Book excerpt: From the beloved host and producer of PBS series Joanne Weir's Cooking Confidence and Joanne Weir Gets Fresh. "Joanne's infectious enthusiasm...draws readers effortlessly into a new and beautiful relationship to food." - Alice Waters Chef, cooking instructor, and PBS television host Joanne Weir has inspired legions of home cooks with her signature California-Mediterranean cuisine and warm, engaging style. In Kitchen Gypsy, the James Beard Award-winning author offers a taste of the people, places, and flavors that have inspired her throughout the years. With refreshing honesty and humor, Joanne shares the spark that led to her love of cooking, how she learned to taste and develop a palate, the meal that would forever change her life, her years working with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse during the beginning of the farm-to-table movement, and her continued travels teaching cooking classes the world over. Throughout, she offers the cherished dishes and lessons that have shaped her culinary journey, from the 140-year-old Lighting Cake recipe handed down from her great-grandmother to the luxurious Beef Roulade with Mushrooms and Garlic perfected during her Master Chef training in France, and the approachable, globally-inspired dishes, like Fried Pork Belly Tacos and Autumn Salad with Figs and Pomegranate, that have made her a favorite of home cooks. Lushly illustrated with full-color photographs, Kitchen Gypsy is both an inspirational cooking resource and an armchair read, offering recipes made to be shared and savored against the colorful backdrop of Weir's evocative writing.