Meet The Team / Maggie Ruggiero

This could possibly be the food toy of the century: Edible frozen pop-art instant gratification on a stick. Take the Zoku from your freezer (okay, this requires premeditation), pour in the juice or yogurt of choice, stare expectantly at if for about 8 minutes, then turn out popsicles worthy of Warhol.

Why put down close to 50 bucks for something you can make with a paper cup and an ice cream stick? Simple. Create layered pops, filled pops, designer pops in minutes. It's like a Play-doh Fun Factory for your freezer.

This is how it works: You freeze the Zoku itself overnight -- it works like the coolant-filled bowl of a ice-cream maker. Unlike an ice-cream maker which needs to keep the mixture moving or it'll ice up, here it "popsicalizes" in 7 to 9 minutes. It stays cold enough to do a second batch (I've succesfullt done three batches in a row, although that's freezing without a net).

"Dulce"
By Joseluis Flores with Laura Zimmerman Maye
Photographs by Ben Fink
Rizzoli -- 2010
Buy it on Amazon

The cover photo of "Dulce" features churros with a dish of chocolate sauce alongside. Poised for a nibble, it's food porn at its very finest. But can you judge a book by its cover?

I have a love affair with cookbooks. "Dulce," despite its amazing collection of tempting recipes, stepped out on me. It tested my love and I don't know whether to give it another chance or break it off.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.

"Forgotten Skills of Cooking"
By Darina Allen
Photographs by Peter Cassidy
Kyle Books -- 2010
Buy it on Amazon

Forgotten Skills of Cooking is a genie in a book instead of a bottle. Crack it open and the wisdom of a googleplex of grannies is at your fingertips. Darina Allen is lovingly referred to as the Julia Child of Ireland -- that's high praise, and praise that's rightfully bestowed. Allen is the very best combination of cook and teacher.

Culturally, something has shifted in an unpleasant way: we spend hard-earned money on inferior "quickie" foods, eat poorly in a nutritional sense, and have come to consider meal preparation a chore. It's all about slapping food on the table. Ouch and yuck.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.

Ready for Dessert
By David Lebovitz
Photographs by Maren Caruso
Ten Speed Press -- 2010
Buy it on Amazon

This is the Slinky of cookbooks. I've been paging back and forth, back and forth, mesmerized, spurred on each time I land on a silvery endpaper. It's an enticing, beautiful book with charm and know-how. But this book is not for a coffee table; I'd put it on a pedestal.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.

The Brazilian Kitchen
By Leticia Moreinos Schwartz
Photographs by Ben Fink
Kyle Books -- 2010
Buy it on Amazon

When I'm having that "hmmm, what's for dinner moment," rarely does the word moqueca come to mind. Nor, for that matter, does my super cool iPhone grocery app know the ingredient cupuaçú. Well, If Leticia Moreinos Schwartz has her way, that's about to change. If you've got a hankering for Brazilian food, The Brazilian Kitchen could seriously rock your pantry.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.