You, my dear readers and subscribers, are the food that feeds my soul. Even though my brick-and-mortar store is no longer baking scones and cooking breakfast, I am deeply grateful that you want to share the connected experience that will always be Mary’s Marvelous. 

You live a full and hectic life.

You work a job, maybe two. Maybe you’re raising kids. There are soccer games, swim practice, dance lessons, teacher conferences. Perhaps you are a key player in corporate America or in your own company and your time is spread too thinly between the boardroom and your family. 

You make decisions all day long and the last thing you want to think about when you arrive home is what to cook for dinner.

You want to feed yourself and your family well. It’s important to you. You try to come up with food solutions that are nutritious and simple that will pass through everyone's lips to their mouths with the least amount of fussing. Often, by the time a meal is on the table, you don’t even want to eat. 

When did feeding the family or yourself become so disconnected, a chore?

What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if the family was connected and you cooked like Martha Stewart? (Or better still if you cooked like me?!)  What if you prepared what your family wants to eat every day in a new, simple and delicious way?  How cool would it be to do that for yourself and for them?

Food is the common language, the neutral ground that brings people together. 

That connection becomes an act of service you give yourself, your family and others invited to your table.  It’s not a coincidence that, at every party and family gathering, everyone is standing in the kitchen. But it goes deeper than that. This is where food transcends service. 

Mary’s Marvelous embodied this idea, and we’ll do it here as well. Permit me to tell you a little story. When creating the menu for Mary’s Marvelous, it was always my goal to create recipes that were things people wanted to eat every day. They were simple foods made with really good ingredients.

One moment, in the first days of the shop in Amagansett, as I was passing behind the counter for some particular task, I looked up to see one of my favorite actors standing, gazing out the window … my egg salad sandwich in hand.  It was clear to me he enjoyed every single bite of that sandwich. Simple egg salad, made with cooked-right eggs, not much more than the best mayonnaise and a touch of chopped flat parsley. In that moment, I knew beyond any doubt that Mary’s Marvelous was successful in achieving my ideal.  

“Simple food” is misunderstood.  

Simple food is inviting and wholesome.  It doesn’t have to be less delicious or less nutritious.  You can cook like the best chefs in New York City – without being complicated – if you cook in the spirit of service, keep it simple and use the best ingredients. 

Allow me the honor of showing you how.  Because it’s true, you can cook like a rock star.