Rick Nelson and I will be joining the Star Tribune Taste crew at the annual Holiday Cookie Contest extravaganza on Thurs., Dec. 4, at 11 am, at Southdale Center (main floor), where this year's winning cookies will be available for tasting. Rick and I will be signing copies of "The Ultimate Minnesota Cookie Book," with its first 20 years of winning recipes.

We have another library on our calendar: Hopkins Public Library, with Cream & Amber booksellers, as Linda Svitak (co-author) and I talk about our favorite cookbook.

Cookies, cookies, cookies! Lee heads to Mora, Minn., to talk about "The Ultimate Minnesota Cookie Book" as thoughts turn to holiday entertaining.

Contributors from "Kitchens of Hope" along with the authors -- Lee Svitak Dean, Linda Svitak and Christin Eaton -- will speak at the American Swedish Institute on Sunday, Sept. 28, about their new book.

Co-authors Lee Svitak Dean and Linda Svitak will talk about the stories and contributors to "Kitchens of Hope."

Lee and her co-authors will be at the Maple Grove Library to speak about "Kitchens of Hope" on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Lee heads to the city of Wyoming, Minn., to talk about "Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home."

I'll be there cheering on -- and interviewing -- Nadya Goncharova (10 am) and Thekla Rura-Polley (1 pm), two contributors to "Kitchens of Hope," who will demonstrate their recipes from the book on Thursday, Aug. 28. Nadya will provide the details for her Walnut Cake from Latvia, and Thekla will forcus on her Leek Tart from Germany. My co-authors Linda Svitak and Christin Eaton will be there, too. We'll be at the Cambria Kitchen in the Creative Activities Building (Cosgrove Street and Dan Patch Avenue).

The three co-authors of "Kitchens of Hope" will talk immigration and food in Minnesota. They are Lee Svitak Dean, Linda Svitak and Christin Eaton.

Lee and the co-authors of "Kitchens of Hope" launch the new book on Sat., June 21, at Norway House. The event is free, but seating is limited, so registration is recommended at https://tinyurl.com/rwsjkbja  

Lee and Rick talk cookies (the Minnesota, Swedish and other types), as well as their new "The Ultimate Minnesota Cookie Book," with samples of several cookies from the book on Feb. 8 from 2-3 p.m. at the American Swedish Institute.