Food with Friends--The Art of Simple Gatherings-Review

A Pretty Cookbook- But not much substance.

I really wanted to like this cookbook. The full-color photographs and art work are lovely.

The premise of the book is simple, yet special gatherings, such as an impromptu picnic or an effortless brunch. It sounds great. Easy but memorable gatherings. Right?

I'm a pretty good cook and love to entertain, so it caught my attention. A photograph for one of Leela Cyd's recipes for 'Blooming Flower Salads'  was lovely so I studied it. It calls for 1 cup of organic, untreated petals from 1 rose, 3 chrysanthemums, 3 calendula flowers, 3 cosmos flowers and 6 nasturtium flowers.

I liked the idea, but where did you find organic, untreated flower petals? I went to the web and searched for 15-20 minutes looking for a source to buy them. I'm sure there are some out there, but I couldn't find them with a quick search.

Even though the author is from California, the recipes have a distinct Middle Eastern slant, such as socca cakes with labneh and fennel, purple cauliflower hummus and sweet tahini buns.

I like Middle Eastern food, but I can't make a connect with the recipes and the texts and decorating ideas. The cookbook is a bit of a miss. I was given a copy of the book by Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.