Dear Lynne,

You once talked about a good book for rookie fireplace cooks, can you remind me what the name of it is? Macey in South Dakota

Dear Macey,

I've got the book and it is excellent for rookies. But before answering your question, I can't resist relating a story.

My own promising career as a master fire cook was cut off in its infancy at the end of my 15th summer. At that time my mother and friends were building our garage. My contribution was cooking lunches in my improvised fire pit. After a rocky initiation phase, folks raved over the fragrance and flavor of my concoctions. That was until it was time to shingle the roof. Then the source of all that fragrance and flavor was revealed. Unwittingly I'd burned up my mother's hefty investment in cedar shingles. Needless to say, I wasn't allowed near a pile of wood until I left home.

That said, the book you heard me mention is the best primer for fireplace cooking I've seen so far. It is The Magic of Fire: Hearth Cooking: One Hundred Recipes for the Fireplace or Campfire by William Rubel (10 Speed Press, 2002). Rubel takes you step by step through the processes with great care for safety and success.