NBS recommends mouth-watering reads
Barefoot contessa how easy is that?: Fabulous recipes and easy tips
By Ina Garten
P1,425
The focus is on creating simpler yet appetizing dishes that save time and minimize stress in the kitchen in bestselling author (Barefoot Contessa Cookbook) and Food Network guru Garten’s latest. She showcases recipes that utilize fewer ingredients, limited to those easily found in supermarkets or specialty food stores. She also stays away from time-consuming cooking techniques, instead making unusually good use of her oven for everything from easy parmesan risotto and French toast bread pudding to spicy turkey meatballs. Despite the relative simplicity of these dishes, they are still elegant enough to be served at dinner parties, especially the roasted figs and prosciutto, fresh salmon tartare, and the mouthwatering, easy Provençal lamb. Garten’s vegetable dishes are particularly appealing and varied, including scalloped tomatoes, garlic-roasted cauliflower, and potato basil purée; and her desserts are equally strong, with easy cranberry and apple cake and fleur de sel caramels. Full-color photos accompany each recipe and are enough to send any hungry soul immediately to the kitchen. True to her trademark style, Garten once again shows that delicious food can be prepared with a minimum of fuss, even with guests on the way.
Rachael Ray’s look cook:
100 Can’t-miss main courses
in pictures
By Rachael Ray
P995
Just when you thought Rachael Ray couldn’t make preparing dinner any easier, she offers a book of 100 simple main courses, all illustrated with step-by-step photos. Cooks who aren’t quite sure what dishes are supposed to look like along the way will gain confidence from the six images that accompany each entry, highlighting ingredients, techniques, and in-progress recipes. “As You Like It citrus soy stir-fry” calls for shelled edamame and a seeded and thinly sliced bell pepper; photos show just how these should appear when they’re ready to go into the skillet. One photo supporting the individual Florentine frying-pan pizza depicts dough pressed into a skillet and being filled before baking — so there’s no question about whether the reader is doing it correctly. All recipes include a photo of the finished product, too. Chapters are quintessential Ray: “Cozy Food” (cherry tomato and ravioli soup with store-bought ravioli; shepherd’s pie stuffed potatoes), “Make Your Own Takeout” (Real-Deal rellenos), “Fancy Fake-Outs” (Moroccan Lemon-Olive Chicken), “ Yes, the Kids Will Eat It’ ” (chicken and broccolini with orange sauce), and, of course, “30-Minute Meals.” Ray fans should find more of what they love in this book: easy meals that will please most crowds.
Skinny bitch: Ultimate
everyday cookbook
By Kim Barnouin
P695
After five years atop the Skinny Bitch phenomenon, author Kim Barnouin has grown as a cook, a nutritionist and a mom. Now she delivers the “Ultimate” cookbook that will be for everyone looking for a healthier way to feed themselves, their families, and friends. Kim’s emphasis is on “easy,” and her kick-ass recipes feature seasonal produce (no fake meat or hard-to-find ingredients) and provide a versatility of tastes and cuisines, from Mediterranean to California-fresh. With almost 150 recipes, full-color photos, complete nutritional breakdowns, and simple “switch-outs” for quick variations, it will be the new “gotta have” on any healthy bitch’s bookshelf. Whether readers are looking to gradually add more meatless dishes to their meals, or want to go “all-out” vegan, Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook will be their “go-to” source for getting their “bitch” on — in the kitchen.
The ellements of personal style:
25 Modern fashion icons on how to dress, shop, and live
P1,095
America’s hottest fashion magazine blends expert advice with in-depth studies of 25 unique style icons, from Diane Von Furstenberg to Dita Von Teese to Alicia Keys, for personal style inspiration.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2010, Elle magazine has a readership of more than five million. In the same teaching through example style that has made Elle the ultimate fashion resource for scores of loyal fans and the No. 1 fashion magazine, The ELLEments of Personal Style gives readers exclusive access to today’s most glamorous personalities, along with hundreds of practical tips and inspiring photographs. The result is a sumptuous, comprehensive guide for creating an authentic, alluring personal style. Featuring 25 case studies of style icons that represent a wide range of tastes and backgrounds, The ELLEments of Personal Style brims with behind-the-scenes interviews, along with commentary on why each icon’s wardrobe works. Describing a red cocktail dress that always makes her feel flawless or the jacket bought on a special trip to Paris, each woman provides a personal collage of memorable objets d’art that serve as an inspiration list. Some of the women who gave Elle unprecedented access to their homes, closets, and inspirations include: Fergie, Estelle, Padma Lakshmi, Candace Bushnell, Christina Hendricks, Tracee Ellis Ross, and others.
Asia home: Inspirational design ideas
By Michael Freeman
P1,375
The global exchange of design and taste is at its most fertile between Asia and the West. Leading Asian designers and architects have reprocessed international ideas and functionality into the idiom of Asian cultures, from India to China, Japan to Southeast Asia. Asia Home is a wide-ranging look at contemporary design from across the region, featuring more than 100 homes and more than 50 top designers.
