Judy Alter on Cooking her Way through Life

Judy Alter, very recently retired director of Texas Christian University Press, is a woman of many talents. She's a renowned novelist and author, occasional contributor to the Dallas Morning News, an avid blogger, and remains involved in no fewer than four major organizations in our industry.

Here, she dishes to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen about her latest project, Cooking My Way through Life with Kids and Books (State House/McWhiney Press, 2009), her affinity for Jewish fare, and the three food staples that maintain a permanent home in her refrigerator.

An excerpt:

"I went home and began to write, realizing that my life fell into four distinct cooking periods: a childhood in a very meat-and-potatoes household in Chicago, with a Canadian father who preferred pot roast, no fish, and nothing you picked up in your hands but a mother who was an excellent cook and taught me well. Then I married a Jewish man and moved to Texas--two new cultures, and though the husband is long gone, I love Jewish food. Then there were the years I raised four children as a single parent--the casserole years. And in this final cooking phase, I live alone, entertain often, always experiment on guests and find that cooking is a great relaxation for me."