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Cook up a great gift with books for your personal chef
REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT
By Nigella Lawson Hyperion, $35 240 pages, ISBN 0786868694
A piece of cake
By Nick Malgieri HarperCollins, $37.50 352 pages, ISBN 0060198796
Entertain without strain
By Phyllis Pellman Good and Dawn J. Ranck Good Books, $16.95 284 pages, ISBN 1561483788
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She's savvy, sexy, a superb cook, a ravishing woman with a rhapsodic love for food—she's Nigella Lawson,
the "Domestic Goddess" who got us. Rarely would I feel inclined to describe a cookbook author in such terms, but
this London-based food writer and cooking show star is special. In Nigella Bites
—the title of her latest cookbook as well as her television
series on the Style Network—Nigella delights, not just with her good looks, but with her uniquely warm,
inviting style. And the book itself is a beauty, printed on thick, coated paper and filled with lush, luscious
photographs. Nigella, who says she is "neither a chef nor a performer" (though that claim might be disputed),
comes across as a relaxed cook who revels in the pleasure of cooking at home and offers recipes for dishes that
she really does make in her own kitchen. The chapters are charmingly unconventional, beginning with All-Day Breakfast
and ending with Templefood ("temple" as in body and these particular foods, as in "soothing, pure and would-be
restorative"). You'll find Party Girl, Rainy Days, Trashy and more in between. Among the recipes I'll add to my
repertoire are a simple, but super Thai Yellow Pumpkin and Seafood Curry, comforting Sweet Corn Pudding, Aromatic
Lamb Shank Stew with Couscous, and a dreamy Chocolate Cloud Pie filled with softly whipped cream. Nothing is
over-sauced or under-flavored; advice, prep directions and serving ideas are provided with chatty ease; and, most
importantly, cooking with Nigella is a joy.
Support your 
Round, rectangular, loaf-shaped or layered, cakes are wonderful concoctions that play a deliciously important part in our
lives. They're comforting, festive and celebratory—just imagine a birthday or a wedding without one. Whatever the
occasion, whatever the form, making cakes should be fun and foolproof, and every cake you bake should be perfect. To do
that, all you need is a good oven and Nick Malgieri, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author. I don't know about your
oven, but I do know that you'll find Nick's clear, methodical guidance and hand-holding reassurance in his latest book,
Perfect Cakes. There are fabulous full-color photographs and more than
200 recipes for all kinds of cakes—no-fuss coffee cakes; moist, buttery pound cakes; light, delicate angel food cakes;
fruit cakes that folks will actually eat; chocolate cakes to die for; cheesecakes to diet for; elaborate layer cakes
filled and frosted with the fluffy white icing of childhood dreams or gilded with a rich ganache. More, yes indeed, a
Buche De Noel, the ultimate Christmas cake, a tantalizing Tiramis™, and elegant, individual cakes that give finger food
new meaning. Nick explains all the steps and all the techniques; he's at your side whenever you crave a cake or need to
bake. Practice makes perfect, as we all know, so why not get a head start with the aid of a preeminent practitioner.
Easy entertaining is possible, doable and especially welcome now that party season is here. There's no lack of advice for
harried hosts and dinner party givers who get the shivers, but nothing beats a dish you can put together, start cooking
and forget about for hours. The fast track to less fuss, full flavor and time to enjoy your own party is a slow cooker.
You don't have to worry about checking on internal temperatures, burned pans, an overheated kitchen or a splattered oven;
you can do the other things you need to do while supper is simmering on its own. To go along with this adaptable
aide-de-cuisine, you'll need a ready supply of top-notch, party-tested recipes. That's where Phyllis Pellman Good
and Dawn J. Ranck come in. They've gathered more than 580 first-rate recipes from their country-wide network of slow
cooker specialists in Fix-It and Forget-In Recipes for Entertaining: Slow Cooker Favorites for All the Year Round,
a new cookbook that will wow fans of their first, best-selling Fix-It
and Forget-It Cookbook and bring new ones aboard. You'll find main courses galore from wine-infused Beef Burgundy, tangy
Garlic Lime Chicken and creamy Curried Shrimp to made-from-scratch Macaroni and Cheese, plus hearty soups, veggies
with style, snacks and sensational sweets. And check out the perfect-for-holiday-entertaining Hot Crab Dip, Christmas
Wassail and Hot Cranberry Punch and the perfect-for-holiday-giving Chocolate Covered Pretzels, super-sweet Dulce de
Leche and Pear Butter. All in all, these are fixin's you won't forget.