In case of need or interest, note the following original publishing ventures:
"Cocina Betty Crocker" (Wiley, 2005, $19.95 paperback) is bilingual, a cookbook with English and Spanish versions of its texts side by side, all the way through.
Most of the book is given up to the collection of 125 "favorite American recipes." This includes Shrimp Creole or, if you prefer, Camarones a la Criolla; and Peanut Butter Cookies, a k a Galletas de Mantequilla de Mani. Translations are word for word, and measurements are not changed.
Tucked into the back of the book are glossaries and basic information on nutrition and cooking.
"Apocalypse Chow" (Robertson, 2005, $12.95 paperback), by Jon Robertson with Robin Robertson, is subtitled "How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out."
Robertson explains that he and Robin, his wife, discovered how to eat well without electricity, as opposed to just surviving miserably, after enduring four major hurricanes since they moved to the South in 1983.
Manmade disasters as well as weather, he reminds us, can put anyone in the position where the instruction to "buy 52 cans of Spam," even if we'd had the forethought to do it, would not be enough to make life palatable.
The book is packed with practical ideas, 68 recipes and much more — a wide variety of useful advice, including plans for staying put, protecting your home, suggested disaster supply kits, and tips on how to improvise so that you can carry out the recipes whether you stay home or flee to a distant motel.
"Serves One" (Lake Isle Press, 2005, $16.95 paperback), by Toni Lydecker, is a new, revised edition of Lydecker's 1998 original.
The author notes that, to help busy people, some favorite recipes from the first edition are repeated in simplified form in this one, and many others are entirely new. There are some 120 recipes in all, for "simple meals to savor when you're on your own," ranging from salads and soups to meat and vegetable choices, and including sandwiches, snacks and sweets.
"The Hasty Gourmet Low Salt Favorites" (InData Publishing, 2005, $19.95 paperback) is by Bobbie Mostyn, targeting people who need to reduce their salt intake.
The book offers about 300 recipes along with nutritional analyses that include sodium and fat totals for individual ingredients, as well as for the finished dishes. Mostyn also offers plenty of general advice on choosing foods, based on her own experience of following a low-salt regime, and her medical research.