This feel-good cookbook will entice you to light the candles, pour the Chardonnay, and enjoy the music while preparing time-efficient, interesting meals for two or more. The author, who is an empty nester herself, has created more than 200 original recipes for the book, from appetizers to desserts, as well as 25 menus with instructions. The cuisine is fun and light, the mood is joyful, and the setting is intimate as she presents food-and food for thought-for the unique period of life when the children are grown and gone and it's just the two of you once again. Woven throughout are essays that offer positive insight and advice for this transitional time in life and for redefining yourself, such as "You're Your Pet's Mom Now," "No Need to Shut the Bedroom Door," "The Kids are Coming " "Who Are You?" "Those Wold Whistles Aren't For You" "All the Cookies Are Yours." The Empty Nest Cookbook marries old-style family cooking with the more sophisticated culinary yens of a working couple. In doing so, it approaches the subject on three levels suited to the empty nester: cooking for two, managing family visits, and entertaining guests.