Table for two: Alum pens new cookbook for couples

Living at Princeton, it's hard to believe there's more to cooking than picking up a tray and shoveling food onto your plate. Unless you're independent; then, it's hard to imagine there's more to cooking than Wa runs. In fact, after years of grilled chicken and reliable Frist pizza, cooking looks downright intimidating, and even less romantic.

"Not on Love Alone: A Year of Delicious Dinners and More for Newlyweds" is a cookbook aimed at getting couples to cook together. Written and illustrated by lifelong "foodie" Jessie Carry Saunders '98, this 240-page, 100+ recipe volume combines common sense cooking skills with French-inspired flavors to create easy and delicious meals.

To be released in May (or a bit earlier through amazon.com), the book is divided into twelve months and features seasonal recipes, cooking tips, alternative ways to make dishes and Saunders' own watercolor illustrations.

"It has a laid-back feel," Saunders said. "I try to stress that cooking is not hard, it's not scary; it's actually something great to do with someone you love."

Saunders should know. She wooed her own husband, Johnny Saunders '97, with her culinary skills at Princeton.

"When we first started dating she made dinner for me," Johnny said. "I've never had any food like that before."

"He was like putty in my hands," Jessie added.

The decisive point in their relationship came when Jessie made a special dinner for Johnny. During his senior year of high school, Johnny had traveled to Italy and tried risotto, a rice and cheese dish.

"I thought I'd never eat it again," he said.

When she visited him during the summer of her sophomore year, Jessie brought her suitcase and cooking arsenal: a hunk of real parmesan cheese, high-quality olive oil and risotto rice.

"He was a very happy boy after that meal," Jessie said.

Food has continued to play an important role in their lives but ironically, they don't follow "Not on Love Alone's" advice about cooking together. Jessie cooks and Johnny cleans — a great tradeoff for Johnny, the self-proclaimed hopeless cook but champion dishwasher.

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Johnny may leave everything related to cooking to Jessie, but he also helped Jessie turn her favorite recipes into a published book.

For one of her best friends, Jessie created a homemade cookbook as a wedding present.

"I thought about what I could get her: a silver fork or place settings, but those weren't personal enough," Jessie said. "I thought it would be really nice for her to have recipes from someone that she knows and trusts in the kitchen."

Johnny, who works for a publishing company, took Jessie's creation to the office and pitched a cookbook targeted at newlyweds to his boss, who not only bought the idea but also Jessie's book. She spent more than three months reworking recipes, adding tips, and making the book geared toward public consumption.

"It's not a Harlequin romance novel, it's not overly sappy," Johnny said. "It's a nice, intelligent book for smart couples."

Though never formally trained, Jessie has had a lifelong passion for all things edible. She started cooking with her father, a gourmet French chef, as a little girl and has transformed her easy-bake oven skills into impressive entrees.

A longtime proponent of keeping things low-pressure, her biggest tip is to be relaxed and not stress out about being in the kitchen.

"You shouldn't feel like you have to make the perfect meal. The important thing is that you're cooking, and homemade is always better," Jessie said.

She also suggests that you taste things as you go along ("You can't cook without knowing what the hell you're making"); don't be afraid to really crank up the heat to avoid soupy sautés; and season, season, season. "Salt and pepper can go a long way in making something taste yummy," she said.

So what does this chef extraordinaire suggest for Valentine's Day?

"On Valentine's Day you want to be spoiled," she said. "You should go out for dinner or order sushi, and then make a really delicious desert at home, like beignet (fancy doughnuts). Desert's the best part of the meal anyway."

And if that doesn't work out, Frist will be open.