This is more than a cookbook—much more. Clive Berkman says that when he was a chef, he valued empty bottles because they reminded him of celebrations people enjoyed. In his book, he shares insights from his life and his career in the restaurant business to help us create those kinds of memories with our family and friends.

He writes: "Even today, people ask me, ‘What's a nice Jewish boy like you still doing in the kitchen?' I tell them that in a sense, we're all in the kitchen because it's a symbol of life, full of joy and spills, glorious successes and burnt dishes, tender moments with and unnerving chaos. The place where masterpieces are created also produces stuff we cart off to landfills. We're all in the process of learning, growing, and laughing with each other. It's there that we develop our recipes for cooking and for life."

- Hardcover, 256 pages, full of color photographs… $30