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WholeGrainMornings-Food52

“This is a brilliant book filled with whole-grain breakfast inspiration, and so much more. Megan is an entrepreneur, a storyteller, a friend, and my kind of cook (and baker!). With this book, she delivers a range of enticing, seasonally minded recipes to start the day, wrapped with her warm, generous, personal narrative. Breakfast Fried Rice, Huckleberry Cornmeal Custard, California Barley Bowl? She does mornings right.”– HEIDI SWANSON, author of Super Natural Every Day

“Flip through Megan Gordon’s ‘Whole-Grain Mornings’ and you’ll want to eat breakfast from sunup to sunset – charm from cover to cover” – THE BOSTON GLOBE

“Whole-Grain Mornings is an honest story of a woman following her dreams, both in love and business… These recipes are smart, methodical and precise – they’re sure to inspire homemade mornings in your own home”– KIM BOYCE, author of Good to the Grain

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Why This Book?
I’ve always wanted to write a breakfast book. It’s the meal we all start with, the meal that ushers us into the day. Even more, I wanted to write a book that reflects the way I do breakfast, acknowledging the fact that what we eat in the mornings looks different on a cold, gray morning in February than it does on a sunny morning in June. A busy Wednesday brings about different breakfast options than does a leisurely Sunday… It’s with this that I hope you continue to return back to the book as the months pass, the seasons change, and friends and family trickle in and out to join you at the breakfast table throughout the year.

What’s in the Book?
From busy weekdays to slow Sundays, I hope Whole Grain Mornings will inspire you to look beyond their average bowl of cereal towards healthy and delicious ways to incorporate whole grains into your morning meals. Featuring food and lifestyle photography along with a guide to the most commonly used whole grains and natural sweeteners – it’s my hope that this cookbook is as visually rich as it is refreshingly useful.

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SPRING
Highlights: Cheesy Chive Millet Grits, Smoked Salmon Crème Fraiche Tart with a Cornmeal-Millet Crust, Cherry Hazelnut Quinoa Bars.

SUMMER
Highlights: Peach Breakfast Cobbler with Cornmeal Thyme Biscuits, Zucchini Farro Cakes with Herbed Goat Cheese, Baked Eggs with Fresh Corn, Leek and Millet.

FALL
Highlights: Apple Farro Breakfast Bowl with Cranberries and Hazelnuts, Huckleberry Cornmeal Custard, Baked Pumpkin Risotto.

WINTER
Highlights: Greens and Grains Scramble, Pear Hazelnut Oat Muffins, Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal.

Learn More
Writing this cookbook was a big undertaking, involving a dedicated team of editors, a great food stylist & photographer, lots of recipe testers, and many late nights in the kitchen. If you’re interested in learning more about writing cookbooks, I wrote a few blog posts about it (Not Quite What You’d Think, The Makings of a Cookbook Photoshoot, Meet the Cookbook). And if you’d like to learn more about Whole Grain Mornings in particular, we created a book website with a detailed peek into the book itself! There are many spots to purchase the book — at your favorite local book retailer or online (here, here, here, or here, for instance). If you like the approach to the recipes here on the blog and you’re looking for some new breakfast inspiration, I think you’re going to really like this cookbook.

Granola Sheet Pan

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Healthy Comfort Food

Thai Carrot, Coconut and Cauliflower Soup

Thai Carrot, Coconut and Cauliflower Soup

People describe raising young kids as a particular season in life. I hadn't heard this until we had a baby, but it brought me a lot of comfort when I'd start to let my mind wander, late at night between feedings, to fears that we'd never travel internationally again or have a sit-down meal in our dining room. Would I ever eat a cardamom bun in Sweden? Soak in Iceland? I loved the heck out of our tiny Oliver, but man what had we done?! Friends would swoop in and reassure us that this was just a season, a blip in the big picture of it all. They promised we'd likely not even remember walking around the house in circles singing made-up songs while eating freezer burritos at odd hours of the day (or night). And it's true.

