Local, Busy Mom Pens Her First Cookbook for Other Busy Moms

Lamorinda artist, cook, writer, wife and mother Sydney Chaney Thomas has completed her first cookbook for busy families --  Real Food for Real People.  

Thomas said she began cooking out of necessity after moving to the suburbs where takeout is anything but fast and pizza delivery is often slower.  

“At first I didn’t think it was possible to cook a really nice meal and work or drive carpools all afternoon, but slowly I got the hang of it,”  she said.

Thomas experimented with different methods of putting one meal on the table that everyone would enjoy.  

“I found that I could put something in the oven and let it cook while I answered emails to keep my small consulting company going, hosted playgroups or just spent time with my kids," she said. 

"I loved being able to serve my slow roasted pork, sage and white bean stew or lemon basil chicken to my hungry family at the end of a long busy day.” 

Originally, Thomas wanted to call the book Easy Recipes for Lazy Moms, but her editor didn’t think the recipes came from a lazy person, and he also saw value in the recipes for all types of busy family situations. 

"The stories before the recipes are entertaining and the recipes themselves are sophisticated yet simple. While Sydney's book targets busy parents, I find myself wanting to cook these recipes for my friends,” said Neo Garibay, contributing editor.  

Friends constantly asked Thomas for the recipes to the foods she made, but while she reads a lot of cookbooks, but never really follows recipes.  

“I was hand writing recipes out for friends,” she said, and finally wrote a little cookbook several years ago and made 200 copies for friends and a food group at the University of California Berkeley.  

“After I finished that cookbook I forgot about it, but something over the summer of 2013 kept whispering to me that I had to finish it and share it with a wider audience.  When I met Neo and he offered to help me I knew I had to do it,” the author said.  

 Real Food for Real People in e-book form is available on Amazon for $10. Follow this link.