It takes a village to write a cookbook. We want to thank the following people who suggested recipes, beta read and tested meals, and supported us during the book-making process.

Special thank you to Rohan O’Duill, who assisted us as both an author and a professional chef, despite his abject horror at most of the recipes in this book. This isn’t the kind of food he cooks in his kitchen, but he still managed to make the recipes both simpler and tastier. We couldn’t have written this book without him.

To Nicole Northwood, fixer of words, contributor of recipes, marketing expert, and mentor in the intimidating world of publishing. The fact that this book is in your hands shows what a kick-ass teacher she is.

To our editors. Victoria Rose (Flickering Words) and Lindsay Hobbs (Topaz Literary) saw our project and asked us if we needed editors—simply because they believed in what we were trying to create. The best part of working with Victoria was having an editor with high-level cooking expertise. She knew what we were trying to express, so she was able to edit for clarity of cooking instructions, as well as for language errors. Lindsay formatted all our headings, subheadings, and footnotes so they had consistent styles, turning our ramblings into a structured book. Both were able to see our errors when repetition meant the words on the page no longer possessed meaning to our very tired eyes. We are so immensely grateful, both for the invaluable edits but also the vote of confidence in our work from the offer itself.

To Rysz Merey, excellent friend and supremely dedicated formatter. We thought turning this cookbook into an epub was the Kobayashi Maru scenario of layout, but you managed to cut through the Gordian Knot, to mix our metaphors like we’d mix a pot of soup.

To our tireless team of proofreaders: Anna Borisovskaya, Emma Berglund, Nicole Northwood, and Rysz Merey. Your eyes were so helpful, especially after we pulled all nighters and couldn’t read our own words anymore.

To the many people who contributed recipes, and to our tireless beta testing team, who turned this from a series of jokes into workable instructions. Anna Borisovskaya, china shop, CJ Mantel, Clare, Emma Berglund, Eric Hortop, Fallopia Tuba, Franklin P. Smearcase, Gretchen McSomething, Holly, IJ Barry, Kayt Kismet, Lcohen, Lindsay Hobbs, Naomi, Naraht, Nye, omniamutantur, Rachel Corsini, Raye Frenzy, Renee Carignan, Sabitha Furiosa, Shannon Massey, S. M. Berry, Sun Salute, Tetsab, Tim & Rachel, Val, and Vicki Rosenzweig. And to the anonymous contributors, who are just as wonderful as the rest but much more mysterious.

To Reccia Mandelcorn, for agreeing to a last-minute pickle photoshoot.

To our Discord servers, who are endlessly loved and loving. Night Beets , The Spicy Pepper (the Joy/Sad Unit) , Cats and Eldritch Horrors , and LGBTQIA+ Critique Group. And thank you to the many people who supported our vision along the way. If you marked the book as “to read” on Goodreads, offered us an encouraging word on a Discord server, e-mailed to say that you knew someone this book would help—that it might help you—we are so grateful.

And last but never least, to the many cats who contributed to this book, whether by screaming, walking over keyboards, or emotional support. All cats are beautiful, but you are the best.