Oliver is turning two next month, and those all-encompassing baby days feel like a different time, a different Us. In many ways, dare I say it, Toddlerhood actually feels a bit harder. Lately Oliver has become extremely opinionated about what he will and will not wear -- and he enforces these opinions with fervor. Don't get near the kid with a button-down shirt. This week at least. He's obsessed with his rain boots and if it were up to him, he'd keep them on at all times, especially during meals. He insists on ketchup with everything (I created a damn monster), has learned the word "trash" and insists on throwing found items away on his own that really, truly are not trash. I came to pick him up from daycare the other day and he was randomly wearing a bike helmet -- his teacher mentioned he'd had it on most of the day and really, really didn't want to take it off. The kid has FEELINGS. I love that about him, and wouldn't want it any other way. But, man it's also exhausting.

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Cheesy Quinoa Cauliflower Bake

Cheesy Quinoa Cauliflower Bake

I just finished washing out Oliver's lunchbox and laying it out to dry for the weekend. My favorite time of day is (finally) here: the quiet of the evening when I can actually talk to Sam about our day or sit and reflect on my own thoughts after the inevitable dance party or band practice that precedes the bedtime routine lately. Before becoming pregnant for the second time, I'd have had a glass of wine with the back door propped open right about now -- these days though, I have sparkling water or occasionally take a sip from one of Sam's hard ciders. Except now the back door's closed and we even turned on the heat for the first time yesterday. The racing to water the lawn and clean the grill have been replaced by cozier dinners at home and longer baths in the evening. You blink and it's the first day of fall. 

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Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio

Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio

I'd heard from many friends that buying a house wasn't for the faint of heart. But I always shrugged it off, figuring I probably kept better files or was more organized and, really, how hard could it be? Well, I've started (and stopped) writing this post a good fifteen times which may indicate something. BUT! First thing's first: we bought a house! I think! I'm pretty sure! We're still waiting for some tax transcripts to come through and barring any hiccough with that, we'll be moving out of our beloved craftsman in a few weeks and down the block to a great, brick Tudor house that we wanted the second we laid eyes on it. The only problem: it seemed everyone else in Seattle had also laid eyes on it, and wanted it equally as much. I'm not really sure why the homeowner chose us in the end. Our offer actually wasn't the highest, but apparently there were some issues with a few of them. We wrote a letter introducing ourselves and describing why we'd be the best candidates and why we were so drawn to the house; we have a really wonderful broker who pulled out all the stops, and after sifting through 10 offers and spending a number of hours deliberating, they ended up going with ours. We were at a friend's book event at the time when Sam showed me the text from our broker and I kind of just collapsed into his arms. We were both in ecstatic denial (wait, is this real?! Did we just buy a house?) and celebrated by getting chicken salad and potato salad from the neighborhood grocery store and eating it, dazed, on our living room floor. Potato salad never tasted so good. 

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Smoky Butternut Squash and Three Bean Chili

Smoky Butternut Squash and Three Bean Chili

If your house is anything like ours, last week wasn't our most inspired in terms of cooking. We're all suffering from the post-election blues -- the sole upside being Oliver's decision to sleep-in until 7 am for the first time in many, many months; I think he's trying to tell us that pulling the covers over our heads and hibernating for awhile is ok. It's half-convincing. For much of the week, instead of cooking, there'd been takeout pizza and canned soup before, at week's end, I decided it was time to pour a glass of wine and get back into the kitchen. I was craving something hearty and comforting that we could eat for a few days. Something that wouldn't remind me too much of Thanksgiving because, frankly, I can't quite gather the steam to start planning for that yet. It was time for a big bowl of chili.

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To Talk Porridge

To Talk Porridge

Porridge is not the sexiest of breakfasts, it's true. It doesn't have a stylish name like strata or shakshuka, and it doesn't have perfectly domed tops like your favorite fruity muffin. It doesn't crumble into delightful bits like a good scone nor does it fall into buttery shards like a well-made croissant. But when you wake up and it's 17 degrees outside (as it has been, give or take a few, for the last week), there's nothing that satisfies like a bowl of porridge or oatmeal. It's warm and hearty and can be made sweet or savory with any number of toppings. The problem? Over the years, it's gotten a bad rap as gluey or gummy or just downright boring or dutiful -- and it's because not everyone knows the secrets to making a great pot of warm morning cereal. So let's talk porridge (also: my cookbook comes out this month! So let's take a peek inside, shall we?)

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