Thursday, December 11, 2008

Cookie Craft or More Smoothies for Life

Cookie Craft: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Decorate 144 Inspired Cookies

Author: Valerie Peterson

Elaborately decorated cookies fill the shelves of high-end bakery cases, tempting shoppers with bright colors and whimsical shapes. The cookies are beautiful, but buying them in a bakery can be shockingly expensive, and their flavor often doesn’t live up to their appearance. Now home bakers can have their pretty cookies and enjoy eating them too!

Thanks to the clear instructions and practical methods developed by authors Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer, amateur cookie crafters can achieve bakery-quality design and homemade fresh taste. Cookie Craft gives readers access to the entire world of decorated cookies, beginning with an inspirational gallery of 150 colorful cookies guaranteed to start those creative juices flowing.

The authors go on to discuss ingredients, supplies, equipment and technique. They include four delicious recipes for rolled cookie doughs (Traditional Sugar, Chocolate, Nutty, and Gingerbread) that provide perfect blank canvases for decorating, and, of course, their recipe for versatile Royal Icing.

In the most important section, they share the design techniques accumulated and perfected during hundreds of afternoons spent crafting thousands of cookies. Cookie crafters will learn how to pipe, flood, and sugar their cookies, how to design color palettes that work with every season, how to make cookies stand up in fun 3-D structures, and much more!



Go to: Dining In or You on a Diet

More Smoothies for Life: Satisfy, Energize, and Heal Your Body

Author: Daniella Chac

Nutritionist Daniella Chace, coauthor of Smoothies for Life, is back with 150 smoothie recipes designed to cure common ailments, increase longevity, and satisfy cravings with fat-burning snacks. Learn how to save money and time by making Starbucks- and Jamba Juice–worthy drinks right in your own kitchen, using the healthiest ingredients on the planet! There’s no easier, more decadent way to provide all the nutrients your body needs. With More Smoothies for Life, you can whip up:

• smoothies that enhance weight loss, increase metabolic rate, and control appetite
•heart-healthy smoothies rich in antioxidants from blueberries, walnuts, green tea, avocados,
pomegranates, and more
•elixirs that heighten mental clarity, improve memory, and support rejuvenating sleep
•quick-and-easy remedies for hangovers, insomnia, and stress
•homemade energy drinks that work and taste like Red Bull, minus the sugar and the price tag

Translating complex food science into easy-to-understand advice, Chace thoroughly explains the scientific basis for each medicinally active ingredient so you know you’re getting the most out of your daily shake. Your blender will never be put to better use!



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