Compiled by Chuck Martin

Cookbooks to consider if you're shopping for Mother's Day:

• Recipes for Our Daughters (Ballantine; $19.95) by Naomi Neft and Cynthia Rothstein. This project began when the authors' daughters grew up, moved out on their own - and appealed for help with cooking. They not only collected their own recipes and advice, but also tapped a group of notable women for favorite dishes and tips, ranging from Joan Baez's baked squash to Elizabeth Dole's pecan roll cookies to Peggy Fleming's salmon in parchment paper.

• Got 2 Go: Feeding Families Fast (Hanna; $18.95) by Kathleen Cannata Hanna. This Michigan mom has compiled her fast favorites, from "After School Snacks" to "15 Minute Dishes" to "Family Meals" and has included 25 menu ideas. (Hanna will sign books and demonstrate dishes beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Kenwood.)

• The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys (Rodale; $29.95) by Deirdre Imus. Imus Ranch is a working ranch in New Mexico for kids with cancer, or those who have lost a sibling to sudden infant death syndrome. The author, who founded the ranch and a pediatric oncology center in Hackensack, N.J., with her radio personality husband, Don, has written a cookbook of mostly vegan recipes, with tips on stocking a healthy pantry and ways to create a toxin-free home.

• Mom's Secret Recipe File (Hyperion; $17.95), edited by Chris Styler, delivers 125 recipes from the mothers of Jamie Oliver, Ming Tsai, Sara Moulton and other celebrity and professional cooks. These sons and daughters also provide plenty of fond memories of Mom's kitchen.

Hot date

The Party Source in Bellevue offers a free sampling of value-priced (under $20 a bottle) sauvignon blancs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today. For more information, call (859) 291-4007.

Learn to cook

Call cooking schools for schedules and fees.

• Cooks' Wares, Shops at Harper's Point, Symmes Township. 489-6400; Marketplace at Settler's Walk, Springboro. (937) 748-4540.

• Cooking School at Jungle Jim's Market, Fairfield. 674-6059; cookingschool@junglejims.com.

• Dorothy Lane Market School of Cooking, Dayton. (937) 434-1294; www.dorothylanemarket.com.

• Kremer's Market Cooking Classes, Crescent Springs. 341-1067.

• Ridge Market Cooking Classes, Pleasant Ridge. 366-4760.

• Wild Oats, Rookwood Commons, Norwood. 531-8015.

• Williams-Sonoma Grand Cuisine, Kenwood Towne Centre, 793-3445.

Sips

A question I hear often: "My mother (or wife or girlfriend) can't enjoy the beer I like because they say it's too bitter. But I don't always want to drink wine on a special occasion. Isn't there a special beer I can offer her?"

With Mother's Day approaching, there is an easy answer. Lindeman's Framboise ($5.49/12 ounces) is a Belgian beer without bitterness, a sweetened version of the famous sour lambic beer style.

Lindeman's delivers a wonderful sweet-and-sour character, with emphasis on sweet.

On top of that, it's made with real fruit, and offers a marvelous, pronounced raspberry flavor with a beautiful red color.

A frequent reaction from first-timers: "Are you sure this is beer? I love it."

Ed Westemeier

Contact Ed Westemeier by e-mail: hopfen@malz.com