Two women who love fresh food and cooking spent 2009 cooking up a fresh idea.

Joanne Neft and Laura Caballero cooked weekly dinners using fresh Placer County produce and meat for eight guests for 52 weeks. The fruit of their labor? A 300-page cookbook called “Placer County Real Food” will be coming out in April.

Neft and Caballero hosted their meals on Mondays using fresh, homegrown ingredients produced by local farmers and ranchers sold at the Saturday Foothill Farmers’ Market.

A tasting workshop and food demonstration using menus from the new cookbook will be one of the highlights at the 15th annual PlacerGROWN Food and Farm Conference Jan. 30 at Lincoln High School.

Caballero will discuss the yearlong cooking project and the development of the cookbook.

Neft started the Foothill Farmers’ Market 20 years ago and formerly had the position as Placer County agriculture marketing director. She came up with the idea for the cookbook to let people know that great food is available at the Farmers Market in all seasons.