The Soft Gourmet: Eating Well On A Soft Food Diet by Cathy Katz is a cookbook and guide written by a caregiver-cook for others cooking for patients who must follow a Soft Food Diet after oral/maxillofacial surgery, dental implant reconstruction, cancer treatment, or other medical conditions. The information in this book is based solely upon the author's personal experience and is not intended as professional advice. The author is not responsible for any consequences arising from a reader's use of this book. Any person should consult with their own physician about their own medical care and approaches to diet and healing.Katz explains: ""My husband of 57 years was undergoing a full-mouth dental reconstruction, having had radiation to his head years earlier as part of cancer treatment. I originally thought following a Soft Food Diet would be easy. But five weeks post-surgery, I was spending too much time every day to plan what I could feed him-he was already losing weight and the healing was taking a lot out of him. He was eating less, many small servings a day instead of three main meals. I was constantly preparing food. And it was certain he'd be following a Soft Food Diet for many months ahead, maybe a year! As his caregiver-cook, I needed a strategy.""The Soft Gourmet: Eating Well On A Soft Food Diet emerged as Katz documented their recovery successes. The cookbook includes 77 healthy and delicious recipes adapted to a Soft Food Diet, pantry lists, and even ""First Foods,"" a 16-day post-surgery menu. Includes 85 color photographs taken by Jenny Katz of the actual tools, ingredients, and results of recipes adapted for The Soft Gourmet by Cathy Katz, in their own homes.Cathy Katz (a former administrator) and her husband, Michael, (a jazz piano player and Vietnam veteran) are retired, with a pollinator habitat-farm in Western Massachusetts. ""The Pollinator Garden Planning Deck"" (ISBN 978-1-7972-2628-6) is another Cathy Katz offering. Jenny Katz is an artist, writer, musician, composer, designer who translates complex ideas into accessible forms. Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. William J. Bontempi, DMD, MD practices oral surgery in Hadley, Longmeadow and Westfield, MA. Dr. Bontempi is a native of the western Massachusetts area, born and raised in nearby Greenfield, MA. He attended Greenfield Public Schools and graduated in 1986 from Greenfield High School. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1990 and entered Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in the fall of that year. In 1994, he received his DMD from Tufts and began his surgical residency at the University of Connecticut. In 1997, he received his MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and in 1999 he received his certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
""...for the first time in my professional career, I could provide patients with a list of recipes they could eat rather than a random list of prohibited foods. ... My mind then catapulted me to fields far beyond dentistry and my own limited world of Oral Surgery: Gastroenterology, Rheumatology, Otolaryngology, Trauma Surgery, Dieticians. All of these clinicians and their patients stand to gain so much from this book if they consider each of these recipes as what they really are, individual prescriptions for dietary management."" -- William J. Bontempi, DMD, MD (from the Foreword) ""As a dentist, I often see patients struggle to find foods that are both gentle and nourishing after dental surgery. This soft foods recipe book is a game-changer -- it offers nutritious, delicious, and satisfying options that support healing while making mealtime enjoyable again."" -- Teddi Olszewski, DMD ""Over my years in the practice as a primary care physician, I have seen many people struggle to eat a balanced nutritious diet when they are having difficulty chewing or swallowing. The Soft Gourmet is a great new resource for people to help maintain their health when they need to eat a soft diet."" -- Andrew Moscovitz, MD