After releasing her first album, singer Kelis spent the next 10 years performing all over the world. And in her downtime, she writes, "[I] slipped away to food adventures when there was no gig, literally eating my way from sea to sea." Between her travels and her early childhood, when she watched her mother cook for her catering business in New York City, Kelis developed a sophisticated palette for all types of food. In My Life on a Plate, she brings her own twist to multiple recipes she's collected as a musician and later as a trained chef. Many of the dishes she includes have a Puerto Rican or Latin flavor to them, like Sofrito, Platano Soup or Smoked Bacon Arepas. Others emphasize flavors--curry, cumin, cardamom and ginger--one might find in Bali or Kuala Lumpur, or use coconut milk, such as Coconut Curry Crab Soup. Kelis brings comfort food (mac and cheese, meatloaf) and dishes with tropical ingredients (yucca, guava purée) together in one worldwide tour of flavorful cuisine. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer