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Photo: Amazon.com.

'The Comfort Table: Recipes for Everyday Occasions'
Recipes by Katie Lee
Photographs by Miki Duisterhof
Simon & Schuster -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

"The Comfort Table: Recipes for Everyday Occasions" is Katie Lee's second cookbook, with an emphasis on holidays, seasonal celebrations and entertaining for crowds big and small. The book, broken down by occasion, includes a menu, complete with an appetizer, salad, main, side(s), drink, and dessert, along with a playlist and appropriate wine pairing.

Lee makes a point to demystify entertaining -- there's no need for a specific reason to celebrate or for un-needed stress. The "Party Tips" she shares in the book's introduction are simple tasks that should be included in every entertaining 101.

Southern comfort dishes like grits cakes, casseroles and biscuits are reinvented with flavorful ingredients like wild mushrooms, sage and Parmesan, while classics like fried chicken are presented as they should be -- untouched. Desserts like rustic apple pie, cheesecake, and chocolate-banana cream pie will have your sweet-tooth coming back for seconds (and maybe thirds). Don't have time to make the entire menu for dinner? Most side and main dishes can be made during the week to make this cookbook more versatile.

See what we tested and read our exclusive interview with Katie Lee after the jump to find out her favorite recipes and get the dish on the rumors of her own burger joint.