Yippee! I am cradling my newest baby in my hands - the advance copy of my cookbook, Cindy's Supper Club: Meals from Around the World to Share with Family and Friends. Ten Speed (the publisher) gave me two advance copies; the rest are on a cargo ship and due in stores May 15.

It took me about two years to write. The first step was deciding which recipes and in this case, menus, would make it into the book. Then my editor said "cut it in half," which was like asking me to get rid of a family member, but somehow I managed.

Next I sent the recipes to testers. I had the wonderful talents of Sherry Fournier to help me coordinate and correlate the recipes and  responses from 21 testers across the country.    

 
A recent NY Times article talked about celebrity chefs using ghostwriters to develop recipes and write their cookbooks. Not me! I created, tested and refined the recipes, and wrote the head notes and chapter introductions myself. After I sent the manuscript to the editor, I didn't hear back for ages and then, BOOM - back it came with tons of comments and questions they wanted answered yesterday.

The photographs were taken at my house over eight packed days of prepping, cooking and waiting while the talented team of Katie Christ, food stylist, and Alex Farnum, photographer, worked their creative magic. Check out the first review of the book.

This month at Cindy's, Supper Club features dishes from each of my previous cookbooks - Fog City Diner, Mustards Grill, Big Small Plates, and Appetizers. In May we'll be showcasing recipes from my new book. I do hope you will join us.

At  Brassica, Darren and I have been working on spring dishes. Come try the Tagliata steak salad, Falafel sandwich, Turkish meatballs, and our classic steak frites. They're all getting raves! Jennifer, our award-winning sommelier, also loves creating cocktails. Her most recent is the "Persephone," featuring Santa Maria strawberries and Greek Saba.

Viva sweet spring!