I’m convinced I should have named my daughter Fern. With the exception of goldfish crackers, she lives off water and air. From day one she has been a picky eater. She claims vegetables are too green, fish is too fishy and healthy things are gross. I’m always looking for new recipes to make everyone in the family happy even if it’s some sort of cheese laden concoction to hide cut vegetables.

Every week I bring home a new cookbook from the library that covers cooking styles from around the world. Even if I don’t try every recipe in the book, I still love to look through the photos and dream of some day cooking a perfect meal that nobody complains about.

While sometimes palatable, my end results never look as good as the photo in the cookbook. I finally realized that even though I’m not a great cook, I still love to read about cooking. I’ve turned to food memoirs to continue nourishing the need for a story that keeps me turning the pages night after night.

King County Library System has started a year-long program series surrounding food. The library system recognizes that even if we aren’t stellar cooks, there is always a program to support us. The programs offered cover table manners (Downton Abbey style), growing and cooking culinary herbs, building an urban pantry, food memoirs, couponing, meal planning and even music inspired by Michael Pollan.

Food authors such as Michael Moss (Salt Sugar Fat), John Sundstrom (Lark: Cooking Against The Grain) and others will appear at local libraries. A full calendar of events is available at www.kcls.org/cooks/.

A Place at the Table program series is offered in partnership with King County Library System Foundation, KING FM 98.1, KIRO Radio, KUOW, Starbucks, KCTS, Hopelink and Food Lifeline. To help others in our community who may be in need, KCLS is accepting non-perishable food items that will be distributed to 45 different food banks through December.

Watch the schedule for upcoming events at your local libraries. Throughout the year you may learn tips for vegetarian cooking, food literacy, canning, or a program to help you design a dream kitchen. Perfect food may not always come out of that kitchen but make sure there’s room for all your cookbooks.