For many, the family kitchen elicits fond childhood memories. Big family feasts, Ma stirring something on the stove, Grandma baking, siblings and cousins stealing food when everyone’s back is turned. Food brings people together, and that’s exactly the spirit Yvonne Hendricks captures in her book, Yvonne’s Cookbook “Let’s Eat!”: Authentic Neapolitan Recipes & World Travel Inspired Meals.
After a lifetime spent watching her grandmothers cook and bake authentic, old-world recipes, Yvonne found within herself a need to share these recipes with future generations. While a majority of the dishes are inspired by her father’s Polish family and mother’s large Italian family, you’ll also find a nice assortment of recipes inspired by her travels to France, Spain, Japan, Indonesia and Egypt.
What makes Yvonne’s old family recipes stick out is her attention to healthy eating that doesn’t compromise flavor. As an expert wellness coach and certified nutritionist, Yvonne emphasizes adherence to proper daily nutrient guidelines and offers a variety of health-conscious options.
Yvonne includes nutritional info for each dish and offers a variety of options with a healthy lifestyle in mind. Readers will find an abundance of gluten-free, dairy-free, low-fat and low-carb options. As a long-time vegetarian and pescetarian herself, Yvonne includes a lot of fish dishes, like the mahi Mexican paprika or manicotti crabmeat.
Readers can find a slew of additional information on Yvonne’s website, Exercise Healthy Nutrition, including videos and graphics explaining healthy nutrition as preventative medicine.
The book is divided by course rather than where Yvonne found the dishes’ inspiration. You’ll find the lentil Egyptian soup right alongside the French baguette and homemade mozzarella in the opening “Appetizer” section. The following “Baking” section includes some of my favorite dishes, from cobbler and cheesecake to truffles and cannoli filling.
Among the “Entrees” you’ll find some traditional family recipes like from-scratch tomato sauce, Italian meatballs and lasagna along with Polish golumpkis, peroggi and kielbasa. Some of her more complicated and mouth-watering heirloom recipes include braciole involtini, and cabbage and noodle fagioli.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the book is the abundance of holiday themed foods, from Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. These recipes really capture the familial essence of the book, including the Christmas Eve feast of seven fishes, traditional Christmas cookies and Good Friday bread. Not only does Yvonne provide her family’s recipes, but also dives into the stories behind cooking these since childhood and into parenthood.
The cookbook concludes with some healthy smoothies and other refreshing drinks and cocktails. She even includes the process of making her signature homemade wine, “Cent’Anni.”
With over 200 easy-to-follow recipes close to her heart and from around the globe, this book holds something for everyone to enjoy.
The variety of healthy, eclectic recipes combined with her personal anecdotes makes Yvonne’s Cookbook a unique addition to anybody’s kitchen. There’s plenty of variety for everyone to find something they enjoy, and it’s sure to bring good health and happiness to whoever graces your dining table.
About Yvonne Hendricks:
Yvonne Marie Bordeau-Hendricks is a Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Certified Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer and now author of her own cookbook. She is Founder and President of Exercise Healthy Nutrition LLC and is a vegetarian “pescatarian” who’s practiced a healthy lifestyle for over 35 years. She is also a TV personality promoting the health and wellness industry, endorsing several healthy food products and appearing on channel Fox 5, Good Day New York and the WPIX-11.