January 2009 is coming up fast and The Harvard Common Press has begun to draw some attention to my soon to be released book, Cool Waters: 50 Refreshing, Healthy, Homemade Thirst Quenchers. They recently added it to the Upcoming Titles section on the opening page of their website.

A few days after noticing the presence of my book on their site, The HCP sent me their Winter/Fall 2009 cookbook catalog. I was astounded to see that Cool Waters is getting serious hype there as well - the first page and a half are devoted to the subject of flavoring water!

Here's a PDF of the catalog pages:
coolwaters.pdf

And more about Cool Waters can be found here:
www.coolwaterbook.com

Justin Schwartz, a senior editor at John Wiley & Sons, and a favorite cookbook client of mine, has blogged twice about a bread book I styled recently. There are some great behind the scenes photos of the bread table and the photographer, Alexandra Grablewski, hard at work.

Thanks for the positive feedback on my work, Justin. Eighteen slow-rise breads in two days was not an easy feat to pull off, I'm happy to hear that you thought it was a big success. Can't wait to see the finished book!

Justin's two postings about Kneadlessly Simple can be found here:
http://justcooknyc.blogspot.com/2008/09/lot-of-bread.html
http://justcooknyc.blogspot.com/2008/09/really-really-good-bread.html

My upcoming book, Cool Waters (The Harvard Common Press), doesn't come out until January 2009, which is still a long way off. In the meantime, I convinced the editors of Weight Watchers Online that my recipes for low-calorie flavored waters would be ideally suited to be featured on their site.

By coincidence, they had been looking for just such an article - a few recipes for Zero POINTS Value drinks. For those who might be unfamiliar with what POINTS are, Weight Watchers uses a system to allow their members to keep a basic track of their caloric intake throughout the day. They maintain a huge database of the point values for almost any food imaginable. Those who follow the Weight Watchers plan simply keep track of how many POINTS they consume throughout the day, and ideally lose some weight in the process.

There are several beverages in the Weight Watchers list that have a zero point value, but they invariably contain artificial ingredients - undesirable things such as man-made sweeteners and artificial flavors and colors. The fifty recipes I developed for Cool Waters, however, contain none of those things. They are all naturally flavored and sweetened with only small quantities of fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices.

While the recipes in my book were ideal for the article, I agreed to go one step further and provide four original recipes to Weight Watchers. The results tasted great, and the editors were pleased. The full text of the articles and all four recipes are available to Weight Watchers members and nonmembers alike - they are here.

A new addition to our family came earlier than expected. Caleb was born on June 27th at 5:57 AM at St. Lukes Roosevelt Hospital on the West side of Manhattan. He was 6 pounds 12 ounces and just over 20 inches at birth.

Everyone is happy and healthy. None of us are as thrilled to have a new baby in the house as Caleb's big brother, Ian.

At the risk of sounding like Jerry Seinfeld during his old standup years, I have to ask the question, "What's the deal with all of these flavored waters I see at my neighborhood deli lately?!?" So I asked people I know, "What's wrong with regular water?" And the answer I got across the board is that plain water is just too... plain. I can see that. I try to exercise regularly and sometimes I just don't want to drink another liter or two of tap water, even though I know my body needs it. It turns out that even I occasionally wouldn't mind a little excitement in my water. But at the same time, do I need to buy my flavored water from the store? Do I really need 'enhanced' water with vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and more often than not, sugar (or even worse, high fructose corn syrup)? I say no.

So for my initial inspiration, I thought back to when I was a kid, way back in the late 1970's when fine dining restaurants used to put slices of lemon in water glasses. Spas and health clubs have also been making their own naturally flavored water for years. On a recent trip (actually my only trip, ever) to a spa, I was offered three different flavors of water - lemon and rose, cucumber, and mint infused waters. I tried them all. The friendly staff confirmed what I already had suspected, that they were made fresh every day with nothing more than filtered water and a few all natural ingredients. So what's stopping me, and you for that matter, from flavoring water at home?

It sounded reasonable enough, so I set out to create my own signature flavors of H20. The thing I realized early on in my experimentation is this: The great thing about water is it is completely neutral tasting. (At least it should be, but there are filters that can fix bad tasting water.) It seems pretty obvious to say that water has no flavor, but for our purposes this is really a good thing. Any simple ingredients that are added to the water only make it taste more interesting! Eureka!

The next steps were to gather ingredients, filter some water and begin creating. My goals were to keep all of the ingredients as raw as possible, to avoid adding any sugar (other than those found in the fruits and vegetables I was planning to use), make them easy to prepare, and use interesting flavors that work well with food. I started simple, as the recipe below shows, and moved into several realms of complexity. Forty-three recipes later, I had myself a decent collection of water to serve for just about any occasion - with breakfast, lunch, or dinner, after exercise, before going to bed, you name the time of day and I could fill a glass with something unique to drink.

Thus begins my series of simple, yet great tasting water recipes. Check back here for regular updates and information on my upcoming book on the subject, Cool Waters (Available January 2009 from Harvard Common Press).

Simply Balmy

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family that aids digestion and can relieve nervous tension – who wouldn't want that to be an essential part of their day? Look for potted lemon balm plants at farmer’s markets or ask a friend with a garden for a cutting. Much like mint, it is easy to grow and spreads rapidly. The lemon juice provides a hit of vitamin C.

Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus 4 hours to steep
Makes six 10-ounce servings

1 tablespoon caraway seed
1/4 cup fresh lemon balm leaves (the tips are best)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 quarts still water, at room temperature

1. In a small dry sauté pan, toast the caraway seeds lightly over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow to burn
2. Place the toasted seeds in a pestle along with the lemon balm and lemon zest. Grind lightly with the mortar and place into a sachet made of cheesecloth or large tea ball.
Place the sachet into a large pitcher, add the lemon juice and water, and allow to steep in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
3. Remove the sachet and serve chilled.