Martha Stewart released her Grilling Cookbook (ecookbook) just in time for Summer! It’s filled with tons of recipes from some outstanding chefs like Emeril Lagasse.

It’s a free download but be warned, it’s a good 21MB big so it might take you a few minutes to fully download but I promise, it’s worth it! It’s filled with great photos and a little “about the author/chef” under each recipe. I’m sure you’ll find some great recipe ideas for grilling at your next house party.

Download your Martha Stewart Grilling Cookbook here (pdf format)!!   Enjoy this fabulous freebie!

I’m actually not a big fan of cookbooks so when I got a new one in the mail the other day, I was hesitant that I’d like it, as I am with other cookbooks.  But then,  I opened it up and saw that it was a recipe collection from KitchenAid and was immediately interested.

It’s hard to find a cookbook that is special.  One that has ‘features’ and doesn’t put me to sleep or cost me an arm & a leg to buy the ingredients.  Thank goodness KitchenAid didn’t let me down.  Here’s what I love about the cookbook.

1) It’s a binder cookbook. I LOVE that I can take the pages out of the cookbook vs having to sit the cookbook upright wherever I’m cooking.  This means I can move the recipe around from station to station if I need to. It also means that I can laminate the pages if I wanted too!!!!  It’s a fun tip I learned way back then and it’s awesome.  You don’t have to worry about getting food all over the page and messing it off. You’ll be able to wipe it right off, so I highly recommend you do that.

2) Speaking of lamination, there’s a front plastic page that helps protect the start of the cookbook.  I like the simple things, what can I say.

3) TABS! LOVE LOVE LOVE the tabs. There’s 19 food tab categories which covers everything.  There’s a few additional tabs for the Glossary/Cooking Terms, Index, and ‘My Recipes’. I love the Cooking terms section and at the back you have your measurement conversions.  I just love the tabs because you can find the specific category you’re after super quick.  And to make it even easier, on the back of the tab page, there’s a list of recipes that are in that section, and their page  number.  VERY USER FRIENDLY!

4) Simple but delicious recipes. One of the things I hate about cookbooks is the fact that so many of them call for such special, high end ingredients that I either can’t find or can’t afford.  That is NOT the case with this cookbook.  I browsed the entire recipe collection of over 400 and was extremely pleased with the ingredient list with pretty much all of them.  That, my friends, is a rare thing.   Each recipe has a photo and clear recipe instructions.

As I mentioned earlier, in the very back of the book, you are able to write your own recipes on the pages.  What I’d like to know though, is if additional ‘my recipe’ pages can be bought to add to the collection, since they only give you three.  I think they should!

What recipe do I want to try?  The Rustic Plum Tart.  YUM!!! We love plums but I’ve never made anything with plums.  Totally gonna though when they are back in season.

You can buy the book at Amazon – KitchenAid Recipe Collection Cookbook

We all know Bakerella and if you don’t, oh my how you have been missing out.  She has an amazing talent to create fun, beautiful pieces of art with food.  Just one word of caution, don’t use any of her photos as your desktop background or you’ll never get anything done!

Her new cookbook, Cake Pops, is available for pre-order and at special pre-order price of under $14 bucks, it’s worth getting now so that it arrives on your doorstep as soon as it’s released.  You might think, “Gosh, I could never make those” but trust me, you can!  Some will be a bit harder to make than others but she really does simple things to achieve the looks of everything she makes, cake pops included.

I’m pre-ordering mine today and will review when it arrives, which by the looks of it, will be Septemberish.  If you’re a fan of Bakerella, what is one of your favorite sweets she’s made?  And are you pre-ordering Cake Pops?

2 cookbooks that you must get this season are Steamy Kitchen Cookbook-101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight’s Dinner and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Both bloggers with very different styles of cooking and very tasty!

Jaden from Steamy Kitchen makes these amazing quick and simple asian recipes.  She’s funny as heck,  her food photography is beautiful, and has recipe creativity coming out her wazoo .   I watched her work hard on it and can’t wait to get it.  Congratulations Jaden on creating such a fabulous success with your natural talent!

