hits the cutting board or the flour starts flying. One of my favorite cookbooks is "The Four Seasons of Italian Cooking" by A.J. Battifarano (no other credits that I could find) and Alan Richardson (who unfortunately seems to be on a cupcake bender lately). It is organized by the seasons and by regions of Italy and focuses on farms and producers of regional specialties along with food stories and recipes. I got this book as a gift a dozen years ago and it taught me to think about where food comes from and when certain things are available. It really put Italian food in context so that I understood how dishes are built (based on local availability and seasonality) rather than just throwing together a typical list of Italian favorites. It made me realize that all food should be considered this way, not just Italian food. Lots of great photos too. Okay. Wait. I'm baffled. You mean to say, if a book doesn't earn as much as they advanced you, you owe the publisher the difference back? Oh. WOW. That's a good deterrent! Yikes. (Eyes naively popping out of head.) I know of at least a few well known authors who didn't earn back their advance (one of them was a good sized advance) and it has hurt their careers as cookbook writers. Anyone who thinks that a mere mortal, like me, can write a book and get rich ought to just save themselves the trouble and play the lottery