Through quick and easy instructions for over 75 recipes, full colour photographs, step-by-step techniques and party menus, a beginning cook or seasoned chef will be inspired to fire up the grill.

Since when did every cookie on the plate have to be just like the next? Or each layer of cake exactly the same height? Each piecrust an impeccable work of art and encircled by stunningly perfect pastry leaves? To the uninitiated, all that fastidious, spotless baking is intimidating, not to mention exhausting. The Messy Baker celebrates baking as it happens in the real world--sweet, messy, fun, not always gorgeous, but a way to show love. Which doesn't make it any less delicious; to the contrary, Charmian Christie's flavor combinations rise far above the ordinary. Why have a raspberry galette when you can enjoy a raspberry-rhubarb galette with drippy, unctuous walnut frangipane? Or how about a Brie and walnut whiskey tart? It's all yours without the rigid perfectionism or complicated instructions of other gourmet cookbooks. Christie's warm, irreverent voice brings the fun back into baking at a time when home cooks--pulled from pillar to post by jobs and errands--need to have fun. The Messy Baker is a full-service book that not only guides the reader through simple, delicious recipes but is also there to help out when things go wrong. For anyone who gave in frustration when that cake collapsed or the frosting smeared, Christie's practical advice is here to rescue even the worst disaster and inspire the baker to try the next recipe.

Joumana Accad, creator of the blog TasteOfBeirut.com, is a native Lebanese, a trained pastry chef, and professional caterer. In her debut cookbook, The Taste of Beirut, she shares her heritage through exquisite food and anecdotes, teaching anyone from newbies to foodies how to master traditional Lebanese cuisine. With over 150 recipes inspired by her Teta (grandmother) in their family's kitchen, Accad captures the healthful and fabulous flavors of the Middle East and makes them completely accessible to home cooks. Each recipe features step-by-step instructions, Accad's warm teaching style and breathtaking color photographs that will make mouths water. Divided into sections including Breads, Breakfast, and Sandwiches; Soups; Mezze Delights; Main Dishes (Stews, Kibbeh, Stuffed Vegetables, and Rice Dishes); plus Pastries and Drinks, here is just a taste of the recipes featured: Spinach turnovers (Fatayer bel-sabanegh) Meat pies (Sfeeha) Kibbeh tartare (vegan) Red pepper and walnut dip (Muhammara) Lebanese couscous (Moghrabieh) Red lentils and rice purée (Mujaddara Safra) Eggplant casserole with tomato, meat and yogurt sauce topping (Fattet al-makdoos) Meat loaf with potato slices (Kafta bel-saniyeh) Zucchini or cauliflower fritters Wings, Lebanese-style Fattoush salad Beet hummus (Mama dallou'a) Zaatar and tapénade bread Wheat berry and milk pudding (Amhiyet bel-haleeb) Sesame and pistachio cookies (Barazek) Lebanese semolina cheesecake (Knafeh) Baklava in a speedy ten-minute version! While The Taste of Beirut brings to life the rich, complex, and delicious flavors of the Middle East, each recipe is refreshingly easy to make. The author's passionate, conversational style will make readers feel like they have a friend from Lebanon right in their kitchen, teaching them everything from cooking techniques to how to stock a kitchen with the best ingredients. Even more than a fabulous Lebanese cookbook, The Taste of Beirut is a proud celebration of people, culture, and cuisine.

BrokeAss Gourmet is the premier food and lifestyle blog for folks who want to live the high life on the cheap. The blog features recipes that are always under $20, along with great advice on inexpensive but delicious beers, wines, and cocktails, plus other topics relating to the BrokeAss Gourmet lifestyle. The site and its vivacious founder, Gabi Moskowitz, have garnered thousands of followers and received national publicity, including being featured on MSN Money and Time.com. Gabi has also contributed several videos to "Appetites,” the number-one food app on iTunes. Now this first ever The BrokeAss Gourmet Cookbook offers more than 200 delicious and easy recipes for a variety of meals, from soups and starters to main dishes and desserts. And once the pantry is stocked, all the other ingredients can be bought for $20 or under.

At long last, the companion cookbook to the hit YouTube cooking show—including recipes for 120 simple, delicious Italian-American classics. When Laura Vitale moved from Naples to the United States at age twelve, she cured her homesickness by cooking up endless pots of her nonna’s sauce. She went on to work in her father’s pizzeria, but when his restaurant suddenly closed, she knew she had to find her way back into the kitchen. Together with her husband, she launched her Internet cooking show, Laura in the Kitchen, where her enthusiasm, charm, and irresistible recipes have won her millions of fans. In her debut cookbook, Laura focuses on simple recipes that anyone can achieve—whether they have just a little time to spend in the kitchen or want to create an impressive feast. Here are 110 all-new recipes for quick-fix suppers, such as Tortellini with Pink Parmesan Sauce and One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes, Wine, and Olives; leisurely entrées, including Spinach and Artichoke-Stuffed Shells and Pot Roast alla Pizzaiola; and 10 fan favorites, like Cheesy Garlic Bread and No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake. Laura tests her recipes dozens of times to perfect them so the results are always spectacular. With clear instructions and more than 100 color photographs, Laura in the Kitchen is the perfect guide for anyone looking to get comfortable at the stove and have fun cooking.

The Best Little From-Scratch Bakery in Texas The pastry case in Rebecca Rather's bakery in Fredericksburg is packed with ultra-buttery scones, luscious cakes, cookies the size of saucers, brownies as big as bricks, and fruit pies that look as though they came straight out of Grandma's oven. Since the day Rebecca and her Rather Sweet Bakery and Café came to town, life in this Hill Country hamlet has been even sweeter and the townsfolk now know why she is the Pastry Queen. Everything she makes is a lot like her: down-home yet grand, and familiar yet one-of-a-kind. A native Texan, Rather makes the most of her Lone Star state's varied traditions, whether looking to the kitchens of Texas's Mexican and German immigrants or to the cowboy culture of her own forebears. Best of all, her recipes aren't fussy—one of her best-selling cakes stirs together in a single saucepan. Add in a cupful of Texas attitude and her made-from-scratch-with-love philosophy, and you've got an irresistible taste of American baking. What's best at Rather Sweet? Rebecca's customers all have their favorites (and she is happy to cater to their cravings), but here's just a taste of the perennial best sellers: • Apple-Smoked Bacon and Cheddar Scones • Texas Big Hairs Lemon-Lime Tarts (the only big hair Rebecca has ever had!) • Fourth of July Fried Pies • Peach Queen Cake with Dulce de Leche Frosting • Turbo-Charged Brownies with Praline Topping • All-Sold-Out Chicken Pot Pies • Kolaches (pillowy yeasted buns with sweet or savory fillings) • PB&J Cookies With over 125 surefire tested recipes and 100 photographs that richly capture small-town life in the Hill Country, The Pastry Queen offers a Texas-size serving of the royal splendor of Rebecca's baked goods—courtesy of the rather sweet gal behind the case.

The go-to soup-to-nuts guide on how to really make money from food writing, both in print and online With recipe-driven blogs, cookbooks, reviews, and endless foodie websites, food writing is ever in demand. In this award-winning guide, noted journalist and writing instructor Dianne Jacob offers tips and strategies for getting published and other ways to turn your passion into cash, whether it's in print or online. With insider secrets and helpful advice from award-winning writers, agents, and editors, Will Write for Food is still the essential guide to go from starving artist to well-fed writer.