Also included are a Kitchen Basics chapter and an abundance of enticing photographs.

    The subtle, surprising results complement seasonal menus.

    As party invitations pile up in the mailbox, Rebecca Rather is up to her elbows in sticky meringue, creamy chocolate, and a sleigh full of savory treats to meet the entertaining needs of her neighbors.In The Pastry Queen Christmas, Rebecca shares nearly 100 traditional recipes reflecting her made-with-love-from-scratch philosophy and the tastes of small-town Texas. Show-off desserts such as Chocolate Cookie Crusted Eggnog Cheesecake, Sticky Toffee Pudding with Brandy Butterscotch Sauce, and Warm Pear Ginger Upside-Down Cake with Amaretto Whipped Cream are the perfect toppers to a family-style feast of Texas Spice-Rubbed Roast Pork, Baked Apple Pear Chutney, Brown Sugar Bacon, and No-Peeking Popovers. Still hungry the next morning? No problem-this country girl does an impressive breakfast, too: Bite-Sized Sticky Buns, Sweet Potato Scones, Cast-Iron Skillet Potatoes, and Mexican Ranch Chilaquiles ought to fill you up.And if you're still looking for excuses to entertain this season, you'll find ooey-gooey baked goods wrapped up as gifts, homemade craft and décor ideas to make your home sparkle, and holiday-worthy menus guaranteed to make your gathering a Texas-sized success. Tree-trimming, cookie decorating, and Santas running down Main Street . . . Christmastime is here.

     New York is pierogi, pasta fagiole, and chicken soup: Avgolemono, Brazilian Canja, Kreplach, Soo Chow, and Ajiaco. New York is Sylvia's Ribs, plus Edna Lewis's Greens and Mrs. Kornick's Polish Corn Bread. And the New York Cookbook is all of this, and much, much more. Collected from all five boroughs by New York Times food writer Molly O'Neill, here are over 500 recipes--and over 700 photographs--that celebrate one thing: a passion for food and eating. Deborah Markow's Braised Lamb Shanks and Mrs. Urscilla O'Connor's Codfish Puffs. Four-star chef Andre Soltner's Roast Chicken and Vernon Jordan's Jerk Style Jamaican Chicken. Robert Motherwell's Brandade de Morue and the Abyssinian Baptist Church's Long-Cooked Green Beans. Plus Katharine Hepburn's Brownies, Lisa's Mexican Flan, and Sally Darr's Golden Delicious Tart. Includes shopping guides, cooking tips, and walking tours.Winner of a 1992 IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award. Winner of the 1992 James Beard Food and Beverage Book Award. A percentage of the royalties goes to Citymeals-on-Wheels.

    Here are Mashed Yukon Golds, a Stovetop Clambake, Vegetable Jambalaya, Bing Cherry Chutney, Peachy Keen Pie. Quesadillas with duck and caramelized onions, a burger stuffed with Maytag blue cheese, gazpacho made with both fresh and roasted vegetables, crab cakes sumptuous with lobster meat, orange zest, and mace. It's a star-spangled celebration.

    Simple to Spectacular introduces a unique concept developed by one of the world's top chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything and the New York Times's hugely popular column "The Minimalist." Ever since their award-winning collaboration on Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, the acclaimed duo has been cooking up a repertoire of new dishes that can be prepared in any of five progressively sophisticated ways.Simple to Spectacular features a total of 250 recipes in 50 groups. Each group begins with a simple, elegant recipe--a few ingredients combined for maximum effect--followed by fully detailed, increasingly elaborate variations. For example, a recipe for Grilled Shrimp with Thyme and Lemon leads to Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini on Rosemary Skewers, Grilled Shrimp with Apple Ketchup, Thai-style Grilled Shrimp on Lemongrass Skewers, and Grilled Shrimp Balls with Cucumber and Yogurt.Every aspect of the meal is covered, from superb soups and salads to unforgettable side dishes, entrees, and desserts. In Simple to Spectacular, everything--from the basics to innovations by a four-star chef--is tailored for a quick Tuesday night dinner or an elegant weekend party.  And in the now-classic Vongerichten-Bittman style, all of the recipes can be made in the kitchen of any home cook. With 80 full-color photographs giving a mouthwatering view of the Simple-to-Spectacular transformations, readers and cooks will eagerly explore the possibilities.Jean-Georges Vongerichten (right) won the 1998 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef and Best New Restaurant. His Manhattan restaurants include Vong, Jo Jo, The Mercer Kitchen, and Jean Georges, which earned a rare four-star rating from the New York Times.  In Simple to Spectacular, two titans of the food world have created a truly groundbreaking cookbook.  Here are 250 superb recipes arranged in a uniquely useful way: a basic recipe and four increasingly sophisticated variations, with each group (there are 50 groups in all) based on a given technique.  This ingenious organization enables cooks of all levels of expertise to understand how a recipe is created and to re-create the brilliantly simple recipes and dazzling variations from one of our best food writers and home cooks teamed with one of America's greatest chefs.

