As this cookbook was coming together, Liz Edmunds’ passion for the importance of family dinnertime led a kitchen-store manager to dub her “the food nanny.” The moniker stuck! Today Liz serves as part teacher, part counselor, part coach for families in need of organizational help and cooking instruction so they can implement a weekly dinner plan in their own homes.

Liz’s interest in family dinners began at a very early age, with her beautiful mother delivering a delicious feast to her family every night of the week. Liz recalls:

All six of us gathered in our cramped little kitchen to sit at our big table for a celebration at the end of the day. The meal was so delicious it seemed to make our hurts and disappointments disappear for just that hour. We were together as a family, and that’s all that mattered in the whole world. We had something going on very special in our home and that something very special was dinnertime.

Growing up in La Mirada, California, Liz would envision the kind of home life she wanted when she grew up: a house full of laughter, happiness, loyalty, love, homemade bread, and dinner on the table every night. Liz wanted a house where the excitement level was high because there was not enough time in the day to accomplish everything. At the same time, she would set clear boundaries for her family and strive for order in the household.

When Liz and her husband, Stephen Edmunds, started having children, Liz set a goal to create a consistent dinnertime with the family, despite her husband’s extensive travels as a pilot, first for the U.S. Air Force and then for Delta Airlines. She began implementing her “theme nights” more than 30 years ago and has been developing and tweaking recipes ever since.

Over the years Liz has shared her theme-night plan with people all over the country, and many have encouraged her to write this book. Some of Liz’s four daughters used the plan in college to cook for their roommates and friends; and now that the daughters are married, they are following the plan with their own families.

Steve and Liz are the parents of seven children and grandparents of 13. When Liz is not in her kitchen, she enjoys bicycling and in-line skating. She and Steve, now retired from flying, continue to travel extensively throughout the world. They have lived in their mountain home outside Park City, Utah, for 20 years.

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