Actress Kathy Garver Releases New Book HOLIDAY RECIPES FOR A FAMILY AFFAIR

Actress Kathy Garver is cooking up something special, with her new book "Holiday Recipes for a Family Affair" (Bear Manor Media).

With a forward by actor Christopher Knight ("The Brady Bunch"), the book features tasty ideas for any occasion, with a focus on holiday gatherings. Selections range from simple appetizers to elegant entrees like Cornish Game Hen with Orange Glaze, Salmon En Papillote with Dill Sauce and more. For October, choices include such whimsical items as Goblin Cheese Ball, Ghostly Garlic Bread, Chicken Bat Wings, and Brainy Cauliflower.

"One of my favorite times has always been the holidays," Garver said. "Some of the best times our family has had have been cooking and then eating what we made. When it came time to write a new book, I wanted to help people take the stress out of the kitchen."

Garver is best known as the teenage sister "Cissy" on the classic CBS sitcom "Family Affair," and has also appeared in many other network series and movies, including the classic film "The Ten Commandments," when she was a girl.

"Holiday Recipes for a Family Affair" is Garver's second cookbook and fourth book overall. Like her earlier cookbook, "The Family Affair Cookbook," the new one includes many photos related to the TV series that made her a household name, beginning in the late 1960s. However, "Holiday Recipes for a Family Affair" includes more personal commentaries related to Garver's love of food and family.

"I do a lot of cooking myself, but I have a lot of help from my son, Reid, who is a great sous chef," Garver said. "Reid had a big influence on the book, because he is a vegetarian and he encouraged me to include some very interesting recipes that he likes. My husband, on the other hand, is a classic meat-and-potatoes person, so I also included some dishes that he loves. This book really is a 'family affair.'"

Garver first learned the basics of cooking from her mother, but it was her father who taught her to appreciate finer cuisine.

"Whenever we went to a restaurant, he was the last to order, and he would always get something nobody else would try," Garver recalled. "He had a gourmet sensibility."

Garver did not start cooking seriously, until she was in her early 20s, living on her own in Hollywood.

"After 'Family Affair,' I no longer had the studio or my mom to cook for me," she said. "I picked up a copy of the classic 'I Hate to Cook Book' by Peg Bracken and studiously followed everything it said. That's really when I fell in love with cooking."

Garver's coauthor, screenwriter and director Scot Weaver, is also an accomplished chef, having been cooking for his family since he was eight years old. He is the author of a previous cookbook, "Weaver Family Recipes."

"My favorite thing about cooking is sharing my food with others," Weaver said. "I enjoy the fun I can have in the kitchen with experimentation and playing with recipes. I like to explore flavors and textures. I am very thankful that Kathy wanted to do this book."

"Holiday Recipes for a Family Affair" is available through Amazon and BearManorMedia.com.

Kathy Garver is also the author of "Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood" and "X-Child Stars: Where Are They Now?" Information is available at www.KathyGarver.com.

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