    Including almost 250 recipes, Marcella's Italian Kitchen brings home cooks the authentic tastes of Italy. Here are Fettuccine with Clams and Zucchini and Veal Scaloppini with Hazelnuts and Balsamic Vinegar, Cauliflower Salad with Red Pepper, Olives, and Anchovies and Amaretti and Custard Cream Semifreddo. Drawing on her experiences growing up in Italy, Hazan has crafted the ultimate guide to Italian food.

    These divergent influences come together splendidly in Bon Appétit, Y'all, a modern Southern chef's passionate and utterly appealing homage to her culinary roots.  Espousing a simple-is-best philosophy, Virginia uses the finest ingredients, concentrates on sound French technique, and lets the food shine in a style she calls "refined Southern cuisine." More than 200 approachable and consistently delicious recipes are arranged by chapter into starters and nibbles; salads and slaws; eggs and dairy; meat, fowl, and fish main dishes; sides; biscuits and breads; soups and stews; desserts; and sauces and preserves. Collected here are stylishly updated Southern and French classics (New SouthernChicken and Dumplings, Boeuf Bourgignonne), rib-sticking, old-timey favorites (Meme's Fried Okra, Angel Biscuits), and perfectly executed comfort food (Mama's Apple Pie, Fried Catfish Fingers with Country Rémoulade). Nearly 100 photographs bring to life both Virginia's food and the bounty of her native Georgia. You'll also find a wealth of tips and techniques from a skilled and innovative teacher, and the stories of a Southern girl steeped to her core in the food, kitchen lore, and unconditional hospitality of her culinary forebears on both sides of the Atlantic. Bon Appétit, Y'all is Virginia's way of saying, "Welcome to my Southern kitchen. Pull up a chair." Once you have tasted her food, you'll want to stay a good long while.

    From traditional favorites like Snickerdoodles, Oatmeal Raisin, and Favorite Lemon Squares to future stars of the cookie jar like the trail mix–inspired Teton Trailers and chewy, chocolaty Midnight Macaroons, Great Cookies provides something to satisfy every taste and every occasion. There’s even a section devoted to the quintessential American cookie—chocolate chip. With nuts or without? White chocolate or milk? Chocolate dough? Oatmeal in the dough? Carole provides a dozen chocolate chip recipes in all, plus definitive research on a crucial issue: “Not All Chocolate Chips Are Created Equal.” Drop cookies. Bar cookies. Piped, pressed, and rolled. Great Cookies covers every conceivable method for baking these tasty confections. In the more than thirty years that she has studied and taught baking, Carole has cataloged a wealth of helpful tips and troubleshooting hints that for the first time are gathered in one collection. With guidelines for measuring and substituting ingredients, storing and freezing, recapturing that fresh-from-the-oven flavor, decorating, even gift-wrapping and shipping, Great Cookies addresses all the basics and then some. And this ultimate guide is rounded out with authoritative information on ingredients, equipment, and the foolproof techniques for which Carole is known, including the essential “Secrets To” hints for every type of cookie. With master baker Carole Walter by your side, you may never look at a glass of ice cold milk the same way again.

