This is the latest edition of Sitto's Kitchen, A Treasury of Syrian Family Recipes Taught from Mother to Daughter for Over 100 Years.  It contains the original recipes and memories carried by the author's grandmother onto the shores of Ellis Island in 1912. Sitto's Kitchen is a treasury of Syrian family recipes, taught from mother to daughter for over 100 years in their own Arab kitchens. More than 165 recipes and over 100 full color appetizing photos of these delicious foods will take the reader, even a novice cook, on a homespun adventure in Middle Eastern cookery, as it has been prepared for generations! Culinary delights, from an Aleppo breakfast of butter-soft turnovers to after-dinner Arab coffee and sweets, highlight this unique cuisine. Tantalizing Tamarind Meatballs, Open Meat Pies, aromatic Rice and Lentil Pilaf with caramelized onions and Syrian Stuffing are mouth-watering. Phyllo-encrusted Spinach Rolls, healthy vegetable soups, salads and grains, including several Bulgar Wheat dishes, will satisfy vegetarians. Appetizers and desserts include traditional favorites enjoyed all over Syria and the Levant. The author remembers, "In 1966, I started compiling my grandmother's recipes in a little spiral notebook. Years later, as my worn and food-stained notebook captured the fruits of my own labors, I realized these recipes were too precious to lose. They're a testament to all those cooks before me who faithfully preserved their heritage, mother to daughter, through the generations." Sitto's Kitchen begins with a Basics chapter that will guide the reader with tips on pantry staples, cook's tools and those necessary ingredients needed to begin creating this exciting cuisine. The cookbook's recipe titles are written in both English and Arabic. A glossary of spices and herbs, an index in English and Arabic, a Where to Buy It section and photos of many of the dishes are all included with today's cooks in mind. The next generations of young Arab cooks who long for these traditional foods will be drawn into Sitto's Kitchen. Those exploring new cuisines will find that these Middle Eastern spices and fragrant herbs will carry them to new lands. For thousands of years, the distinctive cuisine of Aleppo, Syria has relied on the freshest of vegetables, fruits and nuts of the region. The accent on these foods, spices and grain-based dishes will appeal to vegetarians as well as those wanting an authentic adventure in delicious Syrian cookery. Sitto's Kitchen is a journey in Middle Eastern cooking with no mystery, simply prepared and traditionally preserved by generations of cooks who served these humble dishes to their families with love. The recipes, the memories, and the stories are well worth sharing ! We tend to take for granted what we enjoyed in our youth: timespent with grandparents, learning Grandma's traditional recipes,and pottering about together in the kitchen. There is love involvedin the making of food, the serving of it, and the enjoyment of eatingit. There are also lots of stories: where the recipe originated, whythe food was a staple in a specific traditional, cultural dish. Therecipes, the memories, and the stories are well worth sharing, notjust for future generations within one's family, but for others toenjoy as well.Janice Jweid Reed's book, Sitto's Kitchen: A Treasury of SyrianFamily Recipes Taught from Mother to Daughter for Over 100 Years,is more than a cookbook. It's a collection of family memoriessoaked in the creation of traditional Syrian foods. I love the way theauthor introduces Sitto, Arabic for grandmother, and her origins inAleppo, Syria, a thriving community now devastated and left inruins by the ongoing strife in Syria. The author continues with ashort biography of her grandmother, who moved to the UnitedStates as a young teenager. Later, the author explains how she, asa teenager and later a mother living across the country, far fromher family, would listen and learn about traditional Syrian foods,jotting things down in a spiral notebook. Her jottings developed intothis cookbook/memoir, a treasury of good food and family times. After the insightful introduction, the author has arranged therecipes into the usual categories one would expect in a cookbook.Each recipe has the ingredients clearly listed, and the method ofpreparation presented in an organized fashion. Most recipes areaccompanied by a photograph of the finished food, along with theauthor's side note about the food, its origin, and the times sheenjoyed preparing the food alongside her grandmother in Sitto'skitchen. A wonderful treasure full of recipes and stories. Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite Sitto's Kitchen is back!  Fans of Aleppo, Syria and all things Middle Eastern, we have heard you!  This third book is a compilation of Books I and II, in full color with more editing to several recipes and my Cook's Notes. In my continuing quest to make things simpler, this was done for rea