For years, clients and friends urged Alison Milwe Grace to write a book.
One day last year, she woke up and said, “I’ll do it!”
The longtime owner of AMG Catering & Events wanted to share her culinary passion, inspire others to cook, and connect people through food.
There was only one problem: She had no theme. Alison had a huge repertoire of recipes. How could she narrow them down to an idea that made sense?
Her “aha!” moment came when she realized that “there’s always a reason to celebrate with food.”
From Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day to Sunday brunch and football games, meals are at the center of what we do.
“Savor: Recipes to Celebrate” — Alison’s first book — has just been published. That’s one more reason to celebrate.
Alison — who is also a beloved culinary teacher at Staples High School (her alma mater, Class of 1988) — purposely stayed away from Christmas recipes.
“I didn’t want ‘holiday’ in the title,” she says. “This is more about all the other types of celebrations.”
Alison is used to the long time frame of setting up a catering event: planning menu, ordering food, cooking, serving, and cleaning up.
But writing “Savor” took far longer. She researched and interviewed many writers and editors, before selecting Tracy Holleran.
Alison then enlisted Eileen Clark Sawyer, a noted food photographer, to shoot the servings.
Alison Milwe Grace’s Passover Seder meal includes Grandma Bea’s brisket, lemon potatoes and shaved Brussels sprouts salad. All are gluten-free.
The wait was worth it. The pages are filled with recipes that are delicious, fun and adventurous, but not overwhelming.
“Sunday Football Snacks” features, for example, zucchini chips with sriracha aioli, Thai mini-meatball and spicy apricot glazed wings (the latter two are gluten-free).
For Oktoberfest Alison offers soft pretzels with German beer cheese dip, chicken schnitzel with lemon herb salad, and easy apple strudel with puff pastry.
Ready for a Day of the Dead feast? She’ll help you whip up pumpkin margaritas, cabbage enchiladas, zucchini burrito cups, and turkey-taco lettuce wraps.
Celebrate the 4th of July: hanger steak with chimichurri, potato salad with mustard and watercress, and a grilled romaine wedge salad.
Though Alison knows her way around any kitchen, writing a book was hard.
“It was way outside my comfort zone,” she says. “But that was one more reason to do it. You get better by stretching yourself.”
Among the challenges: finding the right recipes, then toning them down from the large groups she’s used to working with, to just 6 or 8 people.
Plus, Alison says, “I had to make sure I included every ingredient. I know what I use in my head. But I couldn’t forget anything.”
Valentine’s dinner for 2: sexy spicy lobster pasta, winter greens with maple vinaigrette, and Bailey’s parfaits. (All photos/Eileen Clark Sawyer)
In the middle of the book is a chapter called “Savoring the Journey.” It’s Alison’s own story.
It’s a good one. And like Alison herself, it’s fun.
She began by baking cakes in elementary school. She worked as a cheese monger in high school, waitressed her way through college, managed fine dining establishments post-graduation, then became executive chef at an award-winning restaurant
Alison has appeared on the Food Network’s “Kitchen Casino” and “Supermarket Stakeout,” and won a James Beard Scholarship.
“I love to share my passion for food and cooking,” the first-time author says.
“This is an extension of that. It just happens to be on paper.”
Now her many satisfied, well-fed clients can savor one more of Alison Milwe Grace’s treats.
(For more information, and to order “Savor: Recipes to Celebrate,” click here.)
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