do that and how easy it is to critique it from the sidelines. I’m so glad that you did! Thanks for sharing your lovely thoughts & recipes with us.

Thank you, wise little voice. 😉

I LOVE writing and recipe creating and the dream is definitely, absolutely to write a cookbook. The kind of book that becomes stained, and has warped pages, because it’s always out in the kitchen. Thank you for giving me a needed boost, and reminding me that my shortcomings (photography, organization) are just opportunities for others to help!

Thank you for the crucial reminder that I just need to do the work, without fear. What if all this time away from my kiddos yields “nothing?”

Also, for your next cookbook (YAY!), I have been loving seasonal recipes lately. Living in Michigan, ours are distinct It’s nice to have the option to flip to the season I’m in as I look at a cookbook and know I’ll likely have the ingredients on hand.

Thanks again for this thoughtful, helpful post. I will definitely come back to it as I work. xo

Congrats again on your cookbook — you’ve done a heck of a job. Best wishes for your continued success.

How exciting to be starting a new book! What I love about your work is that you write honestly about family life and how food works its magic on it and vice versa. Whatever you write, I would be excited to see that come out in it.

All the best,

Kate

Not only that, but why would any of us begrudge Ashley the opportunity to make a living by sharing her craft with us? If she wasn’t able to make a little bit of money on her craft (I.e. Her book), the rest of us probably wouldn’t be able to enjoy her wonderful recipes, stories, and her encouragement on bringing together all of our families. That would be a huge shame, In my opinion. Amazon.com is one of the biggest companies in the world for a reason. Books are a wonderful way for all of us to widen our human experience. Ashley just helps with that. Hopefully you can come to see that eventually.