Recipes, lessons, and inspi­ra­tions from an adven­tur­ous Jew­ish girl who lived in Italy and returned to Cal­i­for­nia to trans­form her com­mu­ni­ty into a bunch of con­fi­dent cooks. Writ­ten by a for­mer come­di­enne and high school his­to­ry teacher who lived for 5 years in Italy and earned a grad­u­ate degree in Jew­ish Ital­ian his­to­ry, the author start­ed a cook­ing school by the same name — Meal and a Spiel. This book uses humor and wis­dom to teach intu­itive cook­ing. It fea­tures unabashed mem­oir, essays on life and ​“class­room cor­ners” that explain how and why recipes work so you can final­ly put the cook­book down. Think Amy Schumer meets the Dalai Lama meets Julia Child. (In addi­tion, Meal and a Spiel fea­tures sev­er­al Jew­ish Ital­ian recipes with the his­to­ry of this ancient and unique pop­u­la­tion explained.)