The book’s jacket is now complete!

I am very thrilled to announce that Beyond the Pasta: Recipes, Language & Life with an Italian Family has another endorsement for its back cover.

Native Alabamian and award-winning chef Scott Peacock has written the following endorsement:

“Mark understands and so beautifully conveys the transcendent nature of true cooking, cooking that comes from the heart and feeds not just the body but the soul. There is something universal about this that goes beyond culture, age, race, and gender—real food, real cooking, real sharing is something sacred and often under appreciated. His writing is smart, sensitive and wittily observed. Beyond the Pasta exemplifies how the act of cooking is intrinsically an act of sharing and affirmation, and has the potential to be an open expression of the heart.” -Scott Peacock

Scott and long time friend Edna Lewis co-authored the very popular cookbook The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great American Cooks. The late Ms. Lewis’s cookbooks are known to be a quintessential source for authentic Southern cooking. Until recently, Scott was the Executive Chef at the highly acclaimed restaurant Watershed, in Decatur, Georgia. Scott makes frequent appearances on such national television programs as The Today Show and The Martha Stewart Show. Here is a link to one of Scott’s appearances on Martha–click to watch.

The book is in its final design stages and is currently on track for its September 1, 2010, release. Further information about the book can be found in the tabs at the top of this blog.

A presto~
Mark