Williams-Sonoma Complete Outdoor Living Cookbook (Williams-Sonoma Complete Cookbooks) 

Fran Gage calls sugar, almonds, eggs, and butter “the DNA of desserts.” Simple as they seem, they make possible a profusion of pastries and other sweets, from the elemental lollipop to the ethereal realms where marzipan, meringue, and puff pastry hold sway.

No one appreciates this fabulous foursome better than Fran Gage, who relied on them for her daily output during the ten years she owned and ran her acclaimed San Francisco bakery, Patisserie Francaise. Nor could anyone do a better job of ferreting out how each found its way into the kitchen and yielded up its alchemy, influenced by technological innovation, genetic manipulation, and government intervention–not to mention human error and, of course, the weather. In A Sweet Quartet, she tells the story of each ingredient, from its origins to its transformation into culinary gold, drawing upon her travels, tastings, experiments, and remembrances. Each section ends on a sweet note, with a baker’s half-dozen of recipes that show off the multiple talents of the ingredient. The book concludes with a look at the meaning of desserts, from ancient times to the present day, and–the piece de resistance–ide

Over 200 recipes for backyard picnics and barbecues, from meats to side dishes to cocktails to desserts, that are all low in carbohydrates. This book features all-new recipes for condiments, sauces, and marinades that can replace the sugar-laden, store-bought varieties and allow the low-carber to enjoy previously forbidden foods like Honey-Glazed Babyback Ribs and pina coladas.

Massive sweets craving and only your cabinets to scavenge? Friends coming by at the last minute to pre-party and you can’t run to the store? Have no fear, hacks are here. Raid your freezer to find the fixings for a no-bake ice cream sandwich cake or combine three ingredients into an epic sangria. The 75 ideas in Dessert and Booze Hacks are just what you need to pull together awesome-tasting treats and tipples that will blow your mind.

Millions of children across the country have food sensitivities or allergies, and the number is on the rise. And most of these children don?t get to eat cookies, for fear of the reaction they might have from the wheat, or the peanuts. This book?s recipe?s take into account all of the most common food sensitivities like wheat and gluten, peanuts, or dairy. Each recipe can be modified to fit the dietary needs of the child. Divided into three sections– snacks, main dishes, and treats–this book also provides information about how to find what you need in a regular grocery store, instead of requiring a separate trip to the natural foods store. With the recipes in this book, even the most sensitive child will get a cookie too.