Two years after the first Open Hand Cookbook, for which California celebrity chefs contributed recipes and shared profits with the organization that feeds San Francisco-area AIDS patients, this second all-star benefit performance focuses on foods for special occasions--mostly holidays and other dress-up affairs but also informal barbecues and cozy get-togethers. Paul Bertolli, Edward Espe Brown, Bradley Ogden, Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters are some of the Bay Area chefs whose names stand out from the list of 69 contributors, and there are others--such as Marion Cunningham and Madeleine Kammon--not normally associated with the region. Their seasonally arranged recipes can be dirt-simple or comfortably ethnic but tend to the upscale, flamboyant, or creative California mode. Home cooks attracted by the names won't be disappointed, though those motivated by the cause might find some of this above their toques.
