A book like this doesn't get written in a day. Over the years, Mrs. Sundberg has gathered the best recipes this side of Lake Wobegon (R). It was a Saturday in the spring when she got to thinking about all the people who have requested recipes along the way and how she just might have enough recipes for a cookbook. Sure enough, she did. When it comes to good food, there's always room for recipes tried and true.

This book by Holly Harden is full of good things:

• A return to simple food, lovingly prepared, sure to please
• More than 160 basic recipes with common ingredients already in your pantry
• Menus planned around shared life events-from holidays to funerals to vacations to Saturday night suppers
• And on top of it all . . . a few of Mrs. Sundberg's stories and thoughts on ordinary life:

I was at my parents' kitchen table, in the midst of a large number of family members and dogs. It had been a happy day with food everywhere-dips and cheeses, ham sandwiches and cherry pie. And as I sat there, with kids screaming for joy, a dog shoving its head on my lap, my dad offering me a chili pepper beer, just to try, I felt at complete and utter peace. It's not something you can pencil in. Real peace is elusive, and sometimes it comes out of nowhere, when you least expect it.