As a kid, I'd read mom's Joy of Cooking for fun. This did nothing for my ball-batting prowess, but helped make me a fierce family cook. As my cooking love grew, so did my cookbook addiction. Thus, years later, when the chance came to write one--to explore my passion from the inside--I was ready. That first book was The Modern Seafood Cook (Clarkson Potter, 1995), written with chef Ed Brown. Since then I've co-authored six more cookbooks with chefs and other food authorities--books that cover a wide range of cuisines and approaches, from specialty subjects like fish to new-Asian and kosher cooking. My most recent book, Simply Ming In Your Kitchen, my fourth with Ming Tsai, was published by Kyle Books in September, 2012.I was a contributing editor for food and travel for AARP's My Generation and AARP the Magazine for over four years. Some other projects include the American adaptation of Nigella Lawson's How to Eat; providing material for The New Joy of Cooking (Scribner, 1997); and, with chef Michael Romano, writing two chapters for The Cooks Book (Dorling Kindersley, 2005). My articles on food, food trends and nutrition have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Gentlemen's Quarterly, among others.