Joy of Cooking or Vegetarian Planet

Joy of Cooking: All About Cookies

Author: Irma S Rombauer

A fresh and original way to put the classic advice of Joy of Cooking to work -- illustrated and designed in a beautiful and easy-to-use new book.

* A celebration of all the classic JOY cookies: Blondies, Dream Bars, Lemon Curd Bars, Ginger Snaps, and Classic Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip

* Includes innovative cookies such as reduced fat Almond Thumbprints and the Fourteen-in-One Cookie, a master recipe whose variations make 14 different cookies

* Clear, comprehensive instructions for all aspects of cookie baking from handling the dough and decorating the cookies to packaging them for gift giving

Publishers Weekly

Part of Scribner's "All About" series, adapted from the Joy of Cooking cookbooks, this volume includes dozens of cookie recipes, divided by type: drop, bar, rolled, filled, and the like. The recipes span the traditional-Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Chip both make an appearance-to innovative entries like Chocolate-Coated Mocha Biscotti. The recipes are easy enough for even a fledgling baker to follow, and they're accompanied by inspiring full-color photographs. Becker, the grandson of the founder of the Joy of Cooking franchise, includes tips on how to package cookies for travel, how to turn Christmas cookies into ornaments and even how to bake cookies at high altitudes. But the best proof of how all-around useful Becker wants this resource to be is that he includes low fat, and delicious, versions of most of his popular cookies. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This latest batch of spin-off cookbooks from the All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking includes one on a topic that was not covered in that revision. The chapter on canning and preserving, much of which was written by cookbook author Sylvia Thompson, unfortunately didn't make it into the 1997 revision because of space limitations, so it's nice to have it appear as its own book. Like the other "All About" titles, and unlike the big Joy, these all include color photographs, as well as additional material not included in the revision. Canning & Preserving is recommended for all collections on the topic; the other titles are for most libraries. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	6
	About Cookies	8
	About Drop Cookies	21
	About Bar Cookies	39
	About Rolled Cookies	59
	About Hand-Shaped Cookies	73
	About Filled Cookies	97
	About Sliced, Piped & Pressed Cookies	109
	Index	126
	Acknowledgments	128

Interesting book: Exploring Business or Financial Accounting Fundamentals 2007

Vegetarian Planet

Author: Didi Emmons

A culinary adventure in 350 soul-satisfying recipes. The vegetarian bible for a new generation.

Publishers Weekly

Emmons, chef at Boston's ultra-hip Delux Cafe, makes a bid for the new generation of vegetarians with this tightly packed and somewhat overwhelming cookbook. Describing her style as "twists on traditional concepts and dishes" rather than fusion of various ethnic cuisines, Emmons has loads of good ideas and exuberantly insists on using all of them. Often, this yields brilliant results: Dried Cranberry-Pecan Coffeecake is enlivened with ginger, and Gun Smoke Slaw jumps with chipotle peppers. On the other hand, while some may welcome the addition of quinoa to Soft Polenta with Spicy Tomato Sauce as a way to raise the dish's protein level, others may consider it needless fiddling with a classic. Emmons has a fondness for exotic ingredients, but her genial headnotes explain both where to find them and what to use as substitutes (e.g., brown rice for the spelt in Whole Spelt with Choy and Sesame). The sections on various burgers (Portobello Burgers, Curried Carrot-Walnut Burgers, Yucatan Burgers) and salad dressings (Chile-Cumin Dressing; Creamy Three-Herb Dressing) are particularly strong. Suggested menus, lists and descriptions of, for example, peppers and greens, and informational boxeson everything from Guanabana, a tropical fruit,to purchasing a spice grinderadd to the fun.

Library Journal

Emmons's trendy Boston restaurant, the Delux Cafe, is not vegetarian, but she herself eats meat only occasionally, and her cookbook presents 350 recipes for the vegetarian food she likes best. She's a personable writer and a knowledgeable, accomplished cook. Although she shies away from "fusion cuisine," she likes to put her own spin on dishes from many different cuisines: Green Grape and Tomatillo Gazpacho, Caesar Revamped, Gruyere Potato Rosti. Emmons's friendly style and tasty recipes should make this popular with vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike. Recommended. Claessens isn't anti-tofu, but she knows that the idea of tofu burgers and cheesecake turns off many would-be vegetarians, so she concentrates on easily prepared recipes using familiar ingredients: Garlic-Lover's Vegetable Soup, Pasta with Vegetable Cheese Sauce. The recipes are okay but not always particularly exciting, and they will probably have more appeal to those who are already vegetarian rather than to potential "converts." Diana Shaw's Almost Vegetarian (LJ 9/15/94) is better suited to those thinking about embracing a vegetarian diet, and Sarah Fritschner's Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook (LJ 6/15/96) is more helpful for those looking for quick vegetarian meals that will appeal to the whole family.