The monster mash

Mashed Cauliflower

from Brooke McLay's "Almonds Every Which Way: More Than 150 Healthy & Delicious Almond Milk, Almond Flour, and Almond Butter Recipes"

1 large cauliflower
2 cloves roasted garlic (optional)
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast, butter or Earth Balance
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

Cut the florets from the cauliflower.

Place the cauliflower florets in a large pot and cover them with water. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Allow the cauliflower to boil until very tender, about 25 minutes.

Drain the cauliflower completely in a strainer, transfer to a large bowl, and add the garlic (if using), nutritional yeast, almond milk, salt and pepper to the bowl.

Use a hand blender to puree. If you don't have a hand blender, puree half of the cauliflower with the roasted garlic and almond milk in a blender, then transfer it to a stand mixer and beat the pureed cauliflower and remaining cauliflower together until it's reached the texture of mashed potatoes. Makes 4 servings.

Mom and me

An assortment of fond kitchen memories from across the country, Phyllis Pellman Good's "Mom and Me in the Kitchen: Memories of Our Mothers' Kitchens" reads like an extended Mother's Day card. 

It is an earnest reminder of relationships forged early on and the influences our parents have. But this sentimental look back, with so many different voices in such brief instances, proves unsatisfying. 

Reminiscences abound of mothers and mealtimes — when "stuffed shells, lasagna, chicken and rice dishes, and homemade tuna casserole made many appearances" — of itinerant childhoods and immigrant flavors. 

The women discuss everything from birthdays and cooking blunders: a seven-year-old gets a sunshine cake, "three layers with a wonderful custard between the layers" and soft yellow frosting; elsewhere a teenager asked to follow a recipe that called for a clove of garlic adds ground cloves and garlic instead. 

What Good's book does not provide, however, is significant context for the women's stories, so we never gain a strong enough sense of who they are as individuals. The collection doesn't lack for breadth but sorely lacks depth. It presents a composite sketch of motherhood that inevitably leaves us wanting more. 

(A version of this review appeared originally at Publishers Weekly.)