When youire raised by a grandmother whose life ambition is tosee that all of her family and friends are fed palate-pleasing traditionaldishes, the apple strudel doesnit fall far from the tree. Whenever people cameto visit Marla Brooksis grandmother, the first question was always iWhat can Iget you to eat?i soon followed by iHere, have a little bit more.i Over time, Ms.Brooks has come to follow in her grandmotheris footsteps, and always hassomething tasty to offer guests.In this time of healthy cooking and healthy eating,crowd-pleasing and satisfying, full-flavor meals are often left behind. Thiscookbook contains no calorie counts, carbohydrate statistics, or othernutritional guidelines. You donit have to be a Jewish grandmother to cook likeone, nor to eat like one. But itis often said that in a Jewish grandmotheris wayof thinking, love and food are synonymous.

If thatis the case, this is a bookfull of love.Wholly dedicated to good old-fashioned taste, these familyrecipes--many from the authoris grandparentsi delicatessen--include everythingfrom knishes to blintzes, with some borscht and kugel thrown in. There are alsorecipes from celebrities such as Richard Simmons and Dr. Ruth Westheimer, andcrowd-pleasers like brisket, matzo ball soup, chicken wings, and much more.Whether you are a novice cook or an experienced gourmand, these recipes are easyto prepare and sure to please.About the AuthorMarla Brooks is a Los Angeles-basedentertainment writer whose love of old-fashioned comfort food was encouraged bygrowing up in the family that ran Slobodis Delicatessen in Philadelphia in thee30s and e40s. The recipes in the book are her way of handing down familymemories to future generations. iThereis probably not a person alive who doesnitsalivate at the recollection of a favorite childhood meal.

Family recipes handeddown from generation to generation change very little in the process, because wesavor those childhood memories.i.