All work and no play has been making Cynthia somewhat dingbatty. Honestly. It’s that kind of brain-frizz that makes me turn in circles in the kitchen 3 or 4 times before I remember that all I needed to do was grab a knife out of the drawer to spread peanut butter on this morning’s English muffin.

But it’s a good kind of dingbatty — because it’s the result of being in the home stretch on my latest cookbook that celebrates my all-time favorite food group, salty crunchy things. I’ve been cooking up a storm testing  recipes that I’ve been dreaming up over these past four or five months. Crackers and chips, savory cookies and vegetables, nuts, popcorn, and even some seafoods and meats. The collection is going to cover the whole gamut from familiar to whimsical, healthy to decadent, quick & easy to–well–just a bit less quick and only a smidge more complicated. Nothing in the collection’s going to require extreme culinary prowess or anything. Just maybe a good mandoline now and then, plus a supply of parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

As daring as it might seem to throw nutritional caution to the wind by putting something as seemingly evil as SALT in the title of my book — my conviction is that when you’re making your own snacks at home, you have ultimate control about exactly how much salt goes into each bite of the treat. And it was just last week that this Scientific American article posed the question about just how justifiable our long-time connection between salt and hypertension and heart disease is. I’m not going to claim any medical expertise on the subject, though can simply claim that this salt-lover (I’ve always thought where I lacked a sweet tooth I have a salt tooth instead) hasn’t had a blood pressure reading much higher than 110/70 in memory. Though absolutely, if your doctor’s telling you to reduce salt in your diet, listen to her not me. But know, too, that the book’s going to have plenty of ways to enjoy savory snacks without conceding nearly as much sodium intake as you do from prepared, commercial foods.

Along the way I’ve been spurred on by indirect words of support from various resources. In Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, I found that rule #39 is “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.” Though, honestly, I bristle a bit at the prospect of associating “salty snacks” with “junk food” because I think that just perpetuates the myth that savory snacks are inherently health hazards. Quite a lot of my interpretations of salty snacks are far from it–pickled vegetables, kale chips, savory cookies, loads of things that come nowhere near a deep-fryer. But in principle I very much agree. That box of commercial chips or crackers is generally going to have far more sodium per serving (not to mention potential trans-fats, preservatives, other things you’d never add at home) than will have a batch you make yourself. And most importantly? At home you can tailor recipes not only on the salt front, but with other flavor variations that suit your whims.

I spent a lot of time flipping through cookbooks  in my home office library, new and old ones, baking books and restaurant books, international cuisines and regional American cuisines. I ended up finding really very few cracker/chip type recipes, which just fueled my fervor to chart some new territory with this book. In the wonderful The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion cookbook, I came across this quote: “We truly believe that if the four food groups consisted of chips, dips, crackers and cheese, most Americans would die happy.” I truly could not agree more.

Oh, and the direct support’s been awesome as well! Almost without exception, every time I’ve told a friend or colleague about the subject of this new book, their eyes widen and they reply with something along the lines of “ooooh, what a great idea!” or “I LOVE salty snacks!” There was one random, surely unintentional,  naysayer who responded to the idea with, “well, you’re going to still have some sweet things in there too, right?” Pfft.

So, now it’s down to the wire. Polishing recipes and whipping together my last remaining creations to round things out. Working on my narrative prose on the subject and stepping back to take an objective view on the whole thing. Before I launch into that last agonizing step: nitty gritty edits. The whole kit and caboodle is due August 1.

Thanks to those of you who have been making this feel like exactly the right project for me to be jumping into. The wide-eyed responses to the general idea, the taste-testers offering objective feedback, and the recipe-testers trying their hand too to help polish things.

So only one question remains. What’s your favorite salty snack?