Over the Counter #242

What books caught my eye this week as they passed over the library counter and under my scanner? A pair of cookbooks this week...

First up is The Messy Baker: More Than 75 Delicious Recipes From A Real Kitchen by Charmian Christie. (This one went home with me - there were some great recipes!)

From the publisher, Harper Collins:

"The Messy Baker offers food made and enjoyed in a kitchen not unlike your own. Charmian Christie has worked in many professional kitchens but prefers the realities of a home setting to a stainless steel "test" kitchen every time. It just makes things taste better! There is nothing trendy or artful about real baking; it's honest, sticky, humble and moreish.

The Messy Baker is an antidote to the precious perfectionism of today's baking, where every cookie on the plate is just like the next, each layer of cake is exactly the same height, and impeccably scalloped pie crusts dare you to cut into them. To the uninitiated, all this fastidious, spotless baking is intimidating. The rest of us, out here in the real world, cook and bake in space-challenged kitchens where floors aren't always waxed and there's cat hair to consider. Lopsided cookies and interestingly shaped pies are the norm, and, in The Messy Baker, they are celebrated. Recipes here are down to earth, incredibly delicious and often rather pretty. In chapters with names such as "Smudgy," "Crumbly," "Flaky" and "Drippy," The Messy Baker redefines perfection, on achievable terms."

Next up was Sweet Paul Eat and Make by Paul Lowe.

From the publisher, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt:

"It began as a little blog highlighting the recipes and crafts of the Norwegian-born food and prop stylist Paul Lowe. Six years later, Sweet Paul is an online magazine followed by millions and a print quarterly sold nationwide in specialty stores. Praised by the New York Times as “ a trove of seasonal delights,” it is turning heads with its easy, elegant food and style-setting aesthetic.

 Divided into Morning, Brunch, Noon, and Night, with color palettes to match, Sweet Paul Eat and Make includes breakfast dishes like Morning Biscuits with Cheddar, Dill, and Pumpkin Seeds and brunches like Smoked Salmon Hash with Scallions, Dill, and Eggs. For lunch, there’s a super-quick Risotto with Asparagus, and for dinner, Maple-Roasted Chicken and a stunning Norwegian specialty, World’s Best Cake. Rustically chic craft projects—paper flowers made out of coffee filters, a vegetable-dyed tablecloth, and a trivet from wooden clothespins—will captivate even those who are all thumbs."

(Over the Counter is a regular feature at A Bookworm's World. I've sadly come the realization that I cannot physically read every book that catches my interest as it crosses over my counter at the library. But... I can mention them and maybe one of them will catch your eye as well. See if your local library has them on their shelves!)