Nosrat emphasizes that the effort spent on a dish shouldn’t take precedence over spending time with those who have gathered to eat. The fuss and mess aren’t worth it. It’s a lesson she learned when cooking a birthday party meal for her friend’s young son. After biting into a delicious taco, he said the only thing missing from his party was Nosrat, who was busy in the kitchen frying up perfect fish. “I’ve been trying to put what I learned from Orion that day into practice,” Nosrat writes. “I spend less energy trying to do everything for everyone. Instead, I rely on a handful of recipes I think of as small, welcoming gestures and focus on spending quality time outside the kitchen with the people I love.”