By Leslie Crabtree
Softcover | 131 pages

150 meals for 50 people over 10 days. A vibrant and exciting collection of recipes designed for big and small events. Whether you're cooking for a group of herbivores, carnivores, gluten-free, dairy-free, or all of the above, this book belongs in your kitchen.

"One Taste is a cookbook that retreat cooks will relish for its menus, recipes, culinary logistics, and its insider's understanding of the pure motivation that propels one into the cauldron of a retreat kitchen. And those of us who participate in retreats - who sit on cushions and then enjoy the intervals of magically manifested meals - can read it with deeper appreciation of the work and wisdom that produces the food.

"In a strong retreat, the meditation of cooks and participants blends and creates unexpected synchronicities. Sometimes a dish exactly satisfies an exact (momentary) craving. Sometimes both kitchen staff and practitioners in the shrine room have a low energy day when they struggle to sustain intention and effort. Sometimes it is all utterly easy, even blissful, and happiness flavors the food.

"Leslie's own ingredients are experience, imagination, discipline, and an uproarious sense of humor, which readers can glimpse in the Yikes! chapter on how to handle culinary emergencies. Though her beloved mentor, Renee, was a master of the "stink eye" when she wanted intruders out of the kitchen, Leslie is a master of joyous beckoning that brings people close and makes the humblest task a pleasure. We all need to take our turn at the pots sooner or later, and One Taste gives us confidence that our capabilities will bring authentic nourishment to the table." - Chagdud Khadro

“This book is my gift to those who wish to cook for a big event but don’t know quite how to pull it off. I offer it with the aspiration that everyone who reads it can help nourish, not just the bodies but also the spirits of the people they cook for.

“People have always gathered around a table to share food, to laugh, and comfort each other in good times and bad. Sometimes a bit, steamy bowl of soup can be as goo das a hug. Here’s how to hug fifty people – three times a day for ten days – with delicious meals. May cooks everywhere serve with joy and compassion, and may all beings benefit!” – Leslie Crabtree