I’ll be moving soon (by soon I mean sometime between the end of December and at a guess, February) and with visions of my new kitchen in my head, I’ve delayed starting a new cookbook. If all things go as planned, I’ll be able to work in a kitchen I’ve designed myself, the way I want it. So to me, it seemed like a good reason to delay things.

But as I watch the builders progress, (and having just ordered my appliances) I’m beginning to think it’s time to start the planning process. When I’m working on a book the first thing I do is put together two lists. One list contains all of the recipes in my repertoire that fit the subject of the book. List #2 is made up of all of the ideas swimming around in my head. Foods that I’ve eaten growing up or while travelling that I’ve always wanted to recreate. Recipes that I think will work well simply because I have a sense of how the flavours work together. And sometimes ideas that sound ridiculous but I’d like to try anyway.

When I wrote my first book, Soup – A Kosher Collection, I envisioned a series. I imagined there’d be a Salad, Entrée, Sides, Desserts and maybe a Starters. That was put on hold when I realized that so many of the people I know were desperate for some new Passover recipes.

So, to get started on my lists, I need to decide what the focus of my next book should be. Should I go back to my original plan? Do people need a more general holiday cookbook? What about working with my mom? She’s been in the catering/restaurant business for over 25 years so she knows her stuff. We thought it could be fun to do a book where we include both of our takes on recipes. But I really want to know what sort of cookbook is missing from your Jewish/Kosher library?

PS: if you vote and leave a comment, you might just be entered into a draw to win one of my cookbooks.