As someone who reads cookbooks the way other people read romance novels, my affections change frequently. I have the standbys—Moosewood Cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, The Smithsonian Folklore Cookbook (for its ultra-simple bread recipe), James Peterson’s Vegetables and so forth—but find myself occasionally so overrun by cookbooks that I weed a few out by giving to friends or donating to a worthy cause.

One way I can tell if a cookbook is destined to join my permanent staff is the number of times I flag a recipe when I first read the book. I am happy to tell you that my new favorite cookbook was so oft-flagged, it looked as though I had given it a Post-it fringe. I think this one is here to stay.

It’s the Quick from Scratch Italian Cookbook (Food & Wine Books), edited by Judith Hill. If Judith got to taste all these recipes before she put them in the book, she was one lucky editor. I like the “Test-Kitchen Tips” in the front of the book, with useful information on such items as what to do if your Parmesan dries out, how to store fresh basil or steps to making perfectly cooked risotto, and the handy-dandy list of Italian wines, with a list of foods they dance well with; and a list of Italian cheeses with descriptions of what we can expect of them (“starts out mild-mannered, sharper flavor with age, becomes quite provocative after about a year”).

But it’s the recipes that made me happiest. All live up to the book’s title “Quick From Scratch”—none seemed complicated, all look as though you could go from ingredient to table in a half hour or so, and the few I’ve tried so far bear out that assumption.  This would be a good cookbook for an inexperienced cook, but those of us who’ve been around the kitchen a time or two will find plenty to appreciate in its simple, delicious flavors.

My favorites thus far are:

• Roasted Peppers with Caper Dressing, which I gussied up with a little chopped basil and a can of tuna and called a meal;
• Grilled Zucchini with Fresh Mozzarella, which is simple and scrumptious and answers the age-old question, “What am I supposed to do with all this @#$@ zucchini;”
• Sausage and Mushroom Soup, which I made with a delicious local Italian sausage and shiitake mushrooms and which is now my new favorite soup;
• Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives and Basil, which is so inexpensive you won’t believe it and tastes like it cost a bundle—great for impressing the socks off dinner guests without breaking the budget.

And I haven’t even gotten to the desserts chapter yet. I’m looking forward to Pineapple Carpaccio with Lemon Sorbet and Candied Zest; Ricotta Ice Cream with Honey and Almonds, and maybe a little Cherries Poached in Red Wine with Mascarpone Cream. 

The recipes are healthful, if you can resist the allure of seconds.  However, I am not responsible for your waistline if you use this book.

Go on, feed my addiction. Turn me on to your favorite cookbook!

A few weeks ago, just before I turned out the light to go to sleep, I felt a stabbing pain in my left eye. I had been out walking my dog a few hours earlier in a high wind, so I immediately assumed that I had gotten a piece of grit or glass in my eye. For the next hour or so, I did the things I knew to do to try and remove a foreign object from my eye—flooding it with eyewash solution, holding the eyelashes out away from my eye and blinking madly.

Finally I realized it wasn't getting any better, and I was worried about something causing permanent damage to my cornea, so I did one of my least favorite things in the entire world: I went to the emergency room.

After shivering in the E. R. for a couple of hours (why do those places have to be so bloody cold?), the diagnosis was that I had a small rip in my cornea, but apparently no foreign objects in my eye. This was a relief—at least I wasn't shredding my cornea with every blink, which is what it felt like. Why I had a rip in my cornea, the E.R. doc couldn't say, but at least I didn't have to be afraid of worse damage. So I went home, tried (in vain) to get a bit of sleep, and called my regular eye doctor as soon as his office opened.

The diagnosis: dry eye syndrome. My eyes had gotten so dry while I was staring at my computer screen before I went to bed that the eyelid had stuck to the surface of my eye and caused a little tear when it moved. I have known for some time my eyes were chronically dry—I've been staring at a computer for the past three decades, I've had LASIK surgery and am addicted to artificial tears—but this was a whole new level of eye drought.

So the doctor prescribed Restasis eye drops and sent me on my way. He warned me that they could be "a little pricey." I have relatively good insurance, so I wasn't worried. When the bill came, I discovered that a month's supply is $65—with my insurance. What people with no insurance would have to pay, I don't even want to contemplate.

Photo by ~jjjohn~/Courtesy Flickr
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But, the syndrome is commonplace, so my guess is there's a pretty large pool of dry-eye sufferers who will pay what they have to to get some relief. At this level, it isn't just uncomfortable, it's dangerous for the health of my eye, so I'm with them on that.

However, since I'm all about finding safe, natural alternatives, I've been doing some reading. I got enough Restasis to last until the end of November, and in the meantime, I'm on a quest for effective, inexpensive, SAFE remedies to try for myself and to share with our readers.

To add incentive to my quest, I read the small print on the Restasis insert and discovered that the eye drops are made by the same company that creates Botox, for which I have a special disgust, and that the eye drops are tested on animals. I am committed to a life without products that are tested on animals and the idea of a bunch of helpless animals suffering for the sake of my dry eyes makes me want to cry, punch someone and/or throw up.

So, I'm doubling the amount of Omega fatty acids I take. I'm adding flaxseed oil to my diet. I'm looking for eye drops with hyaluronic acid in them (so far, it appears that Blink drops are the only ones), and checking out a variety of options.

One product I've seen mentioned is BioTears, capsules that provide the nutritional basis for our natural tears. Have any of you tried this product? If so, what did you think?

Have you tried anything else to treat dry eyes? I'd love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, BLINK!