I have finally received the first copy of my new book and it looks spectacular! The red and black cover has kind of an art deco feel about it, which is one of my favourite design eras and the touch of blue from the gas stove livens it all up. I hope you'll love the cover as much as I do.

Picnics are a summer tradition in many families, which can be challenging for the cook. How do you make the outdoor bash a meal to remember?

My mother, Pearl Geneen, was a huge influence on me. She loved good food, was a superb self-taught cook and became an aficionado of all things stylish. She was equally good at perfecting main dishes and desserts and could coax taste out of any ingredient. I still remember her Thousand Layer Cake with multiple layers of puff pastry (her own, of course) and a chocolate and custard filling.

Now I have learned we have more in common than I thought. Last week, a friend who had been going through his mother's old recipe file sent me an article that my mother wrote for the "Women's Globe and Mail" 41 years ago.

Food writer and food science enthusiast, Rob Mifsud, had the pleasure of sitting down with the brilliant Hervé This, the man known as the godfather of molecuar gastronomy, and discovers there's beauty, art and love behind the test tubes, foams and lab coats.