    A comprehensive cookbook with over 500 foolproof recipes covering every conceivable kind of soup--including Asian and South American recipes that have not previously appeared in American cookbooks--and sections featuring unusual ingredients, secrets for lowering fat, and more.

    Whether it's getting weeknight dinners on the table fairly fast (Basil Beef, Rhubarb Chops, or Carrot Juice Chicken) or leisurely cooking for dining at a slightly slower pace (Lamb Tagine, Holiday Hen, or Fennel Bass), Laura Calder shares recipes she's created at home in her own French kitchen.

    It's called Seattle. Here you'll find everything from Japanese bento box lunches and Thai satays to steaming bowls of Vietnamese soups and all-American blackberry cobblers. No chef embodies this diversity with more flair and more flavor than chef/author/restaurateur Tom Douglas. And no book does it better than Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen.Tom's creativity with local ingredients and his respect for Seattle's ethnic traditions have helped put his three restaurants and Seattle on the national culinary map. Join Tom and celebrate the Emerald City's rich culinary tradition: sweet I Dungeness crabs, razor clams, rich artisan cheeses, and deeply flavored Northwest beers. Share in the delight of sophisticated Washington wines, coffee fresh vegetables, fruits, and the exotic flavors of the Pacific Rim countries.Tom Douglas' style is laid-back sophistication with a dash of humor. You can see it in the names of his chapters, "Starch Stacking," "Slow Dancing," and "Mo' Poke, Dadu" (this last title, courtesy of his daughter, Loretta, means "More Pork, Daddy"). And you can taste it in his signature dishes such as Dungeness Crabcakes with Green Cocktail Sauce, Roast Duck with Huckleberry Sauce and Parsnip-Apple Hash, Udon with Sea Scallops in Miso Broth, and Triple Cream Coconut Pie.Try his hearty Long-Bone Short Ribs with Chinook Merlot Gravy and Rosemary WhiteBeans or spicy Fire-roasted Oysters with Ginger Threads and Wasabi Butter. Relax in the comfort of the comfort foods he prepares for his own family: Loretta's Buttermilk Pancakes with Wild Blackberries, Basic Barbecued Baby Back Ribs, and Five-Spice Angel Food Cake. They're all clear, simple recipes that'll have you cooking like Tom Douglas from the very first page.But this is more than a cookbook; it's a food lover's guide to Seattle. Join Tom on a tour of his city with his list of top ten best things to do -- and eat -- in Seattle, from his favorite ethnic markets and neighborhoods to where to get the best breakfast.Why not turn your kitchen into a Seattle kitchen? All it takes is a little help and inspiration from Tom Douglas.

    In the fun and colorful style that Emeril brings to his Food Network television show Emeril Live and to all his cookbooks, Every Day's a Party is filled with over 125 recipes and Emeril's signature "kick-it-up-a-notch" way of making every occasion an over-the-top celebration.You've never had this much fun on President's Day.

    Author and burger expert George Motz covers traditional grilling techniques as well as how to smoke, steam, poach, and deep-fry burgers based on signature recipes from around the country. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific regional burger, from the tortilla burger of New Mexico to the classic New York–style pub burger, and from the fried onion burger of Oklahoma to Hawaii’s Loco Moco. Motz provides expert instruction, tantalizing recipes, and vibrant color photography to help you create unique variations on America’s favorite dish in your own home. Recipes feature regional burgers from: California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

    The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook tells the story of the brothers' culinary coming-of-age in Charleston—how they triumphed over their northern roots and learned to cook southern without a southern grandmother. Here are recipes for classics like Fried Chicken, Crab Cakes, and Pecan Pie, as well as little-known preparations such as St. Cecilia Punch, Pickled Peaches, and Shrimp Burgers. Others bear the hallmark of the brothers' resourceful cooking style—simple, sophisticated dishes like Blackened Potato Salad, Saigon Hoppin' John, and Buttermilk-Sweet Potato Pie that usher southern cooking into the twenty-first century without losing sight of its roots. With helpful sourcing and substitution tips, this is a practical and personal guide that will have readers cooking southern tonight, wherever they live.