yum yum, baking books

Yesterday, after dutifully doing a load of laundry, I treated myself to a trip to the Mall of America. With coupons in purse, I was a woman with a mission. First, I bought (oh, the shock of it all!) athletic shoes (with a $10 off coupon) in preparation for joining the workout crowd at Snap Fitness. To recover from the experience, I headed for Barnes & Noble and, again with a coupon (an extra 15% off), I bought Nick Malgieri's The Modern Baker: time-saving techniques for breads, tarts, pies, cakes and cookies. Nick Malgieri's books are always fun, beautifully illustrated with color pictures and, best of all, each recipe has an explanation of the recipe's history and more. I look forward to many happy hours reading and baking with Nick.

I'm going to try my first recipe (Caramel Cashew Rice Krispie Bars) from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book for a work party on Monday (library people are notorious party people and enjoy eating everything but especially sweets). I devotedly watch America's Test Kitchen programs on PBS and subscribe to their magazine Cook's Country (the everyday cooking version of their magazine) so I trust their recipes. How can you not trust a kitchen under the supervision of a man in a bowtie?

I love, love, love to curl up with a cookbook, happily rocking in my glider. My favorite reading cookbook (for now) is Heirloom baking with the Brass Sisters: more than 100 years of recipes deiscovered from family cookbooks, original journals, scraps of paper, and grandmother's kitchen. This is full of the recipes my mom (an amazing baker) used to make and is a real stroll down memory lane. The layout is gorgeous (looking like something from the 1920s - 1940s) and each recipe includes its history. Grab a mug of hot chocolate (with marshmallows), grab an afghan and curl up with this book--I promise you'll enjoy it.