The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

Everything I know about cooking I learned from my mother.

True, she's never taught me any recipes but she taught me to cook with my imagination.

I never once saw her consult a cookbook, but yet dinner every night was always delicious and satisfying. And a better meal than you would find at many restaurants in Baltimore.

Thanks to her I've never been contained by recipes. If I'm cooking something for the first time, I'll read several similar recipes and then make it up from there.

I use measuring cups but I'm never precise about cooking measurements. And I love to experiment with different flavors and spices.

Sometimes my creations flop, but I'd like to think that they are successful more often than not.

So I'm thrilled to hear that Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg have written a book about "culinary creativity":

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs

Page and Dornenburg are the team that has brought us many award-winning foodie books including:

• Becoming a Chef
• Culinary Artistry
• What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers

Honestly, I rarely buy cookbooks-- I just don't use them since I prefer to make it up as I go along.

The last "cookbook" I bought was How to Read a French Fry: And Other Stories of Intriguing Kitchen Science by Russ Parsons which I highly recommend; in fact I'd like to also get a copy of Parsons's How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table.

I think I'll put both The Flavor Bible and How to Pick a Peach on my Christmas list!