Fresh and Seasonal

While most moms spend their entire pregnancy worrying about how and what to feed their newborn, they often neglect themselves. While baby is fortified with breast milk and organic mashed veggies, mom has the number of the nearby Domino's memorized. Lucky for new moms and dads, there's Debbie Koenig, proud mom of 5-year-old Harry, and author of the remarkably useful new cookbook, Parents Need to Eat Too.

The idea for the book grew organically from Koenig's own life. As a sleep-deprived new mom, she found herself resorting to too many fried egg sandwiches and Clif bars instead of nutritious homemade meals. So she started making a few changes: During Harry's morning and afternoon naps, she'd chop and roast vegetables or whip together a cheese or tomato sauce so that when dinnertime came, she'd be way ahead of the game. Miraculously, it worked! So well, that you're now reading this review of her cookbook.

Parents Need to Eat Too has over 150 delicious, nutritious, easy-to-make recipes divided into creative chapters including "Nap-Time Cooking, "Un-Recipes for Partners Who Can't Cook," and "Galacta-what? Recipes to Support Breastfeeding." It also gives new moms tips on how to stock her pantry, which cooking tools and gadgets to buy, and how to shop with a baby.

The Sunset Cookbook
I grew up with Sunset magazine, Sunset cookbooks and a philosophy of cooking that was influenced by living in "the West." This is a huge compilation of very contemporary recipes. Sustainable seafood, recipes to make on the grill, tons of salads, Asian inspired dishes and plenty of guacamole.

Bookmarked recipes: Shiraz-soy trip-tip, Frisee, tangerine and sesame salad, Kumquat bon bons

Why?
Because we want to make the most of our bountiful produce and healthy lifestyle

Who?
I don't know if this book will appeal to those not living on the West Coast, but for anyone who is, it will seem like a natural fit.

Patricia Wells’ “Bistro Cooking” is a staple in our kitchen. The hearty, fresh, robust, easy-to-follow recipes were inspired by the famous bistros in France and, now, we could make them at home.

So, I was incredibly excited when Patricia Wells’ Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season arrived on our doorstep. It was summer. And she was Patricia Wells. And she understands that salad as a meal isn’t simply two slips of lettuce and a tomato from the garden. It’s salad as a meal!

The salmon gravlax with potato and parmesan galettes. The idea that you could make salmon gravlax at home was incredibly appealing. Okay, it takes three days, but it’s really fun and it’s completely delicious. And what could be wrong with potato and parmesan galettes?! The lobster salad with green beans, apple, and avocado is divine. (My method, order a really large lobster at a restaurant because you’re celebrating something and bring home the leftovers for a salad!) But you can also buy two small lobsters (which aren’t that expensive in the summer) and make the whole thing at home.

Would you be inclined to buy a cookbook devoted to burgers, fondue or toast? I wouldn't. None of those things are all that challenging to make in the first place. A whole book on grilled cheese sandwiches? Gimme a break.

Cookbooks on single subjects have to be something special to catch my eye. They have to be varied, cover more than just one meal, and they should intrigue me to try something new and way out of the ordinary.

Pomegranates: 70 Celebratory Recipes is just such a book. Kleinberg's book includes recipes appropriate for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. Not to mention beverages. Pomegranate juice and syrup is all over the place.

No wonder as it is filled with antioxidants, used in many different cuisines and amazingly versatile. You can use the jewel-like seeds or the juice in recipes that are sweet or savory.