What started as a hobby has now become a top-rated cookbook on Amazon while it was still only available for pre-order.
“A Perfect 10,” a new cookbook by author, playwright and businessman Tim Mulligan, offers his 10 best recipes for each meal category: breakfast, appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, desserts and Thanksgiving.
Mulligan lives and works in Los Angeles with his husband — who he has been with for 20 years — and two children. On the weekends, they head to their house in Palm Springs, where Mulligan has honed his craft by cooking for his friends and family.
Mulligan’s love of cooking has followed him since he was a child and now plays an essential part in his and his family’s lives.
“I was kind of the primary cook for our family while growing up,” Mulligan says. “That just carried over from a very young age, I’d say like elementary school, all the way ‘til now.”
Nowadays, Mulligan spends time in the kitchen with his family, sharing his passion and creating memories with them as he did in childhood with his mom and aunts. And his husband does not complain about it.
Sean Murphy, Mulligan’s husband, says he has been fortunate because the only time he needs to step into the kitchen now is to clean it up. Murphy says that Mulligan’s way of relaxing after work is going to the kitchen, grabbing different ingredients and figuring out a new and inventive way to cook them.
“It all starts to calm him down,” Murphy says.
While Mulligan enjoys gathering his family and friends together to cook for them on the weekends, he also likes making his life easier during the week.
“I’m someone who likes to plan for the week ahead because I am so busy during the week,” Mulligan says. “So, many of the entrees [in the book] — for example, casseroles and soups — I make those on the weekends, freeze them, pull them out and they’re ready to go at night.”
During the pandemic, Mulligan spent more time in the kitchen and thought there might be more people like him who wanted to cook for their families but didn’t think they had the time. Mulligan gathered his lifetime recipes and was inspired to create a cookbook highlighting his favorites.
“I’m kind of a collector of recipes,” Mulligan says. “I’ve been the one in my family who saves the recipes from aunts, neighbors, family friends, and I’m the one who kind of curates all those recipes. No one else seems to do it, and because of that, people are always asking me, ‘Hey, can I get the recipe for this or that?’”
Mulligan took the leap and got to work on “A Perfect 10.” The cookbook features 70 of his favorite recipes and was published on June 7.
Mulligan was surprised to find out that while it was still in pre-order status, “A Perfect 10” entered at No. 2 on Amazon’s list of cookbooks, and at No. 1 for cookbooks under the breakfast category.
Mulligan says when he put the book together, his thoughts were focused on helping others like him, working parents who were busy with children in school, and those who enjoy delicious food but also wanted easy recipes. Mulligan says that “A Perfect 10” has recipes for every taste, and he did not go too far to get inspiration, saying he already knew what he wanted and what he did not want to include.
“I love recipes that come from the heart and family, and that’s kind of what my idea was here,” he says.
While gathering the recipes for the book, Mulligan wanted people to have fun with the recipes and be sure that they understood that while he is not a classically trained chef, he knew these recipes would be a hit because he has been mastering them for years with his family. He was also confident that they would be easy and helpful for anyone already leading a busy life.
“I am the farthest thing of a professional chef,” Mulligan says. “But I have taken my share of cooking courses over the years … I spent many years in the restaurant industry, and I’ve been cooking since I was a kid.”
And his friend, Doreen Black, can vouch for that. She lives in San Diego and has been friends with Mulligan for over 20 years. Black says that through their two-decade friendship, she has probably tried at least half of the recipes in the book and says it is all delicious but mentioned two of her favorites: Mulligan’s funeral potatoes and his buffalo dip.
“What I like most about the food he makes is it is simple,” Black says. “It is not going to have 30 ingredients, and it is not going to be complicated.”
She says Mulligan looks forward to having friends over for the weekend because he loves to bring people together through his cooking; however, one date that comes to mind for her when she thinks of his cooking is New Year’s Eve.
“It became a thing that when the holiday approaches, people ask themselves, ‘Oh, where is my invite?’” Black says.
With the cookbook finally hitting the market, Mulligan is looking ahead with excitement as he gets ready to hit the road to promote his book’s publication. Events will span the U.S. from Seattle, Washington to Savannah, Georgia, down to Key West, Florida. Mulligan says he will continue doing appearances and as long as people want him to show up and talk about his cooking.
While “A Perfect 10” is just now out, Mulligan’s already looking ahead to the next project. As he has collected recipes for years, he has so much more to share.
“It’s confusing and interesting and fun,” Mulligan says. “I’m already now thinking about my next cookbook. If that’s what people want. If they are ready [to see more recipes], I’ve got plenty.”
“A Perfect 10,” by Tim Mulligan, is available to order at Amazon.com now.
