The Cottage Kitchen: A Review

If you're looking for a gem of a cookbook that's full of feel-good comfort recipes, warmly authentic life stories, and richly hued photography, The Cottage Kitchen by Marte Marie Forsberg is made for you!

Broken down by season (which I always love and is extremely helpful), Marie's recipes lure you into her world across the pond in the English countryside.

For winter, I really want to try Warming Lamb and Cabbage Stew. For spring, I have to try Jansons' Potato Casserole with Quail Eggs. For summer, I'm dying to try Limoncello Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit. And for autumn, I'm definitely trying the Mulled Cider.

Marie even throws in a bonus chapter covering afternoon tea, for which I'm going to try her Orange Cinnamon Knots. 'Nuff said.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for my review.

Cherry Bombe: A Review

A bubblegum-pink cover. A huge, bright red cherry illustration smack dab in the middle. And a title like Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook would be enough to entice anyone to pick up this beautiful tome, which just happens to include "recipes and stories from 100 of the most creative and inspiring women in food today."

Authors Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu are co-founders of Cherry Bombe, the hit indie magazine about women and food. They scoped out many different talents, from pastry chefs and food stylists, to editors, bloggers, and farmers. And they asked them for recipes they treasured. The result is this delightful book.

Names like Heidi Swanson, Chrissy Teigen, Padma Lakshmi, Nilou Motamed, Gail Simmons, and Naomi Pomeroy contributed fantastic recipes that range from appetizers, mains, soups, salads, and sides, to snacks, cookies, cakes, and pies. I'm eager to try the Purple Grain Roasted Beet & Barley Salad, Sinuglaw (Filipino Grilled Pork Belly & Tuna Ceviche), San Bei Ji (Taiwanese Three-Cup Chicken), Goat Cheese Souffle, and Bubbie Smigel Cake. All recipes are accompanied by retro-stylized, full-color photographs.

If you're interested in what today's accomplished female foodies are up to, you'll be tickled pink with this book.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for my review.