Ree from The Pioneer Woman, a gal living ranch life like myself, adds a bit of the city to her country cookin’.  Her step-by-step photos make you drool and her witty writing captures you from the beginning.  I have no doubt that her cookbook will be the same.  Congratulations to you as well Ree and have fun on your book tour!

Today only, you can get Paula Deen’s The Deen Family Cookbook for $16.58! It’s QVC’s Today Special Value and only lasts one day at that price. NOT a member? Signing up is EASY! If you do, you’ll get a $10 credit! (for new members only) Let me know if you sign up for the first time! Would love to welcome you to the QVC family:)  If you want to know why I heart QVC, check out some of my favorites from there.  Also, many of Paula Deen‘s other products on QVC are on easy pay! It’s like layaway but you get the product right away!

This will ship out on April 7th so that you can receive it hot off the press! This is great for people like me who just can’t run out to the store when it’s released. I order everything almost online!

The cookbook looks fabulous! I’m watching Paula Deen now on QVC and she is fabulous. The food looks amazing and absolutely delicious.

About the book:

Come and get it, y’all! Paula Deen made a name for herself whipping up down-home family recipes. Now, in The Deen Family Cookbook, Paula shares step-by-step instructions so you can fix all her family favorites–and serve ‘em up for your family!

Combining the two things Paula loves most–food and family–this book features a heapin’ helpin’ of more than 140 brand-new recipes from Paula; her sons, Jamie and Bobby; her brother, Uncle Bubba; and the rest of her food-lovin’ clan. From corn-and-crab puffs and chicken and dumplings to red velvet whoopee pies and banana spice cake with peanut butter frosting, this book will have you cooking–and eating–like Paula’s kinfolk in no time at all.

More than just a cookbook, this volume also contains full-color photographs of Paula, her relatives, and the Southern surroundings that inspired her good ol’ fashioned dishes. Of course, you’ll also find colorful shots of Paula’s prepared recipes–enough to make your mouth water!

These are the recipes that have been passed down in the Deen family from generation to generation. With this durable hardcover edition of Paula Deen‘s The Deen Family Cookbook, you can make them the recipes that are handed down in your family, too.

* Paula Deen, author
* Hardcover
* 288 pages
* Full-color photos
* Chapters include: Nibbles, Snacks, and Sandwiches; Appetizers, Soups, and Salads; Main Dishes; Casseroles and Pasta; Sides and Veggies; Breakfast and Brunch; Good Food That’s Good for You; Desserts and Sweets; Beverages
* Published April 2009

GUESS WHAT! If you want to win one, leave a comment here telling me what you love about Paula or her recipes!

BONUS: Come back each day and tell me something new you like about Paula or her recipes and earn an extra daily entry:)  That gives you a total of 6 chances to win, fair for everyone!

Ends on April 5th at 10pm CST.  Good luck!

This has to be the most fun cookbook I’ve ever read!  Not only that, the recipes in Eat, Shrink, and be Merry are wonderful.  What I love the most is the simplicity of them.  I mean, the ingredients are “normal”.  Not your hard-to-find type of ingredients.  They are ones that you can find in a small town grocery store like mine!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this book, maybe you’ve heard of Looneyspoons.  Unfortunately, that book is no longer in print but it’s the same ladies, who happen to be sisters.  Their story alone is amazing and I was inspired to say the least at how their whole project came about.  It’s totally worth the read and I encourage you to check it out.  I don’t get a lot of time to read but it was so real, so unbelievable, and it really tells you about who they are and what makes their cookbooks unique and special.  And not that this matters so much but I LOVE the size and colors of this book.  Very refreshing!

