Donna Grayson
Baking Cookbooks


Baking Illustrated: A Best Recipe Classic (The Best Recipe Series)
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine

Packed with 350 recipes and 500 illustrations, Baking Illustrated brings you inside America’s Test Kitchen, where the test cooks and editors have exhaustively examined every ingredient, technique, and piece of equipment that is critical to your baking success. Have you ever wondered how long you can keep that can of baking powder in your cabinet or what brand of chocolate will yield the best brownies or flourless chocolate cake? Or puzzled over the key to making pizza crust that is thin and crisp or cookies that bake evenly? The editors at Cook’s Illustrated have pulled back the curtain on the seemingly complex world of baking to give you the answers to these and thousands of other questions.
Recipes range from quick breads and yeast breads to pizza, cookies, cakes, pastry, crisps, and cobblers to all manner of pies and tarts. And they feature American home classics (including Southern Cornbread, Pecan Sandies, and Sour Cream Coffee-cake) as well as more contemporary favorites (such as Rosemary Focaccia, Orange-Almond Biscotti, and Chocolate Truffle Tart) and European baked goods (such as Brioche, Black Forest Cake, and Tarte Tatin). Every recipe has been exhaustively researched and tested to bring you the "best" recipe (we’ll let you be the judge), along with detailed and precise explanations from everything from why you should use unsalted butter to what is the best oven temperature and why it all matters. We’ve also tested every kind of baking equipment available, from mixers and food processors to the humblest spatulas and loaf pans, and the results of our experiments are described throughout so you can benefit from our trial and error.
-from Amazon


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Betty Crocker Baking for Today
by Betty Crocker

Deliciously simple ways to make the most out of America’s Favorite Flour
Gold Medal Flour has been a baking mainstay in American homes for 125 years. In celebration of this milestone, the Betty Crocker Kitchens have teamed up with Gold Medal to present 150 great-tasting recipes using America’s favorite flour. Betty Crocker Baking for Today showcases an array of scrumptious, time-honored classics as well as fresh, new options the whole family will enjoy.
With recipes like Honey-Whole Wheat Bread and Fudge Brownie Pie, baking from scratch has never been easier or more satisfying. And, 60 full-color, contemporary photographs highlight the freshness and charm of the baked goods. Complete chapters on main courses, cookies, cakes and pies, baking with kids, breads and biscuits, regional favorites, and more offer just the right blend of old and new traditions for today’s busy cooks. Measuring tips, information on different kinds of flour, high altitude directions and other how-to’s help ensure great results every time. And, in tribute to Gold Medal Flour’s rich heritage, there’s a brief history of the award-winning flour and its evolution into a kitchen essential.
Complete with a stylish contemporary design and 60 full-color photographs, this book will help cooks rediscover Gold Medal Flour and make the most out of this versatile pantry staple–whatever the meal or the occasion. And to make sure home cooks know about the book, General Mills will advertise it on tens of millions of Gold Medal Flour bags!
-from Amazon


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Small-Batch Baking
by Debby Maugans Nakos

Small-Batch Baking is how to have your cake, and eat it all too. It's baking a plate of cookies (not 4 dozen) to greet the kids when they come home from school, or a few muffins (not 12) when that's all you need for Sunday brunch. It's for the perfect tart to end a small, romantic dinner--or the indulgence of a one-bowl dessert just for you (Honey Apple Oatmeal Crisp, anyone?). Most of all, it's to bring home the joy of baking, when home is just the two of you--small batches whip up quickly, clean up quickly, and don't require hours at the oven.
Written by Debby Maugans Nakos, who clearly possesses the Southern baking gene, Small-Batch Baking offers 200 irresistible recipes from across the baking spectrum: triple layer cakes, bundt cakes, angel food cakes; pies and tarts; cobblers, crisps, crumbles, and short cakes; cookies, bars, squares; biscuits, muffins, scones, breakfast breads; and a whole section just on Valentine Specials--Double Hot Chocolate Soufflés, Chèvre Cheesecakes with Honey Anise Ginger Syrup, Vanilla Banana Caramel Flan.
A batch of Cream-Filled Chocolate Cookies--that yields a half-dozen. A Coconut Layer Cake, just for two. Individual servings of Cinnamon French Toast Pudding or Southern Peach Cobbler with Bourbon Cream. It's all the bewitching pleasure of home-baked, but--finally--for just one or two.
-from Amazon


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The Weekend Baker: Irresistible Recipes, Simple Techniques, and Stress Free Strategies for Busy People
by Abigail Johnson Dodge

