Nobody does the domestic arts better in the USA than Martha Stewart and her unparalleled team at Martha Stewart Living. Martha's new simple suppers book is comprehensive, providing over 250 time-tested, foolproof recipes. Each chapter begins with the basics, detailing the tools, gadgets, and ingredients together with general troubleshooting. "Simple Suppers" offers: icons that signal whether the recipe is best for beginners, intermediate cooks, or more advanced bakers; step-by-step photographs of techniques; tips specially designed to help readers make the best-looking desserts possible; and make-ahead information, storage techniques, freezing instructions, and troubleshooting tips.

It includes the following recipe categories: Simple Baked Goods including biscuits and shortcakes, muffins, scones; Cookies that cover everything from biscotti and drop cookies; Basic Cakes such as Carrot-Ginger Cake; Speciality Cakes like Buche de Noel, Paviovas with Currants and Berries, and Chiffon Cake with Lemon Curd; Pastries that include Apple Strudel with Cheese, and Profiteroles; Fruit Desserts such as Apricot Cobbler and Plum Crisp; and Yeast Baking that offers everything from Sugar Buns and Cinnamon Rolls to Breakfast Brioche with Creme Fraiche, Focaccia and Pizza Dough.

Author Biography

MARTHA STEWART is the chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, which includes Martha Stewart Living magazine; a TV program of the same name; the "Ask Martha" radio show; appearances on CBS's This Morning; two syndicated newspaper columns and a mail-order catalog, Martha by Mail.

Critical Reviews:

Publishers Weekly Six years after Stewart's now classic Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook reinvented canap s, here is an end-of-the-meal sequel. General baking tips start things off, most of which are beginner focused ("Read a recipe all the way through"), along with an illustrated guide to baking equipment. Along with expertise, Stewart is also selling the fantasy of wealth; she keeps a vast collection of pots, pans and implements in her own pantry. At times, readers may wish she would offer more suggestions of substitutions for these tools and gadgets (for instance, nearly all the recipes require a stand-up mixer). All the same, this work is, as promised, an essential guide. The recipes include 42 different cookies and 30 cakes, plus pies, tarts, coffee cakes, scones, biscuits, muffins, crackers, bread, fine pastries and more. They range from Classic Apple Pie to twists on standards, like a Tarte Tatin that involves cooking the apples entirely in the oven (instead of on the stovetop) and international goodies like Torta della Nonna. Instructions and sidebars are exhaustive yet accessible. Naturally, the book is exquisitely designed, with beautiful food styling and the spare, closeup photography that's become a hallmark of Stewart publications. Additionally, Stewart includes instructions for decorative crusts, coconut shavings and pastry twists that make her creations look so appealing.