This cookbook rawks because it’s low fat eating and not your typical 2-ingredient no-fat-crappy ingredients recipe either.  It has good, real ingredients and the meals sound like eatable meals.  I cannot stress that enough!!! NORMAL, GOOD and HEALTHY recipes! Something that you need to remember when eating healthy or dieting, is that portion size is everything!!!!  You MUST watch your portions because it does no good to eat a giant plate of healthy food.   At the end of each recipe, you’ll find the ‘per serving’ information and how many the recipe actually serves which can be very beneficial if you are trying to lose weight.

The recipe titles crack me up.  To give you a few examples:

• Lord of the Wings
• Dunk `n` GoNuts!
• Kentucky Freud Chicken
• These Beets Were Made for Walkin’
• Pea Diddy

See what I mean?  They’re hilarious and the little cartoon drawings fit the titles and make it even more fun.  These and the little stories, song remakes, and tips that go with the each recipe make it an absolute hoot!

Don’t get me wrong either, just because the cookbook is fun and entertaining, doesn’t mean the nutritional value & information is not there.  For instance, did you that your fingernails grow faster on the hand you favor and that your nails can tell you if you have a vitamin deficiency??  Or do you know the real lowdown on Sweet-n-low?  I bet you think you do but you don’t!  Just more great reasons to read the book.

This is instantly one of my favorite cookbooks and you can bet that I’ll be creating these healthy dishes in my own kitchen and making sure that mom, who is a cookbook junkie, will be getting a copy of the book too.  After all, she and her man want more healthy meals added to their daily eating rituals!

If you wanna buy this book, they’re having a special 2 for 1!!!! That means TWO COOKBOOKS FOR THE SAME PRICE AS ONE!!! Keep one and give one away.  You know, Christmas is coming up folks!

How cool would it be to create a cookbook with all your family recipes or maybe you and a bunch of friends can get together and add all your personal favorites to become one cool cookbook?!!  Well TasteBook gives you the opportunity to do just that.  Not only can you create your own cookbook, you can also sell it.

The TasteBook website is super easy to use and you don’t have to complete the entire cookbook in one sitting.  You can actually add recipes and save, logout, and log back in to continue.  Speaking of recipes.  You can add your own and/or add their available recipes.  You’ll be able to add photos, servings, notes, and more! It’s very cool. You also can buy your book incomplete and add pages to it later.  This is very neat because it may take you a long time to fill up a cookbook.  This way, you can add some, order it, and when you’re ready to add a new recipe, just add it and get it sent to you.

This applies to any cookbook you buy from TasteBook that isn’t filled already like mine.  I haven’t filled mine up yet but if you purchase it now, you’ll receive credits to add more pages to fill it up.  You can use those credits at any time.

Now go and make your own cookbook!

Warmer weather means less hot meals and more cool drinks, sandwhiches, and desserts.  A must have cookbook for the Summer season is Icebox Cakes!  OMG, this cookbook has some super yummy and very cool (literally) dessert recipes.  The Black Forest recipe is to die for!!! 

Some of these desserts would be excellent to serve at parties.  You’ll look like you’re a culinary queen/king!

There must be a million cookbooks out there but in this gift guide, you’ll find some you recognize and some you won’t.  I encourage you browse them and find one that’s perfect for your recipient.

I am only including images for the cookbook section.  The reason is, if the cover can’t spark your interest, chances are the recipes won’t either;)

Back to the 2008 Holiday Gift Guide Table of Contents

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Texas Hometown Cookbook

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Sirens Feast Edible Odyssey

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Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry

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Georgia Hometown Cookbook

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Carmine’s Family Style Cookbook

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A South Florida Culinary Adventure

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Casserole Crazy

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The Little Black Apron

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The Tea Drinker’s Handbook

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500 Fast 5-ingredient Recipes

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Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make

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Alton Brown’s Gear for Your Kitchen

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The Best of Bloodroot Volume 1: Vegetarian Recipes

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Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas

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O, The Oprah Magazine Cookbook

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Cookbook Maker

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The Cast Iron Way To Cook

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Back to the 2008 Holiday Gift Guide Table of Contents