Eat First

Home for the holidays: Two CNY book signings for Chef Anne Burrell

Celebrity chef Anne Burrell, host of Food Network’s “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef’’ and “Worst Cooks in America,’’ will be in her native Central New York this week to sign copies of her new book, “Cook Like a Rock Star.’’

First stop is the DeWitt Wegmans, on East Genesee Street, for a book signing at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21.

On Thursday, she'll be at a place close to her heart, Flowers on Main Street in Cazenovia, for a second book signing (6 to 7:30 p.m.). The shop is owned by Anne’s mother, Marlene Burrell.

The Cazenovia book signing will be followed by a “meet and greet’’ reception with the chef and author at Circa, a restaurant and local food market at 76 Albany St.

Circa chef-owner Alicyn Hart and chef Burrell will serve Prosecco cocktails and appetizers and small plates from “Cook Like a Rock Star.’’

“The book is dedicated to her mother,’’ says Hart, a friend of Anne Burrell and her family. “So it’s a special signing, I would say.’’

Admission to the reception is $40 per person, with 10 percent of proceeds to benefit CazCares, a food pantry and clothing closet serving low-income residents of Cazenovia and Madison County. For more information on the book signing and reception, call Circa at 315-655-8768.

Burrell will also participate in the Iron Fork Syracuse fundraiser for the Rescue Mission on Jan. 29, 2012. For more information on that event, click here.

Win a local cookbook: "Simple, Fresh & Healthy"

There's a new local cookbook in my over-crowded cookbook shelves, next to "Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse" and "Joey's Italian.'' It's "Simple, Fresh & Healthy: A Collection of Seasonal Recipes,'' by Linda Hafner, with Denise Owen Harrigan (Beaufort Books, $19.95).

Linda Hafner and her husband, Chuck, are co-founders of Chuck Hafner's Farmer's Market and Garden Center in North Syracuse. She's a gardener (to say the least!), mother, grandmother, working woman, busy woman and enthusiastic cook who understands that there isn't always a lot of time to get dinner on the table. She's also a former home economics teacher, a certified fitness instructor and a major proponent of eating fresh food, in season.

"I don't believe you can be healthy if you're eating stuff out of a box all the time,'' Hafner says.

Hafner spent more than three years working on her book. It's divided into four main chapters -- spring, summer, fall and winter -- and contains more than 80 recipes. The book features gorgeous color photography -- a photo with each recipe -- by James Scherzi, who also worked on the "Dinosaur'' and "Joey's'' cookbooks.

The reaction from readers so far: "People love it because it's simple and has a lot of pictures and easy-to-follow recipes,'' Hafner says. "My idea was just to get people to cook. If you can do it simple, you can do it healthy.''

"Simple, Fresh & Healthy'' is available for $19.95 at Chuck Hafner's Farmer's Market, and will be available at book sellers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon in the spring of 2011.

ENTER TO WIN!: I have one (1) copy of "Simple, Fresh & Healthy'' to give away to a reader from Central/Upstate New York. To be eligible to win, leave a comment in the comment field below. Members of my family are excluded. The deadline to enter is noon Monday, Nov. 29. The winner will be notified by e-mail Monday afternoon and must be able to pick up the book in person next week at Chuck Hafner's Farmer's Market, Buckley Road, North Syracuse.

Good luck!

Above: Linda Hafner's Healthy Granola (Page 124) with fruit and yogurt. Photo by James Scherzi.