Here are some cookbooks that have crossed our desk recently:

"SPICE DREAMS: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Treats," by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, with Nancy Meadows and Kimberly Toqe, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 96 pages, $16.99

The authors combine all-natural ingredients with fresh and dried herbs and spices to create new flavors and spicy twists to frozen treats.

"THE TEX-MEX GRILL AND BACKYARD BARACOA COOKBOOK," by Robb Walsh, Broadway Books, $18.99

Walsh includes a lot of techniques, step-by-step illustrations and photos (black and white), and interviews with legendary Tex-Mex chefs. In addition, Walsh takes the reader through the history behind the Tex-Mex movement.

"COOKING THE COWBOY WAY: Recipes Inspired by Campfires, Chuck Wagons, and Ranch Kitchens," by Grady Spears with June Naylor, Andrews McMeel Publishing, $29.99

Cowboy cooks, ranchers and locals from across North America share their recipes, cooking secrets, photos and stories about their way of life.

"THE SECRET INGREDIENT: Delicious, Easy, Heart-Healthy Recipes That Might Just Save Your Life," by Sally Bee, Streling, $22.95

Sally Bee, at age 36, suffered three major heart attacks in the space of a week. To save her heart, she needed to eat healthy, but she had to come up with recipes that her kids would eat. She shares those recipes in this book, and gives support to change your eating habits without feeling deprived.

"VIVA VEGAN!" by Terry Hope Romero, Ca Capo Press, 285 pages, $18.95

Romero blends her Venezuelan roots with her experience working in a New York Latino-operated restaurant to create Latin American vegan recipes.

"TANA'S KITCHEN SECRETS," by Tana Ramsay, Mitchell Beazley/Octopus Books, 288 pages, $26.99

Ramsay, wife of chef Gordon Ramsay and mother of four children, gives us her tricks of the trade in the pantry and the at the stove. She shares 120 recipes her family loves, and tells readers how she manages to gather the family around the table at mealtimes, juggle the children's activities and her husband's work, and move the family from London to Los Angeles every summer.

"PLANET BARBECUE!: An Electrifying Journey Around the World's Barbecue Trail," by Steven Raichlen, Workman, $22.95

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Raichlen has visited dozens of countries on six continents to document what makes grilling unique in each country and brings their recipes to the readers, including unusual recipes cooked on the grill, like ice cream in Azerbaijan, cactus pear crisp in the American Southwest, and coffee in South Africa.

"EMPIRES OF FOOD: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations," by Evan D.G. Fraser and Andrew Rimas, Free Press, $27

Not really a cookbook but an exploration of the fate of people and societies for the past 12,000 years through the foods they grew, hunted, traded and ate. The authors give insights into what to expect in the years to come.

— Kari Morandi

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