I have a bad relationship with Moosewood -- it was the first cookbook I ever bought for myself, but I've never been able to cook a recipe from it with any success. Everything seemed to take forever and involve vast numbers of ingredents, and then not taste right. I think the experience put me off vegetarian cooking forever!

I don't have The New Basics -- do you like it?

Most of my cooking involves baking chicken and grilling meet or fish, roasting or staming vegetables and no recipes at all. But I like to have cookbooks on hand, maybe as comfort more than anything.