More than a collection of scrumptious recipes, The Weekend Baker also provides professional tips, techniques, and plans of attack for hectic lifestyles. Abigail Johnson Dodge has organized her recipes by the time they take—and she guides the baker through the steps to a mouthwatering success every time. Her key concept is an enticing blend of elements not found in any other single book: great-looking and great-tasting breads, puddings, cookies, cupcakes, cakes, and pies, ranging from fast and simple projects, like the "emergency" cupcakes that can be mixed up in minutes, to more ambitious undertakings, like a lattice-topped apple pie that can be put together in stages. With 24 pages of color photographs of the finished dishes, The Weekend Baker promises to lure time-pressed bakers into the kitchen. 24 pages of color illustrations.
-from Amazon


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The Easy Way to Artisan Breads & Pastries
by Avner Laskin, Josef Salis

It’s the best cookbook on the subject, and it sells for a price that’s simply unbeatable. These are gourmet recipes made simple—that’s their magic. Avner Laskin trained at the renowned Cordon Bleu school in Paris, but he knows that most home bakers haven’t, so he takes the intimidation out of the baking process with wonderfully easy-to-follow guidelines. With his help, making such delicacies as French-Style Brioche and Peach “Tarletette” Rolls become real possibilities for almost anyone. Laskin discusses the raw materials (wheat, cereals, and flours); goes through all the techniques, from kneading to shaping; and covers fermented, sponge, and sour doughs. Bake up Heavenly Apple-Cinnamon Bread, Amaretto Almond Rolls, Russian Chocolate Crunch Cake, plus a selection of superb sandwich, everyday, and festive breads.
-from Amazon


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Retro Baking: 100 Classic Contest Winners Updated for Today (Retro Series)
by Maureen Fischer

Everyone seems to think their grandma bakes the best biscuits on the block, but are they prizewinners? Ever wonder how to perfect that county fair, blue-ribbon apple pie? Wonder no more. The results are in—and RETRO BAKING is the winner! One hundred of America’s favorite baked goods are presented in their nostalgic glory, with vintage illustrations to match, in this latest Retro series book. Everything from tarts to dinner rolls has been selected for its universal deliciousness and award-winning appeal. Inspired by company sponsored contests and small-town bake-offs, these scrumptious recipes are tested, tasted, and time-honored. Your next attempt at three-layer frosted greatness is sure to turn out perfectly with the help of decades of baking experience. So dig out the apron, dust off the oven mitt, and discover your prizewinning potential!
-from Amazon


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From a Baker's Kitchen : Techniques and Recipes for Professional Quality Baking in the Home Kitchen
by Gail Sher, Mimi Osborne

Twenty years since its first publication, From a Baker's Kitchen remains the very best single introduction to foolproof professional-quality home baking. Gail Sher-the first head baker of the celebrated Tassajara Bread Bakery in San Francisco-created more than 100 clear, foolproof, and wonderfully varied recipes, divided into two basic categories: yeasted breads, ranging from white breads to whole-wheat, rye and specialty-flour breads (including recipes for rolls and buns as well as loaves); and quick breads, covering corn breads, spoonbreads, biscuits, tea cakes, batter breads, gingerbread, and muffins. Sher also covers every ingredient: grains, leaveners, salt, liquids, shortening, eggs, and "embellishments"; equipment; and most originally, methods and principles of breadmaking, with a special discussion of her ingenious "sponge" method, which no less a baker than Rose Levy Beranbaum (The Bread Bible) has praised as crucial to her own understanding of bread baking-and which remains the most effective technique for creating flavorful bread. Over 100 drawings are also featured in this reset new edition of the all-in-one classic baking book.
-from Amazon


Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking: Glorious Breads, Biscuits, Cakes and Tarts
by Sue Lawrence

We all dream of a home in which baking is a part of everyday life, filled with the aromas of homemade pies, cookies, cakes, and breads. It’s food for indulging friends and family… and yourself. Now, Sue Lawrence brings her passion for the subject and her considerable knowledge to bear in a collection of recipes that will get even the least domestic of us into the kitchen. From Chocolate Meringue Cake to Tomato and Tapenade Tart, Sue Lawrence’s Book of Baking is a cornucopia of traditional, modern, and international delights. Sue Lawrence, winner of Britain’s Masterchef Award and the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award, has written for many publications, including the SUNDAY TIMES STYLE magazine and SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY; among her books is the award–winning Scots Cooking.
-from Amazon


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