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'Williams-Sonoma New Flavors for Appetizers'
Edited by Chuck Williams
Recipes by Amy Sherman
Photos by Tucker + Hossler
Oxmoor House -- 2009 (hardback)
Buy it at Amazon

Ready to move beyond dips and carrot sticks for your soirees, but not ready to face the Full Martha? This is the guide for you. The book is divvied into sections highlighting each season's freshest ingredients and simple, elegant ways to show 'em off. Bonus -- a goodly bit of space is devoted to party planning tips, basic recipes (mayo, risotto, pizza dough), a glossary, techniques for handling veggies and a guide to what is freshest when.

Takeaway tips: Freshness is your best ingredient. Using seasonal ingredients means you'll need to do little to adorn them -- just make sure to use cooking methods, seasonings and pairings that show them off to their best advantage, and add flavor in layers. Specific methodologies are generously shared throughout the book.

Quality of pictures: Appetizing -- if a little washed out by the matte paper. Not step-by-step instructive, but oriented toward the finished product.

We tested: Pan-Seared Spring Lamb Chops with Mint-Pistachio Pesto and Olives and Feta Marinated with Lemon and Ouzo
Recipes were incredibly easy to follow, accessible, thorough and aided by sidebars offering further explanations of ingredients' flavor profiles and best methods for use. Lovely balance of veggie-friendly dishes and slightly heartier fare.

Worth the investment: Would make a great hostess or shower gift, or smart inspiration for anyone who's ready to bump their parties' sophistication level up a notch or two.

Ever since friend pointed in me in the direction of Epicurious.com when I was looking for a Passover recipe several years ago, it's been one of my go-to websites for interesting recipes, food tips and the occasional article. They recently launched a redesign of their site, and it's not just the same old stuff dressed up in new HTML. There's a bunch of new features including a recipe bar search, new categories and my very favorite, a brand spanking new blog.

The Epi-log as they're calling it is staffed not only by the Epicurious editors, but also by a pretty nifty assortment of guest bloggers. They've got Amy Sherman from Cooking with Amy (food blogger makes good!), Rick Bayless (who really needs no introduction), food writing extraordinaire Melissa Clark, the grill man Michael Y. Park, wine expert Natalie MacLean and Neal Pollack, who bills himself as Writer, Food Lover, Dad (please read his post about how his son threw a temper tantrum because they were out of capers. It made me giggle audibly).