Everyone does it. But with this book you can do it right, enjoy yourself and respect yourself in the morning. In short, this isn't just another how-to-do-it manual with "more than 50 recipes." Enjoy Valerie Aikman-Smith'sSalt: Cooking With the World's Favorite Seasoning .

The Scottish-born author is a trained chef, but works in Los Angeles as a "food stylist" for TV and movies (like "Titanic" and "Ocean's Eleven"). Amazon.com's blurb offers:

Salt in all its forms is a hot culinary trend. It enhances any savory dish and makes the taste buds sing. In this beautiful book, top cook and food stylist Valerie Aikman-Smith introduces you to all kinds of salts, from Hawaiian Red Alaea Salt to Jurassic Salt. Her Appetizers include tasty Olive Suppli, Gazpacho with Smoked Salted Croutons, and fun Popcorn with Chili Salt. In Entrees, you'll find the classic salt-crust method with new twists, such as indian-spiced Lamb in a Salt Crust, or how about Spicy Pork Satay with Roast Salted Peanut Sauce, or a refreshing Peach Caprese with Curry Salt? In Sides and Breads you'll discover tempting flatbreads and pretzel bites, and you'll be captivated by Valerie's Drinks and Sweets. How about a Black Olive Martini or Bloody Mary with Celery Salt, or a Chocolate Chip Cookie with Sea Salt? Be amazed as the flavors mingle in your mouth. Finally, a chapter of Rubs, Butters, and Brines offers you dozens of versatile ways to jazz up grilled meat or fish, vegetable crudites or potato chips, or use them with your own recipes. Once you've tried Valerie's stunning recipes you will never look at salt in the same way again.

A new book is out celebrating bacon. Bacon: A Salty Survey of Everybody's Favorite Meat was written by Heather Lauer, whose blog "Bacon Unwrapped " is very popular. In case you didn't know, there are bacon festivals all around the country and celebrations of every form of bacon under the sun. Bacon lollipops. Bacon ties. Chocolate-covered bacon. It seems that there isn't anything that isn't better with bacon. The key to bacon is salt, of course. And that is precisely why it tastes so good!

It is difficult to imagine how many lives have been saved over thousands of years by the process of preserving meat with salt. Heather covers the history of bacon in the book along with many interesting facts.

I must admit, that about a year a half ago I met with Heather for lunch (we have known each other through our public affairs/public policy work) and I was surprised to hear that she had a bacon blog and was in the process of writing a book about bacon. Not being a foodie, I couldn't imagine reading an entire book about food, but I'm a convert. In my opinion, bacon is right up there with chocolate in the perfect food category.